This 72-year-old grandfather has been giving away free books for two decades | DigiDokyu
72-year-old Mang Nanie is not your ordinary book lover. Believing in the power of reading to educate, he has spent two decades on his free book-giving mission in Makati,Philippines.
Discover his inspiring story in this video!
Discover his inspiring story in this video!
Transcript
00:00We don't have time, we don't have a day that is not open for us to serve you.
00:13All the books you see are free.
00:17Why are we here? Is there a reason for our life?
00:30We don't have a reason.
00:43These 50 books that I saw, I arranged them in front of a nearby bench.
00:53That's where Reading Club 2000 started.
00:58All of a sudden, the books came to life.
01:02I went inside the garage, I went inside the house.
01:07Almost all of the places in our house were filled with books.
01:16Follow me and you will see.
01:19Here inside, you will see the books that were donated by the owners.
01:28They donated heavy books such as encyclopedias, religious books, and novels.
01:38For us to have a chance to read for free.
01:46And you can also, don't return it if you want to.
01:52Here are the books that college students need.
02:00K-12, Engineering, Nursing, Education, if you want to be a teacher,
02:10Computer, and you won't lose the books, the medicine, as you can see.
02:21This is the second place where I kept the books that were donated by the people here.
02:31The pocketbooks, storybooks for children, and the books that were brought from far provinces.
02:40You will see that it is here, ready to be brought to them whenever there is a chance.
02:56You will never run out of the help you give to others.
03:01My heart is filled with happiness when I read.
03:11And there are people who love to have their own books to read.
03:18It is rare for Filipinos to be able to buy their own books, especially for the youth in the province.
03:32This is the second place where I kept the books that were donated by the people here.
03:42Good afternoon. Are you Ms. Nani?
03:47Yes, I am.
03:48I am Sir Edric from AMG Bahay, Silungan.
03:52We called you this morning.
03:55Yes.
03:56We are in need of materials for our children who are in need of help.
04:03We heard that you have free books here that you are giving away.
04:17Wow, there are a lot of books.
04:19This is the first time we saw this place.
04:22It is bigger than what we saw on social media.
04:26It is surprising because there are still books upstairs.
04:30That is why it is good to be able to come here to look for materials for our children.
04:37So now, we will look for books for our young ones that they can use.
04:42Because they are more on reading, we train them on reading.
04:46Then later on, we look for books for our older students.
04:59We teach all the children in-house.
05:02Our program is about restoration, awareness, reintegration, sustainability, and education.
05:12For our program, books play a vital role.
05:19We use them as a powerful tool for their learning, healing, and growth.
05:36Thank you very much for your help.
05:38We hope that you will continue to strengthen yourselves so that you can help more people.
05:48When there is a shortage, and there are people who get books here,
05:52there are others who fill the need for help.
05:58I have known him for a long time.
06:00I have seen him giving out books here.
06:03He also gives books to children.
06:06This is where I brought it from.
06:08This is for our children to read.
06:10This is for our children.
06:28Today, we will go to a house in Ampunan
06:34and we will bring the books that we will give to the children who are in the process of falling in love.
06:57Hi, Pastor.
06:59Good day.
07:01Good day. Welcome to AMG Bae Silungan.
07:04I heard that you have a lot of books to give to us.
07:08We have a lot of books.
07:11We have a lot of books.
07:30Currently, we have 25 survivors in our shelter.
07:35We are helping them.
07:36They are social workers.
07:37They are doing interventions.
07:40They are psychometricians.
07:41We also have a spiritual aspect.
07:44Like discipleship, devotion, and we also have sports.
07:48It's a time for them to enjoy being a child again.
07:52They don't have to think about their past.
08:03Thank you very much.
08:04Thank you very much.
08:06Today,
08:09we are here
08:13with Ma'am Nani.
08:16Are you happy now?
08:18Let's add more happiness.
08:21Let's not be sad
08:24so that we don't become ugly.
08:26Let's always be happy
08:29so that we will always be beautiful.
08:33I know that you are happy here in Luzon,
08:37but I am also happy in Makiling.
08:40I have a lot of friends there.
08:42They need me.
08:45What is your lesson?
08:48Don't say goodbye
08:50when you have work to do here in your place.
08:58They are sensitive.
09:01They easily get sad and angry.
09:04Maybe it's because they know people.
09:06Maybe it's because they lost their trust.
09:08Supposedly, the people they trust
09:11will be their help
09:13and their experience will be different.
09:17So, even as staff, we struggle
09:19to build their trust in us.
09:24One day,
09:25I saw the widow
09:27and whose house the girls were playing.
09:31It helped me.
09:33It made me feel better.
09:36I was happy.
09:38Every time I read a book,
09:41I would inhale and exhale.
09:46I felt like everything was okay.
09:53Books are a big help
09:54to children who have such a dark experience.
09:58They learn how to be a child again,
10:02learn, empower,
10:04and grow in different aspects.
10:07For me, it's very important
10:09because I learn from books.
10:16Especially in English,
10:18because I'm not good at English.
10:23That's why I practice.
10:25But sometimes,
10:26I look for stories about families.
10:30There are pictures of a complete family.
10:34I always tell myself,
10:36I hope I can experience that
10:38because I'm part of a broken family.
10:40I'm thankful to them
10:42because we have new books
10:44that we can read again.
10:48I'm thankful to them.
10:51I always pray for them
10:54to help other children
10:58who are not like me or us.
11:02You have what we call
11:06satisfaction and fulfillment.
11:09What's important to everyone
11:12is that what we do
11:14is a big help to others.
11:20Happy birthday to you!
11:23Happy birthday to you!
11:30It's been a long time since I celebrated my birthday.
11:32I just got a birthday cake.
11:38I remind everyone
11:40not to forget
11:45to help our community.
12:00It's free.
12:02Education is free
12:06if you want to learn.
12:08That's the solution
12:10for us to rise up
12:12and become a good nation,
12:16an intelligent nation.
12:18You can achieve that
12:20by using your knowledge.