By Maritoni L. Saberon | Project Officer
Filipino children raised in poverty usually get used to that kind of life that they dream no more. Most often than not, they grow up without having gone to school or if they have, they usually do not make it until graduation. They marry at an early age and bear children who would go through the same cycle of life- poor, destitute, and always coping with life’s difficulties.
“I was born in a world where things seemed not on our favor. We do not have a permanent house. My fingers would not even suffice to count the number of times when we transfer from one place to another. My family’s income was not enough to send me and my brother to college”, Regine, 20, a CJFI scholar said. However, she resisted the idea of staying poor all her life and started to dream. She availed of the academic scholarship that was offered by an academic institution to poor but deserving students. Crawling her way to college though had never been easy. In her last years in school, expenses bloated out that her scholarship cannot support her completely. She felt incapacitated to finish her studies. That’s when Children’s Joy Foundation, Inc. came to the rescue. “CJFI just came when life challenged me once again. I did not have to worry about my school fees and other expenses anymore. I was able to focus on my studies”, she said with a smile.
On March 25, 2015, Regine delivered her speech to a huge crowd, “My dreams could have remained fictional and imaginary without the help of so many people. Thank you for being the real root of my success today.” She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.
In 2014-2015, CJFI has served 158 more disadvantaged children in seven child care residential centers in the Philippines through its program that includes the provision of food, basic supplies and free education. Majority of these beneficiaries are still in elementary level. In addition to that, scholarship grants are also given to poor but deserving students in the communities. We thank you for helping us sustain this project with your generous donations. Please continue to support us. Your donations via Global Giving allow us to feed and send to school these poor children. There may be more kids like Regine who just need a shove, a support in order to succeed.
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