British School Manila students ready to Make a Difference in 2023

This January, international school students in Years 7-10 at the British School Manila will leave their classrooms to spend a week focussing on improving their own community and helping other communities across the Philippines. The week is one of the initiatives students experience as part of the school's mission to develop students as "positive global citizens" who are willing to contribute to improving their world.

During "Make A Difference Week", students will focus on Service and Sustainability through activities on campus and further afield through day trips and residential trips supported by MAD Travel, a socially conscious tour operator that offers opportunities for participants to take different trips around the country and make a positive social impact, with focus on farmers, forests, indigenous peoples, and sustainability. Raf Dionisio, Co-Founder of MAD Travel, commented "Learning how the concepts of UN's Sustainable Development Goals connect to real world situations and communities is a powerful experience and a great opportunity for students to identify on the ground opportunities to create a better future for people and the planet."

Students will go beyond the classroom and learn by taking part in activities including conservation and reforestation in Mount Purro and La Mesa Nature Reserves, where they will learn from indigenous groups about initiatives to protect and rebuild forest and water ecosystems and help with the ongoing projects. In Las Piñas - Parañaque Wetland Park, students will learn about the risks faced by this critically endangered yet crucially important habitat and help with clean up efforts.

Other groups will learn about the lived experiences of marginalized communities by working with BSM's Service and Sustainability partners Chosen Children Village, Stepping Stone Foundation and Gawad Kalinga - Taguig Chapter, to understand their challenges and successes and support their current work.

On campus, students will also be busy developing ideas to design more sustainable clothing and examining what waste the school generates and how it can be further reduced.

Michael Guinness, Senior School Service and Sustainability Curriculum Coordinator, commented "We really want our students to recognise their place in the world. Understanding both their own socio-economic context as well of that of the communities they are working with should be powerful in not just contributing to making a difference in the world but also in themselves"

Make A Difference Week, which ran pre-pandemic and online during the pandemic, aims to focus on long term solutions, enabling students to visit the same locations in future years to measure the impact of their actions, build connections with the communities there and become social advocates with a greater understanding of their place in the world and how to improve it.

Bea Gabuya
The British School Manila
36th Street, University Park,
Bonifacio Global City, 1634
Taguig City, Metro Manila,
Philippines
Website: https://www.britishschoolmanila.org
+63 (2) 8860 4800

Scott Justice
The British School Manila
36th Street, University Park,
Bonifacio Global City, 1634
Taguig City, Metro Manila,
Philippines
Website: https://www.britishschoolmanila.org
+63 (2) 8860 4800

About the British School Manila

The British School Manila (BSM) is a co-educational, private, not-for-profit British international school. Founded in 1976, the school has grown from 2 classrooms and 32 students in its first year to the present day where BSM welcomes 940+ students aged 3-18, representing 41 nationalities.
The school is a fully accredited member of the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), a founding member of the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA) and a member of the East Asian Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS). Teaching staff come from a range of backgrounds with experience of the British and other highly regarded curricula. The school offers classes from Nursery to Year 13.
The school's 2021-22 annual report is available at: https://issuu.com/britishschoolmanila/docs/annual_report_2021-2022

MAD Travel & MAD Courses
Headed by Raf Dionisio, and Thomas Graham, MAD takes participants on different trips around the country, with focus on farmers, forests, indigenous peoples, and sustainability. MAD is a social tourism platform and UN Sustainable Development Goal education company that provides alternative meaningful experiences while supporting marginalized communities in the Philippines - on the ground and online. MAD has done work across the Philippines, such as Zambales, Rizal, Batangas, Cebu, Bohol, Metro Manila, and Bulacan. Bringing guests to these places has allowed the company to support sustainability efforts, such as reforestation, and given the community opportunities to earn income as tour guides, chefs, and performers, and by selling their own products.
https://madtravel.org/
www.madcourses.com

This release was published on openPR.