The importance of intervening and providing sustainable support through education and social welfare services for individuals during early childhood continues to be a mentality that is rightfully supported by numerous non-profits across the world.
Since 2005, the GoAbroad Foundation has helped direct critical funding to support more than two hundred children living in disadvantaged circumstances in the Philippines. For the last several years, the Foundation has worked diligently with it’s on-the-ground non-profit partner to provide children from low-income families with the means to pursue mainstream education, to undergo skills training and talent enhancement, to have access to available medical care, and to provide the children with a wide range of opportunities that they would have otherwise never had access to. 
As time has passed, these children have gotten older, their enthusiasm for life has grown, their hope for success has never been diminished, and so, their dreams for the future have expanded. As these children graduate from high school, already an accomplishment that many of them never foresaw being a reality, they find themselves longing and dreaming of pursuing their education even further. They dream of obtaining jobs and careers, and supporting their families for years to come.
The vast majority of moderate and well-paid jobs in the Philippines require at least a college diploma, so it is thereby becoming more of a necesscity for Filipino youth to complete the transition from high school to college, in order to achieve prosperity for both themselves and their families.
Unfortunately for many students, their dreams of becoming college graduates is swept away by the reality that their family does not have the economic means to support the payment of various college related fees, including transportation to and from classes, books, uniforms, exam fees, and many more miscellanous fees.
This issue of economic means was only exemplified by Super-Typhoon Haiyan, which ravaged through the Philippines in November 2013, rendering millions of individuals homeless, destroying schools and universities, taking close to 10,000 lives, and stripping families of their livelihoods, property, and resources.
Despite the challenges these students have faced, they have returned to school to complete their studies. Some of them attended school when they still had no stable access to food, and many more are still going to class each day in tents and makeshift classrooms. The conditions at most schools on the island of Leyte are still poor, and the conditions most students are living in are still worse than they were pre-typhoon. Yet their determination has not been lost.
With a consistent dedication to providing assistance where it is needed most and where financial support can make the greatest impact, the GoAbroad Foundation has launched a new focus for funding support in the Philippines. We are now focusing our efforts on raising funding to support Educational Scholarships for college and university students who are part of Volunteer for the Visayans’ Scholar Program.
Six Students graduated from High School in March 2014. Their last year of high school included the dreaded landfall and devastation of Typhoon Haiyan, the loss of loved ones, classmates, and teachers, the complete loss of all normalcy in their lives, and destruction of their homes and schools. But all of these students continued their studies despite these hardships, and successfully graduated, most of them literally receiving their diploma amidst the rubble of their schools.
In June 2014, these students began university, even though they still did not know how they would manage to pay for the full year tuition and other expenses. These students are determined to pursue their education, to not only create a better future for themselves but to continue to help their families rebuild their lives, and the GoAbroad Foundation is determined to make their dreams come true.
With help, these young adults can achieve their dreams, complete college and welcome in hope for themselves and their families. Our goal is to ensure every student has the support needed to attend university, therefore we hope to provide Educational Scholarships for each of these College Scholars. So that these students can focus on their studies without the worrying about how they will pay for their next examination or tuition payment.
Please visit our Donate Page to donate to the Educational Scholarships for these students, and Contact Us if you’d like to learn more about the students.
