Toy Libraries bring joy to Filipino children

 

It all started with a meeting among friends and an idea to put together a room full of toys that children from indigent communities can go to and play. Now, a year after this group of friends led by Edsel Ramirez set-up its first ever Toy Library in Baranggay Loyola Heights, Quezon City, the group has now set-up 34 Toy Libraries all over the country from Culion, Palawan to Zamboanga City in Mindanao.

 

The concept is really pretty simple. Philippine Toy Library, Inc. (PTL) uses the power of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to ask people to donate their toys. These donated toys are then sorted to find what is still in good condition and can still be used by children. PTL partners with different organizations that provide a child-friendly room where all the toys can be placed transforming it into a Toy Library.

 

A safe place for children to play

 

To maintain the Toy Library and ensure that it is always kept in order and clean, parents of the children who use it take turns to serve as guardians inside the library. After children have played with the toys, they are also taught to bring them back to the shelves and to also help tidy up the room that they played in. Moreover, the toy library’s guardian is tasked to ensure that each child who plays in the toy libraries is in good health, so as to prevent the spread of sicknesses among their playmates. In this way, children are taught proper values and discipline even when they are playing and enjoying themselves.

 

Ramirez and his friends such as Aika Robredo, eldest daughter of the late DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo, decided to put together toy libraries all over the country so that children can find a safe and conducive place to play. By putting toys just in one place, children no longer need to run around in busy streets which may lead to car accidents and the like. More importantly, toy libraries also impart to these kids the important value of sharing toys with one another. This value of sharing is also imparted to more financially privileged children since they are encouraged to also share their toys by donating it to the toy libraries.

 

A place to play and more

 

After a year in operations, the organizers of PTL have now expanded towards not only opening more toy libraries but also making these places of play as places of learning as well. Last summer, children were given story-telling sessions as well as arts and crafts activities by volunteers. There are also some groups that have already approached PTL and have expressed willingness to conduct more reading enrichment classes for the children who regularly visit the toy libraries. Furthermore, PTL partners with groups who can train the parents of these children with basic storytelling techniques to be able to bring the spirit of play and wonder in their very households.




Where happy childhoods happen

 

Yet for the organizers, what is important is that through these toy libraries, poor Filipino children will have the opportunity to experience a happy and memorable childhood. Hopefully, by visiting these toy libraries, these children can forget about their problems and experience what it truly means to be a child even for just a few hours every week.

 

Want to donate toys or volunteer for PTL? You can contact Johanne Arceo at (02) 990-3282 or send an email to jo.arceo@toylibraryph.com

 

Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com

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Harvey S. Keh is Director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo de Manila University-School of Government and is also the Lead Convenor of the Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership.