Dear Supporter,
We trust this report finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.
Despite the continued impact of Typhoon Odette, it has been a hectic and rewarding three months for our 'Girls Got This' projects. Here are some of the highlights which have been delivered as a direct result of your continued support;
We share below some pictures from the field and invite you to read more about these successes through the links provided. We also hope you can follow our work via our socials where we continue to provide regular updates;
IG: https://www.instagram.com/_girlsgotthis/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GirlsGotThis/
Website: https://www.girlsgotthis.org/
Thank you for your continued support!
Angel Villamor
Project Lead,
Girls Got This, Cebu
Links:
Dear Friends,
We hope our latest project updates find you safe and well.
It has been a very difficult few weeks for people all over Central Philippines, including many of the girls we are supporting in Cebu, as they continue to recover from the impacts of Typhoon Rai, which ravaged the communities of Surigao Del Norte, Leyte, Negros, Cebu and Palawan when it hit on Dec 16th, 2021. In total, over 4 million people were displaced from the Typhoon, which was the strongest typhoon since Super Typhoon Haiyan, which hit in 2013. Many of the most vulnerable are still trying to recover as their homes were damaged, and for so many, completely destroyed.
The typhoon also directly impacted FundLife communities and staff from Cebu. Many communities in Cebu City were without power for almost 3 weeks and communities in the province are still without access to power or clean drinking water.
For vulnerable girls in Cebu, the Typhoon came on the back of an almost two-year lockout from school and further threatens their right to a safe childhood and access to learning. It is vital we still continue to prioritise education for girls, despite the urgent need to ensure they have safe houses and access to water and food security.
Prior to the typhoon, there had been great progress being made through our 'Girls Got This' programming, with the following notable updates occurring between October - December;
Our focus this month has been ensuring all the girls we have been supporting prior to the typhoon and safe and have their basic needs met. Many of the programming activities planned for January have not been possible due to power and mobile signal being lost after the typhoon.
Our intention is to kick-start our 2022 programming early in February and remind girls that no matter what challenges we face, the right to our education and dreams should never be compromised. Adversity gives strength and for all the girls who continue to work, despite COVID-19 challenges and now the Typhoon, it will build amazing resiliency and show them that they can overcome anything!
We believe in her dreams and we are excited to see what 2022 brings for girls!
Thank you for believing in our work and for your ongoing support.
Dear friends,
I am writing to share an update report showing all the developments we have done so far with our #standwithgirls movement.
While nearly every country in the world has partially or fully reopened schools to in-person classes, the Philippines has kept them closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. School enrolments fell to 26.9 million in September 2020 and have dropped a further 5 million since, according to official figures. The current educational emergency has an immensense impact on the future of all children, and especially adolescent girls.
To cope with this educational crisis, #standwithgirls has been busy to keep adolescent girls engaged with their studies and help them not drop out of school. Since the last time we spoke, we have been able to distribute over 750 'Safe at home and in-learning packs' to the most vulnerable girls in Cebu. These packs include: educational materials, as well as internet load to join online classes, hygiene products and activity books to help girls deal with anxiety and mental health pressures during the pandemic.
To have a better grasp about the needs and struggles of the girls we work with, we conducted a survey interviewing over 750 adolescents in Cebu. Findings showed that our respondents strongly agreed that they are having a hard time finding a good wifi/data connection for their online classes. 40.8% said that they don’t have an available internet connection while 5.8% answered that they use mobile data to connect to their online classes incurring additional expenses that are hard to cover for many families in the Philippines. This shows how critical the support is that we are providing, and how much your help is needed to help us continue our efforts!
We have been able to resume with our 'Community Learning Spaces' in Leyte, providing access to safe learning zones for children who do not have access to learning spaces. In total, 105 children have been using the space since it was launched in partnership with local health authorities. To empower our girls we have organised women empowerment and mentorship sessions across Cebu and Leyte with a total 139 adolescent girls and young women joining these sessions.
Some of the young women have been able to complete our 'Girls Got This Works' COVID-19 employment pathway program with a 60% employment success rate. Another 14 girls are currently enrolled in the program. 2 young women will be starting vocational training courses where they will develop new skills that can translate into a rewarding career.
To create more opportunities for young people we launched our Online Programming Classes last year, where 5 youth mentors graduated from at the beginning of this year. Another 12 participants have enrolled in the Online Programming Classes in Tacloban and 10 more adolescent girls will be starting the online programming courses next month in Cebu, where they will enhance their skills in coding, web design, software development, data analysis and in other technical areas.
We are still going strong with our 'stay at home' videos and 'educational' videos, which are shared on our social media platforms twice a week, to keep children informed on social issues like peer influence ,what drugs are & what are the effects and gender identity. These videos are not only created to educate children about certain topics but also to keep them sane and healthy while in lockdown.
We also continued with our community based session, and extended our mentorship sessions across Cebu. We have been delivering mentorship sessions four times a month in several communities in Cebu focusing on the topics like my changing body, peer pressure and menstruation during the pandemic. The girls expressed that they are learning more about themselves and find the sessions useful in terms of getting different insights in life.
Thank you for all your support, which is what makes our work possible. I hope we can do more good together in helping adolescent girls during this educational crisis!
For more information, follow our Girls Got This on Facebook or Instagram!
Stay safe, healthy and active during these very difficult times.
All the best,
Melissa Karadana
Dear friends,
I am writing to share an update report showing all the developments we have done so far.
Currently, schools have been closed for over 464 days. Unicef states that 1 in 7 have missed more than three-quarters of their in-person learning. School closures have devastating consequences for children’s learning and wellbeing. The most vulnerable children and those unable to access remote learning are at an increased risk of never returning to the classroom, and even being forced into child marriage or child labor.
With our #standwithgirls campaign, we aim to help adolescent girls and young women with safe-at-home packs, mentorship sessions, champion sessions, programming classes and economic empowerment classes to keep girls engaged in their education as well as finding dignified employment in the future. Since last time we spoke we have had many more interesting female guest speakers. Gabbi Carballo (Miss Cebu 2018), Cathy Chiong (female entrepreneur), Regine Guevara (UN advisor of Asian Youth Council) and Nidal Benali (Secretary-General of AJD Football Team) all inspired our girls on the topics mental health, work and employment and making your own opportunities.
On International Women's Day we partnered with Charma, a high-end activewear brand based in the Philippines, to raise awareness for economic empowerment for young women during the pandemic. Every top sold helped a Filipina in need by funding her for a job skill three month program that will empower her with the knowledge and skill necessary before meeting potential employers. The campaign was successful, over 35 high end influencers across the Philippines joined to advocate for the rights for these women and encourage people to buy a top to help these young women.
Since the 20th of February, 8 young women have been following our Girls Got This 'Works' program, a job skill program that supports young women in enhancing their business skills and finding dignified employment for the future. During these sessions the girls enhance their marketing and business skills as well as their entrepreneur skills. We had female guest speakers who did workshops on ''how to start your own business'' and ''how to set up your own Shopee Shop''. The first group of young women have finished the job skill training program and some have even found dignified employment in the job market in the Philippines.
On March 21, 2021 GirlsGotThis, partnered with Bidlisiw Foundation, handed out over a 100 Fiesta Packs to the chosen beneficiaries of the A Thousand Smile Project by JP Morgan and Chase. The activity was done to coincide with the 2-day learning session initiated by Bidlisiw Foundation. It was held at the Intosan Resort in Danao City.
We are still going strong with our 'stay at home' videos and 'educational' videos, which are shared on our social media platforms twice a week, to keep children informed on social issues like social media awareness, poverty awareness and building good family relationships. These videos are not only created to educate children about certain topics but also to keep them sane and healthy while in lockdown.
We also continued with our community based session, and extended our mentorship sessions in more communities in Metro Cebu. We have been delivering mentorship sessions twice a month in several communities in Cebu focussing on the topics like friendship, team work but also 'Self mapping' and 'Who am I?'.The girls expressed that they are learning more about themselves and find the sessions useful in terms of getting different insights in life.
On the 22nd and 23rd May 2021, Fundlife International distributed 100 gift boxes from JP Morgan & Chase in two barangays of Olango Island, Lapu-Lapu City. The gift boxes were given to 5- to 8-year-old girls and boys in Barangay Sta. Rosa and Barangay Tungasan.
Thank you for all your support, which is what makes our work possible. I hope we can do more good together in the next couple of months.
For more information, follow our Girls Got This on Facebook or Instagram!
Stay safe, healthy and active during these very difficult times.
Best wishes,
Melissa Karadana
Links:
Dear friends,
I am writing to share an update report showing all the developments we have done so far.
In the Philippines children haven't been to school over 365 days and many are not able to access distance learning during COVID-19. Women and girls are among the most vulnerable to education disruptions, and that will have negative effects for everyone.
Our goal to make sure all girls will go back to school when schools open and make sure the girls stay motivated, engage them in learning activities during these hard times. We are still busy with our Champion sessions, making sure the girls are connected with role models that can inspire them to dream big and set goals. Currently we had 4 Champions sessions, these we organise once every month with a different guest speaker. Guest speakers like Pauline Lopez, Quinley Quezada and Cam Rodriquez have had inspiring talks with the girls.
Allthough we are very determined for all girls to return to school, realistically seen, not all girls and young women will. Girls not returning to school will not only affect their chances in the future but will also affect the lives of their children, resulting in a never ending cycle of poverty. The disproportionate economic impact on women is likely to result in increased extreme poverty, and reduce opportunities for labor force participation, including through business ownership and enterprise, thereby further exacerbating gender income disparities. Therefore, Girls Got This will start with its first project Girls Got This 'Works' on the 20th of February. Here a small group of 8 girls and young women will enter a job skill programme that will support them in finding dignified employment and create a positive future.The girls will enter a 3 month programme where they intensively work on their future aspirations making sure they gain knowledge, skills and are introduced to potential employers.
As mentioned last time, we are conintuing with the 'Stand With Girls' campaign and we have reached over a 120 Girls Got This ambassadors, who are raising awareness for problems girls in the Philippines face, especially during lockdown. And, we got something special planned for Internationals Women's Day (and Girls Got This 1 year anniversary!!) . Girls Got This in collaboration with Charma is looking to help the most marginalised girls and women by making sure that they have access to opportunities, opportunities that help them to secure a positive future with dignified employment. Every t-shirt sold will go to a girl to help her enter a job skill programme to help her find diginified employment opportunities.
We are still going strong with our 'stay at home' videos and 'educational' videos, which are shared on our social media platforms twice a week, to keep children informed on social issues like gender equality, safe spaces and child rights. At the same time we keep them healthy and entertained during lockdown. And we are delighted to annouce that our junior coach won The 2020 Courageous Use of Sport Award Winners supported by WWE.
We also continued with our community based session, providing Life Skill Education to those without any internet connectivity. As for now we have had several community based sessions in different communities across Leyte, topics we are focusing on are: drug use & avoidence, team work, but also safe spaces. We are planning to organise 52 different community based themes this year, each week a different theme to keep children engaged and informed about the social issues we are all facing in this world.
Thank you for all your support, which is what makes our work possible.
For more information, follow our Girls Got This on Facebook or Instagram!
Stay safe, healthy and active during these very difficult times.
Best wishes,
Melissa Karadana
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