Monday, November 26, 2012

Hand in Hand: Manos + Mano Amiga

Manos Nail Lounge at Burgos Circle, Bonifacio Global City has chosen Mano Amiga Academy as one of their beneficiaries this Christmas. Here's a letter from the Manos team to see how you can help underprivileged students be more tech-savvy.

We absolutely love Christmas! The parols, decor, reunions with loved ones, food, music and gifts add to the already cheerful nature of the Filipinos. This holiday is the perfect cap to each year because it reminds us that in so many wonderful, beautiful ways, we are truly truly blessed. It is also a chance for us to be blessings to others. This 2012, Manos Nail Lounge is partnering with Mano Amiga Philippines, an organization that provides high-quality education to children from low-income families. But more than just providing education, Mano Amiga is a complete development center with the objective of transforming the lives of families and individuals. The organization helps students become good citizens who are involved in their communities and responsible for their own future.**
Mano Amiga is close to our hearts because we've volunteered in their community in the past, and the daughter of one of our nail technicians is currently a grade school scholar. We share their belief that every Filipino child can shine like gold given the right opportunities, and that if we offer the best to the least in our society, we can realize the true potential of our country.

The Mano Amiga Academy currently caters to 97 students from Nursery to 3rd grade, with plans of growing one level every year.  The school plans to eventually have at least 1,050 students from Kindergarten to 12th grade. For school year 2013, they've expressed the need for assistance to upgrade their IT facilities, which includes purchasing new LCD projectors and laptops. 

With YOUR help, we hope to raise enough funds to provide them with such. From 25 November to 30 December 2012, a portion of sales from any massage service you avail of at Manos Nail Lounge will go to the Mano Amiga community.
Tis the season! We'd love to give you more pampering so that we as one Manos family, can give others more hope. :)
With all the holiday cheer,
Felice, Carissa, Ynez

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

No Help is Too Small


Mommy Amiga (MommA) head Wilma Huang shares the amazing stories of generosity she witnessed through the Everest Academy iCan Change for Change campaign- A fundraising campaign that encouraged the Everest community to save their loose change in order to help provide scholarships for the students in Mano Amiga Academy.


Mommy Amiga (MommA) would like to thank everyone who supported the school’s iCan Change for Change campaign launch last week.   In just four days, we were able to give out all of our 300 “piggybank” cans to students, teachers and parents who wanted to support the Scholarship Fund for our sister school, Mano Amiga.   Several students even came back after the first day of our launch to return their filled cans and to ask for more cans!   Until now, we continue to receive inquiries if we will have more cans as some students and parents are saying their cans are almost filled.   We will try our best to get more cans from San Miguel Yamamura, which had generously produced these special cans for us in support of our campaign.
 
If there is one thing my fellow MommAs and I can say we witnessed last week, it is this :  the spirit of kindness and generosity is truly alive in our Everest students!   Day after day, the filled cans just kept coming in (along with requests for more cans).  In fact, when we packed up our table last Friday, we had collected already 34 filled cans!  And throughout these four days, we heard stories that truly touched our hearts.  There was a grade 3 boy who’s been saving his allowance for a Ninjago Lego set.  He had asked his parents to explain what the iCan Change for Change campaign was all about.  When he was told it was to help raise funds to put underprivileged children in Mano Amiga to school, his parents were surprised when he started to put all the money he had saved in his can.   Asked why he decided to give up the money he’s been saving, unhesitatingly he replied that he wanted the kids from Mano Amiga to go to school more than his Ninjago Lego set.  And there was another boy in grade 6 who kept coming back for 3 straight days, giving us his filled cans.  We learned that when his mom discovered he had emptied out his piggybank at home, she had asked him where all the money went.  He told her that it was for charity and it was “the right thing to do”.

 
Thanksgiving will soon be celebrated in the U.S.  And while it’s not a Filipino holiday or tradition, we at Mommy Amiga would like to give our heartfelt thanks to our school for allowing us to have this campaign, and to our students who stepped up and showed what giving is all about … that it’s not the amount that you give that matters, but the willingness to share with others what you have.    

 


Monday, November 12, 2012

iCan! Change for Change Campaign

 

Everest Academy and the Mommy Amiga (MommA) team recently launched the iCan Change for Change campaign. The campaign aims to encourage the Everest Academy students to set aside their loose change for the scholarship of the students in Mano Amiga.


MommA is the latest addition to the Mano Amiga family. Led by Mrs. Wilma Huang,  the team consists of Everest moms who are helping strengthen the relationship between the Everest Academy families and the Mano Amiga community. he MommA team will serve as a liaison and support network for Mano Amiga by spearheading different fundraising events, outreach programs and other inter-school activities throughout the school year. 

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Journey of Wonder


PHINMA HERO (Helpful Employee Responsible for Others) Network, the employee volunteer program of the PHINMA Group of Companies, treated the Mano Amiga students to a day of enrichment and exploration. Thanks to the PHINMA employees, the third graders had the chance to visit Mind Museum where the students spent the morning visiting exhibits, playing interactive games and other activities that enhance not only their Science literacy but also their imagination.

“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.” - Anais Nin

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Off to a Great Start!

The first quarter of School year 2012- 2013 gave us a good idea of the different programs and activities in store for the Mano Amiga students and families. Here's a glimpse of what's been happening in Mano Amiga Academy the past three months:

We are very grateful to welcome new partners in Community Development and After school programs. GE and One Core jointly organized a family day for the Mano Amiga families. The students played team games, underwent a medical check up, and attended an age-appropriate workshop on how to deal with stress. Their parents participated in seminars on tobacco cessation, cooking healthy food while on a budget and other programs tailored to their everyday needs. Deutsche Knowledge Services also chose Mano Amiga for their volunteering activity. Employees devoted their Saturday morning to teach the students how to make their own school bags for school.   

Sports Programs continue to be an integral part of the Mano Amiga's core services. In addition to the program by Futbol Funatics to children ages 8-9, Dream Big Pilipinas has also partnered with the school to offer football clinics to children ages 6-7. To qualify for the program, the children must regularly attend school and values formation seminars. "We value our Sports program because apart from helping give the children a healthy well-being and instilling virtues like discipline and teamwork, they also serve as motivational tools for the students to stay in school and work hard on their studies," Development Director Lynn Pinugu said.

Mano Amiga believes that its mission is not only to form students intellectually, but to also form them to be good citizens and society leaders who will use their talents and resources to give back to the community. As part of its Apostolic Formation program, Mano Amiga staff and students will be doing different outreach programs. Its first activity will be in the Philippine Heart center where staff and students will entertain patients in the pediatric ward with interactive storytelling, talent shows and other games. 
As the Mano Amiga community continues to grow, we are humbled by the trust that the the families and partners have in us.
Despite mild damages caused by the recent storm to the school and some of the families' homes, everyone continues to be in high spirits, deeply grateful for all the blessings Mano Amiga has received, most specially the outpouring support from our network of donors, friends and volunteers.

From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for the successful start of School Year 2012-2013

"Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile."- Wilfred Grenfell


Saturday, June 23, 2012

Back to School Festivities


For kids, the month of June means one thing: time to bring out the brand-new backpacks and shiny black shoes. Summer has come to an end and a new school year begins yet again. 
The transition from playing all day to sitting down in a classroom is never easy. To help the Mano Amiga students ease back into the school year, the Habitat Youth Council and Mcdonalds celebrated the children's return with a Back to School party.

"The volunteers had so much fun because the kids were so excited and energetic." Habitat Youth Council founder Alex Eduque shared. "They were actively participating in all the activities and they were able to communicate well--proof of the good education that they're receiving in Mano Amiga."

The Habitat Youth Council spent the morning eating and playing with the students. In between bites, the students entertained the volunteers by showing off their talents as they sang and danced to the songs being played in the the store.

Even the Mcdonalds crew were amazed by the students' "go-getter attitude." During one of the games, the students were divided into teams and were asked to make "the longest line" they could come up with using what they had in their pockets. "The Mcdonalds host shared with me that it was the first time in history that the line of objects extended all the way out into the streets," Alex recalled with a laugh. "We had to stop the game and declare a tie because we were worried the cars would run over their stuff."
The celebration concluded with the turn over of much needed school supplies and some food packages for the parents of the students.

"Apart from the fun and games, volunteering activities expose our students to youth role models they could look up to," Development Director Lynn Pinugu shared. "I strongly believe activities like this are one of the reasons why Mano Amiga students enjoy going to school so much. They receive so many opportunities that broaden their horizons and give them something to aspire for." 
Habitat Youth Council founder Alex Eduque was immediately charmed by Grade 1 student Carlos when he turned over his placemat and drew for her.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Morphing for Good


My initial reaction when I received the invitation to the Microsoft Innovate4Good conference was one of disbelief. I’m not someone who falls under the tech-savvy category and felt anxious about what I would contribute to the discussions. As what another participant pointed out, I didn’t even know what basic terms like cloud computing meant, much less how they worked.

As head of Mano Amiga Academy, a non-profit school for underprivileged children, I try not to pass on opportunities that would help generate awareness about the school. I knew I had much to learn when it comes to maximizing what technology could offer, especially when it comes to giving our cause a global reach. Since the event brief for Innovate4good promised that it’ll expose me to the “transformative power of technology”, I threw my apprehensions about ‘not being techie enough’ out the window, packed my bags and headed for Singapore.

In the conference, I found myself surrounded by bright young minds from diverse backgrounds: student leaders, software developers, game designers, NGO workers, entrepreneurs; each one brimming with ideas and ablaze with passion to help shape a better world. After words of welcome from the Microsoft team, they informed us that we had a day and a half to come up with a project. The proposed idea should 1) incorporate technology in solving a pressing problem, 2) feature a sustainable business model and 3) be ready for presentation to an esteemed set of judges by the end of the conference.

The facilitators encouraged us to “keep asking questions” because this would enable us to explore the same situations with a renewed perspective. Any other doubts we had about whether or not our assigned task was feasible simply became irrelevant when two guest speakers shared how they put up their own NGOs despite their economically disadvantaged backgrounds. One of the founders was a genocide survivor, while the other was an 11 year-old boy who used to scavenge for trash.
The conference showcased the latest Microsoft technologies, not only to show us what the available platforms are, but also to demonstrate just how liberating technology could be in crystallizing ideas we would have never thought possible. I lost count of how many times I had to stifle a gasp of amazement during my hands-on trial of Microsoft Surface as I saw images and simulations simultaneously being brought to life by 50 different inputs. I couldn’t stop wishing I had my students with me so that they too could have the exhilarating experience of creating something tactile at the touch of a finger.

Microsoft said it is in the business of enabling potential. I personally believe Innovate4Good is a testament to this. In spite of time constraints and some language barriers (something common, given that Asia Pacific is a melting pot of cultures), the combined skills and expertise of the participants led to the birth of simple yet innovative ideas that address real-life challenges. More than anything, the event served as a good reminder of the magic of collaboration. Young individuals are capable of amazing things, but by working together, particularly with people whose strengths and experience differ from us, we would be able to accomplish greater things.
Imagination paired with technology leads to endless possibilities. It was so inspiring to see young people take available technology, build upon it and choose to use it for social change. With technology as our paintbrush and the world is our canvas, there is nothing stopping us from painting a brighter future.

As for me, a.k.a. the ‘least techie participant’? Well, my team’s project won second place for an idea I had been assigned to present. I’ve also made a firm resolution that Mano Amiga Academy would be more aggressive in integrating technology in our education programs and in seeking out which products and services could drastically enhance the learning experience of our students.

Oh and I no longer have to Bing ‘Cloud Computing’ to be able to tell you what it means…Admittedly, I have a long way to go, but am making encouraging first steps toward embracing technology and the world of opportunities that it offers.

Eleanor Pinugu is the co-founder of Mano Amiga Academy, Inc. The World Economic Forum recently named her as a Global Shaper for her work in development and was one of the 70 Shapers chosen to participate in the 2012 WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Her participation in Innovate4good@Microsoft has inspired her to work on her current relationship with technology—from being ‘one-sided’ and ‘transaction-based’ to a more fluid and mutually beneficial friendship. This blog entry is currently being featured in the Microsoft Citizenship Asia Pacific blog at: 
Morphing for Good Personal Highlights from Innovate4Good@Microsoft in Singapore



Thursday, April 19, 2012

Teachers' Day OFF 2012: Music, Culture, and Environmental Conservation

Held annually, Mano Amiga’s Teachers' Day Off gives partners and donors a chance to step into the Mano Amiga teachers’ shoes and to immerse in the school’s learning environment.

The celebration this year is a 3-day event which includes teaching of different subjects such as music, environment, and culture. Save the Philippine Seas founder Anna Oposa taught the children about the sea and sharks while P-3 founder Mark Bantigue showed the kids the basics of playing the guitar. 
Professor Henry Calilung along with Starbucks Philippines CSR head Zarah Perez gave a talk about the state of the Philippine environment and the importance of conservation.  Afterwards, they guided the pre-schoolers in the planting of three saplings of Apitong, a critically endangered Philippine native tree.
Youth volunteer Miogi Abejuela flew in all the way from Washington D.C. just to share the heartwarming story of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree while Hapinoy’s Michelle Pabalan instilled in the students’ young minds the importance of entrepreneurship. The three-day activity concluded with a fun Carnivale-themed activity as volunteers from the Phinma H.E.R.Oes Network introduced the children to Brazil and its culture. 
Mano Amiga Academy is a school that provides high quality education, health, and development services to children from marginalized families. The school, located in Taguig City, is part of an international network of 30 Mano Amiga schools distributed around eight countries. “We believe that the best way for our students to learn is through exposure and immersion,” Development Director Lynn Pinugu shared. “The Teacher’s Day Off activity gives our donors and kids a chance to bond and learn from each other’s experiences.”

A child will always amaze you with their ways of thinking and the questions they ask; and the Teachers’ Day Off activity yielded the most interesting questions. As Mr. Bantigue recalls, the question that struck him was “How did you learn to play guitar well?” He said, “It created the natural avenue to hammer down the value of practice, hard work and perseverance despite discomfort and trials.” The funniest request made by a kid was when a 2nd-grader asked him to play a Justin Bieber song.“I had to remind myself that I was with children. I was ready with the snark but I kept it positive. It was a taste of what's relevant in their world,” He added.
 
Mr. Abejuela found the students’ fast comprehension truly admirable. “They understood everything about the story – especially one that has a deeper theme within. I’ve never been more impressed by a group of children,” he said. “It wasn’t very hard to gain their attention. Having them laugh every once in awhile kept the attention long enough to end the story. They’re all very disciplined, and I was thankful for that.

The things the volunteers shared may not be recorded by history but they will surely be cherished in the children’s hearts. Mano Amiga will continue to celebrate Teacher’s Day Off every year. They will continue to provide this enriching and meaningful experience for the kids and the volunteers as well.

“I appreciate the opportunity that Mano Amiga provided me. To see everything in action made me admire the work even more – and I have become more devoted to the cause because of it. Even if I am contributing a small amount – I am proud of it, and will continue to do as much as I can for Mano Amiga,” Mr. Abejuela added.
 
 

Monday, April 2, 2012

Firework

Dance Basics offers free Ballet lessons in Mano Amiga Academy two Saturdays a month. The teachers saw great potential in Three Mano Amiga students namely: Jazailah, Joshua, and Camille. They received a scholarship to undergo a more intensive training and to join the ballet company's year-round recitals.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

All the Way Live teaches MA kids to break dance


Members of All the Way Live (ATWL) flew to Manila to teach Mano Amiga Academy students about the basics of break dancing.

ATWL is a group of young people passionate about break dancing who use dance as a means to reach out to underprivileged children, “working to fill the gaps left by public institutions with a safe environment to develop and create self-expression through dance.” Their after-school programs offer youth creative and positive alternatives to gang and crime-related activities that are prevalent in marginalized communities. 
After three days of breakdancing workshops, the mentors chose the students with the most potential to join the ATWL concert that was held in MOA. 
See link below for a glimpse of the students' performance: 
All The Way Live- Mano Amiga performance in MOA
"We've been teaching dance in the Philippines for the past 6 years and I've always wanted to invite our students to perform with us.  Unfortunately, we've never been able to find a school with dedicated students... until now. The performance of the Mano Amiga students was the highlight of the show, and for me, the highlight of the trip," ATWL B-boy/DJ/mentor RJ Navalta said. 
 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Whipping the Globe into Shape


(from l-r) Anna Oposa, Pie Alvarez, Lynn Pinugu
(from l-r) Anna Oposa, Pie Alvarez, Lynn Pinugu
Fifty percent of the world’s population is under the age of 27. This astounding statistic suggests that the younger generation has the capacity to run (a better) world. This number also inspired the creation of the Global Shapers Community (GSC) of the World Economic Forum (WEF), a Geneva-based nonprofit committed to improving the state of the world.
Launched only last year, the GSC is intended to build a community of leaders between 20-30 years old to pursue initiatives in their communities and represent the youth in the WEF. The GSC is the younger version of the WEF’s Young Global Leaders (YGL) program, which convenes exceptional leaders between 30-40 years old.
The Manila Hub
Thanks to the support of broadcast journalist, 2010 YGL and “mother hen” Karen Davila, the Manila Hub has nine Global Shapers from different fields: Ponce Samaniego, co-founder of Outliers, a social enterprise that provides business expertise to nonprofits; Dr. Bryan Albert Lim, founder of a film festival on health issues; law student Mildred Ople, who organizes the youth in Bulacan to pursue agricultural development projects; Alexandra Eduque, founder of Habitat for Humanity’s youth council; TV host Bianca Gonzalez, UNICEF Ambassador; Jay Jaboneta, founder of Philippine Funds for Little Kids, a nonprofit that pools resources from all over the world to help kids go to school; Lynn Pinugu, founder of Mano Amiga, an international school for underprivileged children; Pie Alvarez, 24-year-old mayor of San Vicente, Palawan; and yours truly, co-founder of Save Philippine Seas and Isko Cleans UP.
If the world is small, then the world of Filipino advocates is even smaller. Each of us either knew the other or had heard of each other before (really, who doesn’t know Bianca Gonzalez?). But it was our first time to meet as a complete group on Friday, January 13, at the Global Shapers press event. We all clicked instantly, asking each other about current or upcoming projects and thinking how we could work together.
Global Meeting of the Minds
The WEF is best known for its Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, which brings together some of the world’s top movers and shakers in the fields of business, media, politics, arts, technology, and academics. For the 2012 Annual Meeting, seventy Global Shapers from all over the world were invited to attend for the first time—three from the Manila Hub.
Lynn, Pie, and I arrived in Davos on January 22 for the private Global Shapers Program the following day. It was a little (okay, a lot) daunting to find out we would be rubbing elbows with names like Bill Gates and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Global Shapers Team knew this and made sure our worries were gone by the first session. During the opening session, we were told, "You are not kids in a grownups' table. You are here because we want to know what you think."
(from l-r) Anna Oposa, Pie Alvarez, Lynn Pinugu with David Aikman
(from l-r) Anna Oposa, Pie Alvarez, Lynn Pinugu with David Aikman
Davos Moments
The Annual Meeting delivered what it promised the Global Shapers: an opportunity to get involved in cross-mentoring with the communities of the World Economic Forum. I met several people I admired, like oceanographers Sylvia Earle and Enric Sala.
The best Davos moment happened during a session called IdeasLab, where Lynn and other Global Shapers were invited to present their projects to an audience of about 150 people consisting of colleagues and business leaders. An hour before the presentation, Lynn threw away the script she had been obsessing with. In the 5 minutes she was given, she shared the miracles and stories of transformation she has witnessed in Mano Amiga. To Lynn’s surprise, the Good Planet Foundation awarded her with $10,000 to further develop her project!
Real work
But of course, the real work begins when we go home and pursue the relationships and projects that the Annual Meeting sparked. First on the agenda is to expand the Manila Hub. From only nine, we hope to multiply and involve more Filipinos with great potential for future leadership roles in society. There has never been a more exciting time to be alive as a young person part of a generation so capable and equipped to create social change.
Source: Asian Journal http://www.asianjournal.com/dateline-philippines/headlines/14950-whipping-the-globe-into-shape.html

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

WANTED: VOLUNTEERS! :)


April 21- Book to the Future ( a book drive + book fair in March) For more info, check out the article from last year’s event: http://manoamigapilipinas.blogspot.com/2011/04/book-to-future.html

June 9- Volunteers’ Talent Fair
Volunteers will contribute their talents (e.g.face painting, dance, storytelling, arts and crafts) and the kids will go around each booth
Venue: Washington Sycip Park, Makati

July 14- Volunteers’ Talent Fair
Volunteers will contribute their talents (e.g.face painting, dance, storytelling, arts and crafts) and the kids will go around each booth
Venue: Washington Sycip Park, Makati

September 15 - Community Kids field trip
Volunteers will serve as the big brother/sister for the day
Venue: To be announced

October 13: UN Day- Volunteers will transform the different areas of the school into a particular country and the children will go around, have their passports stamped and learn about different cultures.

December 1: Advent- themed activity with the objective of helping children understand the real meaning of Christmas (arts and crafts, storytelling and cookie-decorating)



If you're interested to volunteer, send us an email at manoamigaphilippines@gmail.com!


Sunday, January 15, 2012

Development Director Eleanor Pinugu on Education and Social inclusion

The World Economic Forum recently asked the Global Young Shapers worldwide to share how the WEF Annual Forum could help them improve their respective projects and advocacies. Mano Amiga Development Director Eleanor Pinugu talks about her dream of building a country where every child has access to quality education, and the small steps she has taken towards this vision. 





Mano Amiga Development Director to present at the World Economic Forum

Mano Amiga Academy Development Director Eleanor Pinugu was recently heralded by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Global Young Shaper. She will be joining Save the Philippine Seas movement founder Anna Oposa and San Vicente Mayor Carmela Alvarez in representing the Philippines at the upcoming WEF Annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.  
Eleanor has also been asked to present the Mano Amiga project in the Ideaslab session where she'll be discussing with the WEF participants, including different heads of state, the Mano Amiga model, it successes and how she could further improve it. 
MANILA, Philippines - Nine outstanding young Filipinos were chosen as among the 2012 “Young Global Shapers” of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The young achievers are Anna Rosario Oposa, Mayor Maria Carmela Alvarez of San Vicente in Palawan, Ponce Ernest Samaniego, Jay Michael Jaboneta, Dr. Bryan Albert Lim, Eleanor Rosa Pinugu, Mildred Ople, television host Bianca Gonzalez, and Alexandra Amanda Eduque.
“The Young Global Shapers are exceptional achievers who initiated projects that have positive impact in the community,” said ABS-CBN news anchor Karen Davila, WEF Young Global Leader 2010 and Founding Curator for the YGS Manila Hub.
The nine individuals – whose ages range from 20 to 30 - have been accepted by the WEF as potential leaders because of their positive impact in their communities, said Davila.
Oposa, 23, co-founded the Save Philippine Seas movement to protect the world’s richest marine life, and “Isko Cleans UP,” a waste management program in the University of the Philippines-Diliman. She is the daughter of Ramon Magsaysay awardee, environmentalist lawyer Tony Oposa.
Alvarez, 24, the youngest female mayor of San Vicente, has a degree in International Business Administration with a concentration in Environmental Technology and Global Marketing Management from Babson College in Boston. She aims to transform the town into a tourist destination municipality using sustainable development technology to preserve its natural environment and help residents become self-reliant in terms of its present and future needs. 
Samaniego, 21, is co-founder and chief executive officer of Outliers, a social enterprise that serves as an outsourced business expertise for non-profit organizations.
Jaboneta, 30, founded the movement Philippine Funds for Little Kids that helps schoolchildren in Zamboanga City who had to swim to go to school. He was the first and former New Media Head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office under President Aquino. He is also a board member of the Kabayanihan Foundation and Team Pinoy, Inc.
Lim is a practicing physician in San Pablo, Laguna. He is a program consultant of the Asian Institute of Management Zuellig Center for Asian Business Transformation, a research associate of the UP Universal Health Care Study Group, and the proponent of the Quisumbing-Escandor Film Festival for Health and serves as adviser in various health-related projects.
Pinugu is the founder of Mano Amiga Academy, Inc, a non-profit school that provides underprivileged Filipino children access to fourteen years of high quality education (K-12th grade), and all other support they need to have a better life. After two years of raising funds for the students’ scholarships through private donations and corporate partnerships, she helped establish a social enterprise that would generate a steady income for Mano Amiga, and at the same time give employment opportunities to the mothers of the students.
Ople, 25, is an advocate of countryside development through the adoption of innovative agricultural technology with profitable business concepts and ideas. She is also one of the founders of the Hagonoy Young Leaders Program and has worked with the Ayala Foundation on youth leadership and development projects. She is currently taking up law.
Gonzalez was recently appointed as Special Advocate for Children for the United Nations Children’s Fund-Philippines.
Eduque, 21, is involved with various humanitarian projects and endeavors in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Philippines. She has been working with the organization for about seven years now, and is the founder and chairperson of the Habitat for Humanity Philippines Youth Council.
Davila said of the nine achievers, only Oposa, Pinugu and Alvarez were invited by the WEF to the 2012 conference in Davos, Switzerland next week.
The WEF is a Geneva-based non-profit organization best known for its annual meeting in Davos. It is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
The organization launched last year the Global Shapers community aimed at providing the youth with a global platform to shape the future – integrating personal, community and global dimensions. This community will help youth develop their leadership potential to serve society.
The Global Shapers community includes extraordinary young individuals with great potential for future leadership roles in society. Aged between 20 and 30 years, they represent all walks of life and share a spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest, the WEF said.

Click here for the link to the original article:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=768252&publicationSubCategoryId=63