Teach 15,000 rural kids to save and invest

Here in the Philippines, with or without the resources to spend, celebrations have always been fun. And as we join the global world of Aflatoun, our partner schools have prepared some exciting activities for our dear student savers in celebration for the Global Money Week and Aflatoun International Day last March 14-20 with the theme: Take Part, Save Smart!

The city of Tagum, also known as the City of Festivals, stayed true to their nickname and had a joyous Aflatoun International Day celebration for their youth savers! With an Inter-School Variety Show Competition, Aflatoun Kit and Balloon Making Contest and other activities organized by the Tagum Cooperative with the help of the schools and teachers, almost a hundred active and talented participants were able to join the Global Celebration and showcase their talents and creativity. Ofcourse, the Aflatoun Mascot was also present in the event, always ready to celebrate!

And to give you a brief background, Cebu is known as one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines and in the town of Pinamungajan, the global Aflatoun event was celebrated through a series of activities such as Poster Making Contest and Quiz Bowl. The Lamac MPC Youth Planet Laboratory Cooperative also organized an Aflateen Camp and conducted a Basic Coop Course, Financial Literacy and Gender Sensitivity Training participated by the Youth Savers from their partner schools just in time for the celebration. 

Nobody can argue that in this modern age, Internet has an undeniably great control in reaching out and connecting people. As a matter of fact, in one of the activities laid out for the global celebration, the Internet acted as the connecting bridge. The Global Connect is an activity where savers from one place can communicate with other savers from a different part of the world thru video-call software.

For the first time ever, savers from Saint Bernard Central School in Southern Leyte had an amazing experience of talking with savers from the country of Timor Leste or East Timor. And in the Most Loyal and Noble City, Iloilo City, the savers from the SPED-Integrated School for Exceptional Children even rented a space in a nearby coffeeshop to get a better signal for the Global Connect. They have been able to talk to other student savers about the program and its positive outcome. Meanwhile, the savers from Tagum City also experienced the Global Connect and have been able to communicate with several countries like Amsterdam, Pakistan and Sri Lanka wherein they exchanged ideas and befriended foreign Youth savers.

This year’s celebration has been both entertaining and enriching. And like the previous years, we always make sure that the savers have fun and, at the same time, recognize the importance of saving. With our partner schools' help, we educate our youth that to have a fun-filled celebration, you don't have to spend too much but just spend wisely and work together! We're already looking forward for the next year's celebration, how about you?

Till next update, keep saving!