We’ve all been children once. For many of us, books and toys were constant companions as we were growing up. We also had crayons to paint pretty pictures with and musical instruments with which to create beautiful melodies. Many of us have been fortunate enough to live in neighborhoods that had playgrounds and parks with swings, seesaws and monkey bars. During that time, play was a wonderful source of joy, of exercise, of learning, and of creative expression.
Children everywhere need play in their lives. However, in poor and congested communities where resources are scarce, children play in streets and alleys, near sewers and esteros. These places, however, are not always safe for them. In far-flung rural communities, children do not always have access to toys that they can play with.
A group of friends saw this situation as a pressing need that must be addressed. Thus, together with like-minded people who responded to the call for donations of old toys, children’s books, as well as materials for building toy libraries, the Philippine Toy Library (PTL) was formally launched in 2012, with its first site built in Brgy. Loyola Heights, Quezon City. To date, as of August 2017, there are already 190 toy libraries built all over the country.
But the job is far from over. There are still many children in the Philippines who have yet to be reached by PTL. We therefore hope that you can join us as we continue to dream of building more toy centers all over the country. With this comes the hope that more and more Filipino children may truly enjoy the benefits of play and thus, create fond memories they could go back to long after they have left their childhood days.