These students at Poniente Elementary School in Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte discover the beauty of music through the improvement of their school’s Multimedia Center and the establishment of a music room, complete with instruments, acquired through a partnership between the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program. Approximately 5,800 students from 14 schools in the CARAGA Region and more than 636,000 students throughout Mindanao have benefited from the establishment of small libraries, home economics centers, science laboratories and other education resources provided through the fundraising efforts of PTAs. The PTAs’ funds were matched peso-for-peso by the GEM Program through its Education Matching Grant project. GEM is being implemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Development Authority. GEM