By Jill Cortes | Executive Director
To Our Generous Partners,
We hope the year is unfolding nicely for you. Thank you for the years of caring for Filipino Amerasian children.
This report will begin with a refresher about who we are and how, after 100 years, we remain relevant against the changing landscape of education in the Philippines.
Our beginnings
Our story begins with the arrival of US servicemen in the Philippines
1898 - 1935 US occupation of the Philippines
1935 - 1946 Commonwealth Period
1955 - 1992 US expanded Clark and Subic bases right after World War II and throughout the Vietnam War
The children and mothers left behind
Decades of servicemen coming to the Philippines resulted in hundreds of thousands of Amerasian children left fatherless, their Filipino mothers forced to raise them alone.
In 1921, Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood organized a group to help the children.
Today, more than 100 years later, the Philippine American Guardian Association continues to help empower Filipino Amerasian children through education.
The current situation
After the US Bases were shut down due to the non-renewal of the US Bases Treaty and consequently, due to the eruption of Mt Pinatubo in 1992, a new initiative was born that brought back US servicemen to the Philippines.
It started as the "Balikatan" exercises and has now evolved into the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that brings not only US servicemen but even those from other countries all together to share best defense practices.
And this is what boosts the number of Filipino Amerasian children. A forgotten sector that continues to grow, challenged by generational poverty and social stigma. Their challenges include:
Education challenge in the Philippines today
In the Philippines, education is subsidized by the government. Tuition in public schools and universities are now free. Yet the gap between education and poverty remains wide.
Today, more than 11 million children cannot go to school because they cannot afford transportation, school supplies, school fees including internships, uniforms, shoes and meals at school. For those who start going to school, they end up dropping out because they cannot sustain the means to continue.
Our program
100 years later, our organization still finds itself useful by being able to jump in together with other organizations to help bridge the gap between education and poverty.
Our program is a blend of:
Educational Assistance
From the donations we receive, we are able to give a monthly allowance that helps with transportation, meals, uniforms, supplies, and other school needs. Internships for college students are a challenge because often they are given internships in companies away from home and relocating for about 2 months can be costly. They have to cover their board and lodge, transportation, and an internship fee.
Part of the program requires the children to share monthly updates or anecdotes about challenges and proud moments. At the end of every school term, they send us a copy of their grades.
Psychosocial Support
Our social welfare officer conducts monthly check-ins and quarterly home visits with the children and parents to identify any intervention if necessary.
Personal development
We are increasing members in our pool of volunteer mentors. Some topics are relevant for the parents. Topics each year always include mental health and family. The workshops are channels for the parent and child to express themselves and find sweet spots that they can use to strengthen their relationship. Having that support from each other plays a big role in facing daily challenges because they feel they are not alone.
Highlights about our beneficiaries “poverty is not a hindrance”
We are proud to share how we have beneficiaries who find time to balance schoolwork and working part-time after classes, to volunteer for others. Even though they are still students, already they are becoming productive citizens.
We have a volunteer firefighter, a volunteer for medical missions, orphanages, and a Red Cross trainer who is usually a frontliner during calamities.
Two of our beneficiaries hold positions in local government as youth leaders for their “barangay,” or community.
Through the years, our beneficiaries have been consistently making good marks. Their averages range from 84-86 (B-) to 90-92 (B+) or higher. Last school year, we had cum laude graduates.
One thing we can say about our beneficiaries, poverty does not pull them down. We have witnessed how they continue to move forward even in the most difficult times.
This year some of our alumni came to the aid of a beneficiary who needed medical help. An alumni who just graduated and is waiting to find a job donated whatever he had left in his wallet just to help.
Fundraising efforts “reaching our bottom dollar”
This year we organized campaigns to raise funds. One was “Backpack for Life,” for school supplies. The other was “A Gift of Joy,” to help put Christmas on the table of the families. The response was overwhelming, and everyone had enough for school and a Christmas dinner. We were also fortunate to have new donors this year who committed to sponsoring at least one beneficiary to cover the education expenses. The donations we receive through GlobalGiving continue to make a huge difference. And we hope that we can increase this community.
Empowering children for over 100 years is starting to challenge our bottom line and there is need to keep our financial position strong so we can continue to help more children. Seventy percent (70%) goes to our Welfare costs or our program while thirty percent (30%) goes to administrative costs.
Welcome 2025
Our plans are anchored on self-sufficiency and sustainability. The Philippine Department for Agriculture announced that it would be implementing a food security emergency plan. But prior to this, the country has been grappling with these numbers
United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
With this, we would like to help our beneficiaries by organizing workshops about the following:
Urban gardening in small spaces for food security and livelihood for the parents to at least help put food on the table.
There are so many more Filipino Amerasian children out there who are part of these numbers. Your continued support is helping them out of these statistics by closing the gap between poverty, education and subsistence.
Our gratitude rings strong every day that we are able to take a step to accomplish this with you by their side. Together with the children, we wish you all that is good and invite you to stay the course with us.
Sincerely,
Jill Cortes
Executive Director
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