ScholarsPH: A Scholarship Project for the Philippines by @tagalogtrail

@tagalogtrail started as a curation project for Filipino language content in Steemit. Its Discord server became a hub for Filipino writers to gather; it was never meant to be a group - our discord is still more like a hangout place, nonetheless, passionate writers joined and the community began to grow. The gathering gave birth to several colorful ideas - from zany writing prompts to heartwarming contests. And now, we’re hoping we could start something more meaningful and long-lasting.

Empowering the Future through Education

We believe education would not only enrich individual lives but it’ll also make a broader impact on our society. By empowering the youth of today, we’re planting seeds that would reshape the nation years ahead. It is this sentiment that drives the charity project that we’re pushing for. It is unlikely will make a tremendous difference on the country’s struggling state but change may come, one youth at a time.

@scholarsph will support students by providing funds for their school fees and allowance. Our current target is to sponsor youth currently studying or enrolling in a trade or vocational school. Most of these educational institutions offer livelihood or employment opportunities after completion of the program, ensuring that time spent studying would be worthwhile.

From our interviews and interactions, we also gathered that the youth within this age group (tertiary level) has the most drive to finish their studies and transform their lives for the better. They are young enough to aspire and hope, but they are old enough to be practical and understand the hardships of life. Thus, we think this demographic holds the most potential in utilizing education at the soonest time.

The Scholarship Program and Funding Sources

Trade course fee is around $200 per year, with the entire program running for two years. A student would usually need to spend more for projects and other expenses, but the base amount $200 paints a clear picture that a relatively small amount could change a life forever.

We initiated the funding the project through donations from Filipino authors. We started a writing prompt challenge where participating authors can voluntarily donate their post payouts. Some also pledged to give a regular donation to support the first beneficiary of the project. Yes, we have already found our first scholar, Myke :) You’ll get to know more about him later on.

Aside from the pledges, we’ll also be launching our @fundition project in the next few days. You’ll get to know more about our first scholar and the scholarship details in our Fundition post. Through Fundition and your support, we’re hoping we could gather sufficient funds not only for our first scholar but also for several other scholars in our lineup.

We’ve built this dream of helping the youth on the Steem blockchain, and we’re optimistic the blockchain will also be the gateway to fulfilling that goal.

The People Behind the Project

@scholarsph is spearheaded by the @tagalogtrail’s three curators: @toto-ph, @junjun-ph, and @lingling-ph. The three admins would serve as project lead that would oversee fair operations and effective handling of the funds. And it won’t be just those three; the project is wholeheartedly backed by all the Filipino Steemit writers at our discord server.

To represent the project on the updates and communications front, @chinitacharmer and several other volunteers (@jazzhero, @romeskie, @twotripleow and @johnpd) would be the contributors for this project. @chinitacharmer has been an educator for over ten years and is currently one of the mentors of our pioneer beneficiary. We’ll be closely coordinating with the operations of the program and will be giving you updates through regular @scholarsph blogs.

@scholarsph is born out of the union of advocacies and desire to help, and we know there’ll be several more who will support the cause.

Thank you and Mabuhay!