Thursday, June 12, 2008 How strong is the so-called mother-daughter bond?
A CEBUANO student receiving sponsorship from an international organization recently graduated as valedictorian of his class in Sogod, Cebu.
Ariel Montecalvo, who is from a poor family, was given a chance to study starting in grade two through World Vision’s (WV) Child Sponsorship program.
He never thought that his dreams of becoming an engineer or a social development worker would be within reach.
In gratitude, he hopes to help send his siblings to school one day.
“I perform well in school because I choose to. I motivate myself to go further because I don’t want to put to waste all the help and support I get from my sponsor and parents,” he said. On top of his academic achievements, Ariel is also a Sangguniang Kabataan Councilor.
In 2007, WV send sent 120,946 Filipino children, including Ariel, to school through Child Sponsorship.
Each child is linked to a sponsor, who is either an individual or a group with a monthly pledge that will enable them to access education, values formation, child rights protection and community development for their family.
Accessible
To date, WV works in 33 out of the 81 provinces nationwide partnering with private, government and nongovernment groups to make education accessible to all children and keep them in school.
WV’s long-term mission is to touch the lives of families from the 44 poorest provinces in the country, providing educational opportunities to children and building sustainable communities.
It seeks to lower Department of Education statistics, which reveal that only six out of 10 Filipino students entering Grade 1 will complete elementary.
To know more about the project, one may visit the WV booth at the 3rd level of Ayala Center Cebu from June 1 to July 6.
