Taryn Treloar and her son, Declan, will have the full support of Millstream elementary when they embark on what promises to be an eye-opening trip to the Philippines in December.
Treloar, who works as a secretary at the school, is a board member with the International Association for Transformation, a charity started by B.C. native David Durrance that maintains a variety of child and youth-focused programs in the Philippines.
One of the initiatives the charity is involved with is providing room and board for the poorest of the poor school-aged children in the country of more than 100 million residents.
During their trip, the mother-son team will endeavour to build relationships with people in Tabuk, a remote city in the northern part of Luzon, the largest island in the archipelago.
“One of the areas I know they’d like me to touch on … is around sex (education) with the women, because there is a tendency for the women to go through all the schooling and get pregnant really (young). So they want to have someone who could bring a note of education around that,” Treloar said.
Declan said he is looking forward to bringing his Lego collection to share with some of the children, especially the family’s sponsor-child, Dwanny.
On Oct. 28, Millstream students and staff had the opportunity to throw slime at their retiring principal, Julia Sahota. Proceeds from the fundraiser went towards the association’s efforts in the Philippines, as well as the Treloars’ costs for the trip.
The family had a $5,000 fundraising goal and was hoping to bring material things such as toys and sports equipment overseas as well.
joel.tansey@goldstreamgazette.com