by Xyla Mercedita E Gualberto

Books have the power to create change. They can tell stories to widen children’s imagination, they can embed good morals and they can promote literacy and value for education.

On March 5, the Xavier Ecoville daycare center joined the whole world for the second time in celebrating the World Read Aloud Day 2014. The Xavier Ecoville project staff members, volunteers and resident teacher Milagros Tayobong gathered the 3 to 4-year-old pupils of the daycare center to start the activity with a prayer. This was followed by an action song to get the children in an excited mood for the storytelling activity.

Two stories about caring for the environment and loving others were read to the children that morning. These books were written in a Filipino context, making them more familiar and interesting to the listeners. The children enjoyed looking at the pages of the big picture books used by storytellers Nadine Hendrikka Legaspi and Grace Gift Chua. Post-storytelling activities and brief processing sessions were done after every story. Therese Rhea Rose Baliwag stressed the good morals told in each story by asking the children questions, creating an interactive environment.

The World Read Aloud Day celebration is an act to show the world that “Children have the right to read, to write and to share their words to change the world” (litworld.org).

The event closed with an art activity. To continue their amusement with words and pictures, the children were assisted by volunteers Dr Mayette Rivera, Kaina Sitoy, Czarrise Patoltol and Tat Gualberto in coloring the official logo of the World Read Aloud day 2014.

Xavier Ecoville is a resettlement community for TS Sendong survivors in Brgy. Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro City. It is facilitated by Xavier University, the community members, the local government, donors and other partners for a self-sufficient and value-laden community.