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Efren Penaflorida - Reflection Paper

Efren Penaflorida's heroic act "Kariton Klasrum" and how he inspires people specially street children to never sstop chasing education and their dreams.

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annikane
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2K views

Efren Penaflorida - Reflection Paper

Efren Penaflorida's heroic act "Kariton Klasrum" and how he inspires people specially street children to never sstop chasing education and their dreams.

Uploaded by

annikane
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Annikane P.

Barretto
BACOMM 23

Modern Day Hero: Efren Peñaflorida

In the year of 2009, Efren Peñaflorida, a Filipino, was chosen as one of the CNN Heroes of the Year; the
very first Filipino who became one. It was his outstanding project, “Kariton Klasrum” or “pushcart classes”, that
made him a hero to everyone—especially to less-privileged children where education is lacking. Education is a
right of every Filipino citizen, and Efren started the act of making it happen the moment he went around their
neighborhood pushing an improvised cart loaded with books, foods, pens and papers, ready to lead the street
children to the road of learning— even just with a push cart, and a lot of dedication from his heart.

Efren was once living in the slums, too, just like those street children. In their area where education
seemed to be a luxury, people resort to gang activities and invite children to join. Growing up, this became his
motivation to start the Dynamic Teen Company with his friends. At the age of 16, they started encouraging their
classmates to turn away from gang activities by offering them self-development activities and community service
acts. In 1999, the Dynamic Teen Company and started Care for the Impoverished Children, where every
weekend, Efren and the volunteers roam around the streets, pushing carts loaded with school supplies, gathering
the attention of street children and helping them learn basic education.

To others, this act may seem crazy and ambitious, but to people living in the slums, this is an act filled
with compassion and pureness of the heart. The pushcart classrooms may not reach all the marginalized areas
in the Philippines, or the world, but it can inspire others to act too. Not all people can act the change they want
to see, but Efren started it at a very young age. That’s how motivated he is. The empathy he felt while growing
up with street children himself has driven him to teach the education they always deserve. Even without financial
assistance, he and his friends made ways to be self-sufficient to maintain what they started and help a lot of
children in the future. At first, the idea of pushing an improvised classroom-cart may seem absurd and just a
waste of time, but as the children flock and sit, the eagerness and hope in their eyes are evident, making the
volunteers more motivated to interact and encourage them. Efren and his friends had this burning desire to
change the future of those street children— away from gang activities, and towards a positive, bright, education-
led future. Apparently, Efren will gain no tangible materials from his heroic act, and that’s what made him a
hero. Giving and giving without expecting anything tangible in return, but a sense of accomplishment and legacy;
accomplishment because they did what they had to do with pure intents of sharing knowledge and hope to the
children, and legacy that one day, his act can drive one, even at least one person, to do the same.

Efren proved that you don’t need to be rich or to do grand gestures to be a hero. All you need is the
heart that wants positive change for everyone, and the courage to actually act do it; be the change and who
knows, one, or everyone, will follow. Like what he said, “Remember that you are the change that you dream
and together, we are the change that this world needs to be.”

(2014, January 7). Efren Penaflorida: The First Filipino Educator with Pushcart Classrooms. Retrieved from
http://driftwoodjourneys.com/efren-penaflorida-the-first-filipino-educator-with-pushcart-classrooms/

theXtraordinary. Efren Peñaflorida Jr. Retrieved from https://www.thextraordinary.org/efren-penaflorida-jr

Molinaro, A. (2017, January 4). Efren Penaflorida. Retrieved from


https://myhero.com/Efren_Penaflorida_2009#targetText=Efren Peñaflorida was one of,leader, and refusing to
join.

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