Zonta Club of Cebu II Advocacies Featured by Zonta International: ALIMBUKAD Family Literacy and Solo Parents Empowerment

Last September 7, 2026, the Zonta Club of Cebu II is celebrating a meaningful milestone as two of its long-standing service advocacies—ALIMBUKAD: Basa Pamilya and its Solo Parents Advocacy—have been featured by Zonta International under its Mission in Action: Share Your Story initiative.

The feature highlights how Zonta Club of Cebu II continues to turn its commitment to empowering women, strengthening families and supporting communities into practical, sustained action.

ALIMBUKAD: Basa Pamilya — Building a Culture of Reading at Home

For more than a decade, ALIMBUKAD: Basa Pamilya has promoted family literacy by encouraging parents to become active partners in their children’s education.

The program is built around a simple but powerful idea: a child’s first classroom is the home, and parents can play a vital role in developing a child’s love for reading and learning.

Launched in 2013, ALIMBUKAD has grown into a continuing family literacy initiative serving children and families in public schools in Cebu. The program encourages parents to read aloud with their children and provides families with access to age-appropriate books that can be enjoyed at home.

In its current implementation, the program is reaching more than 800 families, with participating schools including Poo Elementary School, Guadalupe Elementary School and Cabancalan 1 Elementary School. Families receive rotating book bags containing children's books, allowing stories and learning opportunities to travel between school and home.

But ALIMBUKAD is about more than providing books.

Every reading session creates an opportunity for parents and children to spend time together, develop language and comprehension skills, encourage curiosity and strengthen the bond between parent and child.

Through this approach, Zonta Club of Cebu II recognizes that literacy development is a shared responsibility—one that involves teachers, parents, caregivers and the wider community.

One book, one family and one shared story at a time, ALIMBUKAD continues to help build a culture of reading and lifelong learning.

Empowering Solo Parents and Strengthening Families

Alongside its family literacy work, Zonta Club of Cebu II continues to support and empower solo parents through education, skills development, family-strengthening initiatives and community partnerships.

As part of this advocacy, the Club collaborated with the Federation of Solo Parents of Mandaue City to bring together approximately 150 solo parents from all 27 barangays of Mandaue City, most of whom were women, for an empowering seminar focused on parenting, resilience, family stability and personal well-being.

The seminar featured two complementary sessions: “Effective Solo Parenting Skills: Nurturing Resilient Children and Developing Stable Families” and “Self-Care for Solo Parents: Simple, Practical and Holistic Ways to Care for Yourself While Caring for Your Family.”

The sessions provided practical guidance for parents while emphasizing an important message: caring for oneself is also an essential part of caring for one’s family.

The initiative is intended to be part of continuing engagement between Zonta Club of Cebu II and the Federation of Solo Parents of Mandaue City, creating opportunities for further empowerment, skills development, livelihood training and family-strengthening activities.

Turning Service Into Meaningful Action

The recognition from Zonta International is a significant moment for Zonta Club of Cebu II because it reflects the collective efforts of the Club’s members, partners, volunteers and supporters who have helped sustain these advocacies over the years.

From placing books into the hands of children and families to creating opportunities for solo parents to learn, connect and become empowered, these initiatives demonstrate how community service can create meaningful opportunities for families to grow and thrive.

Zonta International's feature specifically highlights the Club's work in both areas: its solo-parent empowerment activities and the continuing reach of ALIMBUKAD: Basa Pamilya.

For the members of Zonta Club of Cebu II, this recognition is not simply about looking back at what has been accomplished. It is an encouragement to continue moving forward.

The Club remains committed to creating programs that empower women, support parents, nurture children, strengthen families and contribute to more resilient communities.

Every book shared, every parent supported, every partnership formed and every hour volunteered becomes part of a larger story of service.

And that story continues—one family, one child and one meaningful action at a time. 💛✨

Read the Zonta International Feature

Zonta Club of Cebu II empowers families and expands education
Zonta International — Mission in Action: Share Your Story

https://zonta.org/Web/Programs/Mission_in_Action/Share_Your_Story/Cebu_II_empowering_families.aspx

Zonta Club of Cebu II
Empowering women. Strengthening families. Transforming communities through meaningful action.