Think back to your childhood. Who was your favourite teacher? What made them so memorable?

Chances are, they took an interest in you. Looked you in the eyes. Noticed when something was off, and checked up on you.

Normina is that kind of teacher.

In Cotabato City, Philippines, where she teaches, her students struggle to afford the basic supplies they need for classroom learning. So when World Vision organized a distribution of backpacks at her school—each filled with notebooks, paper, pens, colouring materials and more—it created a commotion.

“I saw the faces of the children, their excitement when they received the bag—they were not only happy that they received it, they even said, ‘Yehey!’” says Normina.

Before the distribution, several of her Grade 7 students were using old bags that were torn and falling apart—many had used the same backpack for their whole school career. “So when they see a bag that is not just a bag, but it is really sturdy, big, and can hold their [belongings] or anything else,” Normina says, “I can see in their faces that they are happy that they were able to receive such a bag.”

As a teacher, she knows the gift signals something much deeper: support for their success, investment in their future, and assurance that they are not being left behind.

“I really appreciate what they call ‘small things,’ because I am with the children every day,” Normina says. “When I see that there is a problem with the child, I really ask.”

Her students share with her about financial hardships at home—how an older sibling’s needs may have been prioritized; how there simply wasn’t money to buy paper.

“It’s a big help, a big honour that our school is one of the ones who received the bags,” says Normina, who has hopes of helping more students in the future. “To those who don’t see these students, it’s a small thing for them. But for the children here, it is a huge thing for them.”

Ahead of the new school year, World Vision provided school supplies to 6,497 students in Cotabato City through our Raw Hope program. Approximately 3,100 out-of-school children and youth are currently attending accelerated learning programs; of that number, 344 recently rejoined a school. In addition, 464 children who’ve been struggling in school received remedial support through summer classes this year.