Fairplay For All Foundation is a non-profit community organization based in Payatas, a large urban poor community in Metro Manila, Philippines. The organization takes a holistic approach to empowering its community to break cycles of poverty and trauma. My work with Fairplay is focused on two projects: (1) Writing an internal report on how Fairplay can better support families in Payatas in accessing quality employment opportunities. (2) Helping facilitate 'Emotional Quotient (EQ)' sessions that support the emotional and mental well-being of local children.
This week, the Youth Center shifted into summer mode, trading our usual EQ sessions for two lively “bootcamps.” One focused on practicing English with elementary-aged children, and the other explored Life Skills, like healthy cooking, budgeting, and time management, with high school and college-aged students. Mindfulness, meditation, and gratitude remained at the heart of every session.
Since Fairplay staff were still finalizing their English lesson plans, we gave the younger students freedom to choose their own activities after our well-being activities. To ease them into English, we introduced a playful rule, one burpee for every Tagalog phrase spoken. It might sound strict, but in reality, it became a game. Most of the students were used to football drills as part of Fairplay's wider programming, so a few burpees were just another kind of fun challenge. The children even convinced me to join, only I had to speak in Tagalog and do a burpee every time I slipped into English. We also created a small loophole, asking, “How do you say [Tagalog word/phrase] in English?” didn’t count, so curiosity and learning new English phrases were encouraged, not punished.
Watching the students navigate this freedom was exhilarating. The first few days were filled with games: Uno, Spot It, and Chess, but played at a much slower pace as they translated their thoughts into English. What amazed me most was their seriousness about their learning. More often than not, they’d self-report when they’d spoken Tagalog. By the end of the week, the most popular activity was not a game at all but the “Levelling” math exercise I mentioned in an earlier reflection.
Working with the children has challenged many of the misconceptions I heard before coming to the district, such as the idea that people here are lazy or lack initiative or drive. In reality, I have seen and heard the opposite. Through both my time with the children and focus group discussions with parents for my report, I have witnessed the determination and resourcefulness that families bring to their daily lives. My preliminary findings make clear, however, that these efforts are often blocked by structural barriers such as corruption, hiring discrimination, and arbitrary job requirements. These obstacles cannot be overcome by “hard work” alone. Still, when given the space simply to be children, the young students I work with show remarkable curiosity, discipline, and motivation. Letting them be children revealed just how eager they are to improve their English, their math, and ultimately, themselves.
What went well?
On the report side, Fairplay’s social worker and researcher helped refine my questions, and facilitate tagalog focus group discussions with a total of 27 members that dug into the barriers families face when trying to access quality jobs in and out of the district. Hearing directly from parents gave me insights that I can bring into my report, and it grounded my writing in the lived realities of the community. More importantly, I was able to condense those findings into actionable strategies that Fairplay can include in their programming.
What could have been done differently?
I realized that our delays in getting materials approved for boot camp could have been avoided with more preparation. If we had managed our time better and anticipated the needs of the program earlier, the children might have had a more beneficial experience.
What did I learn about myself when working with others? What did I learn about leadership?
Leading in the classroom this week taught me that setting an example is harder than it looks. The playful “one burpee for every english phrase” helped me connect with the children over how difficult it was to learn a new language. Honestly, I often slipped into English more than they slipped into Tagalog, and ended up doing more burpees than most of the kids. It was humbling, but also freeing, to be reminded that leadership is not about being perfect or holding all the authority. Instead, it is about being willing to learn alongside others, to laugh at yourself, and to share in the challenges. In those moments, the classroom felt less like a space where I was “facilitating” and more like a space where we were all growing together.
What do I want to develop or focus on next?
With my final in-person week in Payatas approaching, I want to carry this energy forward and finish strong. I hope to deepen my learning from the children and families, and strengthen my report with their voices. And, if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll have fewer burpees to do along the way.