Visayas to receive classroom-on-wheels

By Alexander Villafania MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA - As part of a continuing program to provide education to far-flung areas in the Philippines, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) Foundation and the environment group HARIBON Foundation launched a second classroom-on-wheels vehicle, the HARI EcoVan. The customized vehicle is a follow up to the first HARI EcoVan that was launched just last April. Like its predecessor, the second HARI EcoVan is a modified Hyundai H100 truck, customized by Centro Manufacturing Corporation. It includes a small classroom for children with a library, an audio-visual system and a screen wall for presentations and games. There would be teaching materials developed by the HARI Foundation and the HARIBON Foundation, specifically on environment conservation. This particular vehicle would be deployed in the Visayas region as the first EcoVan was deployed in Luzon. HARI Chairman Emeritus Richard Lee said that a third vehicle is already being built. It would be donated to the Mindanao region, thus completing the provision of one EcoVan for each of the major islands in the Philippines. So far, there have been at least 1,700 grade school students and about 130 kindergarten students in Metro Manila have been able to use the first EcoVan.