Her name is Cherry Love Tarroza. She has jet black hair and bright, gleaming eyes. Attacked by the sweltering heat of the infamous Zamboanga sun, she has dark skin like most of her friends. Her smile is that of an angel.

Although she's already in Grade 3, she stands only as tall as a toddler. Mangled like the thick branches of an oak tree, her legs awkwardly support her lopsided walk. Her left leg is twisted outward to reveal a deformed foot. Her right leg is a stump with a thin ankle underneath.

To what can we blame Cherry's condition? The Chavacanos call it "pi-ang", referring to the unfortunate incidence of polio.

Polio in the States, or in any first-world country is welcomed with merely a sigh. With surgery, therapy, and numerous facilities and privileges for the disabled, any boy or girl like Cherry there would find their special needs taken care of.

But here in the Philippines, it's a different story. Polio is welcomed with a flood of tears and heartache. Where does Cherry sit in the public school classroom? What means of transportation can she afford to comfortably take her to places? How can she keep up in a country of long lines and lost pedestrian lanes? What treatment can we mention when her parents earn only from a humble carinderia in the outskirts of town?

But so far, what she lacks in body or wealth, she makes up for in heart.

Everyday, she walks 3 kilometers to school and then back, just to be able to attend class. She says she does this because she dreams of becoming an accountant someday.

On some days, she even hikes an extra kilometer just to borrow books from the KRIS Library. She is spellbound with our fairy tale books there. Her favorites are Snow White and Cinderella.

However, in all honesty, I want to tell Cherry something she doesn't know: she puts these fairy tale princesses to shame with her courage to fight adversity.

Her steps may be awkward, but I have no doubt that she will go far. She puts the cherry of hope on top of the biggest of obstacles.

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We in KRIS Library want to help her. But we need your help too, in any way -- financial, educational, medical, etc. If you know of any way we could lend a hand, please don't hesitate to contact me through arizza.nocum@gmail.com or 09995609435.

Two days ago, my family and I arrived here in Zamboanga City. After the long ride from the airport to the remote barangay of Manicahan, the first thing I sought to do was to behold the completed spectacle of the KRIS Library here.

Adorned with a glinting yellow parol in front, the door to the library was already open as about a dozen children were inside hovering over books and an intense game of chess. Several flew from shelf to shelf as their eyes zoomed from Science to History to Art in our simplified categories of selections. With around 10,000 books in our arsenal of learning, the smaller kids would usually pull up chairs to retrieve reading treasures shelved in nooks taller than them. And they would nestle themselves in the tables in the first floor. Going up the staircase, I smelled new varnish layered on the surface, and saw some more boxes of new books stacked in the corner. To my left was a wide space with a conference table and to my right was a busy computer room with three veiled Muslim girls chatting over their newly-made e-mail accounts. I then took a peak into a wide, clean guest room fit to be occupied by our visiting volunteers in the future. Finally, a little boy ran past me to go down to the comfort room. After he left, I checked out the two new comfort rooms for both genders whose glinting blue tiles and fixtures were kept clean for the kids. 

Today, KRIS Library - Manicahan is not just a hub of reading and learning; it is now also an internet oasis in a quiet town where our beneficiaries have at their fingertips so much instant information and so many opportunities. Today, the library is not just a library: it is a complete home -- of literacy, of joint learning, of peace.

This is the spirit of expansion displayed not only by the library there, but also by the KRIS Library organization as a whole. Including Manicahan, we now have five libraries. KRIS Library - Quezon City has been remodeled with a roof and new shelves of books to accommodate the multitude of children coming from Barangay Holy Spirit's vast slum areas. Meanwhile, the foundations for the libraries in Brgy. Tungawan and Brgy. Timbabauan (that both stand near MILF camps in Zamboanga Sibugay) have been forged. Construction will hopefully be underway in 2012. Furthermore, KRIS Library - Rizal, built in the relocation area for poor victims of Ondoy and fire incidents in Metro Manila, is up and running thanks to our partnership with several Claretian missionaries. And beyond the libraries, thousands of smiles have been sparked and a hundred minds ignited with our numerous books and school supplies distribution, and our prolific scholarship fund that has already given 101 scholarship grants from elementary to college.

Definitely, much has been done. We have taken our advocacy to new frontiers. We have reached further. And we owe it all to you.

KRIS Library, without its sponsors, media partners, volunteers, and many supporters, is nothing. Your every book, your every peso, your reaching hands have gone a long way to uplift education for thousands of children in the Philippines. You, dear KRIS warrior, have made an impact in the life of a child who could be the next Jose Rizal, Albert Einstein, or Mahatma Gandhi; you had helped us give the opportunity of a lifetime. Peace, they say, is a long, complicated process. But we believe this is a good start.

More than three years ago, my family and I arrived here in Zamboanga City. After the long ride from the airport to the town of Manicahan, the first thing I sought to do was to arrange logistics for the upcoming soft opening of KRIS Library - Manicahan. Back then, we were unsure if we could keep the advocacy running. Back then, we couldn't believe we could reach this far. But then we found out the many amazing things people go all the way for to be able to help out.

Now, I am typing from an internet-connected computer in KRIS Library-Manicahan. The place buzzes with life even as Noche Buena is a few hours away. Two of our KRIS scholars huddle between a group of younger lads and teach them the alphabet. Upstairs, veiled Muslim girls who knew nothing about computers three years ago are now expertly discovering their way online.

I have no doubt: this joyful season, KRIS Library owes itself to you, because the wishes of many children this Christmas have already come true.

God bless!