MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/19 June) — She wanted her students at the Bukidnon National High School (BNHS) to experience using multi-media tools in their language class. But when teacher Sarah Querol could not find help around, she tried the Kingdom of Bahrain.
She wrote Bahrain Prime Minister Khalifa- Bin Salman Al Khalifa in December to request assistance for a computer and a DVD player as multi-media instructional equipment. In January, Al Klalifa’s executive called to inform her help was coming: the prime minister was sending two sets of flat screen computers and a video player.
On January 19, a date she won’t forget, Querol was asked to take an overseas call from the principal’s office. The executive president of AL Khalifa’s computer firm informed her of the prime minister’s personal gift for her students.
The news inspired Querol. When the gifts finally arrived through an overseas forwarder, on February 17, Querol received praises from colleagues.
The package was officially turned over to Pariso Orong, BNHS principal who was impressed by her initiative.
Querol is one of hundreds of teachers in BNHS, the province’s biggest high school. When classes opened on June 16, the school announced that her language students and other BNHS students could use the computers for their academic requirements.
She knew her students could use modern communication tools like the internet. But getting these from local sources such as politicians was difficult.
Querol said in an article at Central Mindanao Newswatch that when she was composing the letter, she did not expect Al Khalifa to pay attention to it.
“I even kept the request to myself,” she said adding that an ordinary teacher like her might not get the attention of the prime minister.
Querol said she got the idea when she heard in the news that Al Khalifa donated cash to the Typhoon Ondoy flood victims last year.
“In my mind, I knew he could be the one I had been looking for,” she said.
Querol said in her reflections in the article that it pays to relate well with others. She said as a teacher facing constraints, she had to be determined and optimistic for the welfare of students.
“My students should be at par with others in communication skills, using modern tools, and in their personal development,” she wrote in her piece.
But aside from trusting in a teacher’s resourcefulness, Querol praised God for making her dream for her class possible.
She said she realized that she got the gift out of God’s generosity, her perseverance a life lived for others “and having the courage to connect with people like AL Khalifa, who has the heart to help others.” (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)