Students of Udhailiyah School Host a Bake Sale with Mr. Kirk Peterson
Mr. Kirk Peterson has been teaching at Udhailiyah School for the past 10 years. He had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines this past December during the winter break. He worked in the Philippines for two years in the mid-1970’s when he was 19 years old. Thirty-four years later, he decided to finally return to the Philippines and visit friends from long ago. One of the areas he visited during his trip is Danao City located on the island of Cebu. His driver and guide in Cebu was a fellow by the name of Ricky Giango. Ricky and his wife are the parents of 6 children and he is a motorcycle taxi (TRIKE) driver by profession. Mr. Peterson got to know Ricky and his family really well during his stay. He found out that Ricky’s family live in a small 10 X 10 foot single room dwelling with a leaky tin roof and that Ricky was supporting his family as a trike driver.
Ricky's Family
Through conversations with Ricky over the course of 12 days, Mr. Peterson found out that Ricky had purchased his trike second-hand and had been using it to carry passengers for 7 years. The climate in the tropics had finally taken its toll on the trike and it had rusted and fallen into a state of dilapidation to the point that he was no longer able to use it as a passenger vehicle. He resorted to using the trike for the past 3 years to haul bottled water as a delivery service… which is less profitable. Ricky did not ask anything of Mr. Peterson with regards to his trike, he was just happy to act as a personal guide and driver. Towards the end of his stay in Cebu… one evening as Mr. Peterson was going to sleep he had an impression come to his mind that he should try and help Ricky Giango with his trike. The next day Mr. Peterson presented a plan to Ricky to get his trike up and running again. He told Ricky that he was the Middle School Student Council Advisor and that when he went back to Saudi Arabia he would drum up support at the school for a community service project to help get his trike refurbished. Ricky agreed to all the conditions stipulated for getting financial assistance from the Udhailiyah School community. Once Mr. Peterson returned from his trip to the Philippines he went to work right away and created a presentation for the community service project called, “RICKY’S TRIKE.” Both middle school and elementary school students were really enthusiastic about the project and funds started coming in. In a two-week period SR 1,000.00 were donated to the fund. It was really special to see elementary school students take the initiative and conduct a special bake sale with their mothers at Splash Fountain then donate the proceeds to the fund. Middle School STUCO funds earned during the school’s Fall Festival this past October were added to the donations and SR 2,200.00 were sent to Ricky to get his trike rebuilt and refurbished.
Ricky's Trike After Repairs
Work on the trike started towards the end of January and was completed in one month. This service project not only helped Ricky, it also helped provide work to the four men who worked at the repair shop on the transformation. As stipulated in the community service project agreement with the Middle School STUCO… Ricky had a friend take photos of the entire transformation from beginning to end and provide the photo to Mr. Peterson in order to show the community service project in action to the students of Udhailiyah School. With his new rebuilt trike Ricky has the opportunity of providing for the needs of his family in a much more beneficial way. Ricky and his family have a special name for the students of Udhailiyah School… he’s calling them “RICKY’S ANGELS.” He will never forget the kindness and generosity extended to him and his family by the Udhailiyah School community. It’s wonderful to see our Falcon Pride extending across the seas to the Philippines!