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August 2005 Visit to the Philippines Maureen Carroll, PCAFPD President, and Carol Hammaker Radomski, VP, traveled to the Philippines for three weeks in August 2005 to meet with scholars and graduates, explore new possibilities for program development, and gain a better understanding of the state of education in the Philippines.  On all accounts it was a very successful trip! Roland de Jesus, VP for Philippine Operations, along with Daisy Mejia and Martha Lucero, took time away from their busy schedules to assist with the trip logistics and offer their insights into program management.   We met with 29 PCAFPD current scholars and graduates in Manila, Leyte, Sorsogon, and Batanes.  We were very impressed with the quality and accomplishments of the scholars.  The personal stories are heart-rending and underscore the value of an education to these students.

More Highlights of the trip:

Meetings with officials of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Philippine-American Educational Foundation, and representatives of other scholarship programs brought us up to date on the state of education, particularly higher education, and informed us about scholarship programs and procedures. We have documents that will assist us in revision of our application and memorandum of agreement with students.

Meetings with Peace Corps staff and Volunteers resulted in new opportunities for increasing collaboration and the identification of ongoing Filipino liaisons.

Through the assistance of the Peace Corps Director, we were able to meet with top officials of Leyte State University and confirmed the desirability of partnership agreements.

We met with a national leader in the field of technical education and have the opportunity to do some pilot scholarships in the field, with co-funding.

We established contacts with the AFS high school exchange program and the Girls Scouts of the Philippines as a means of improving our applicant pool by identifying young people with leadership potential and financial need. We met with community coordinators from another US-based scholarship organization, Philippine Scholars, and explored areas of cooperation.

We established contact with the Ayala Foundation and identified the potential of graduates of their leadership program as mentors to our scholars. We agreed to help promote their GILAS program to install computer labs and connectivity in high schools through the country.

We were able to keep costs of the trip quite low due to the hospitality of many Filipinos and friends.  The trip was demanding and tiring but extremely productive and energizing.  The need for the scholarships is great—indeed, it’s almost overwhelming. The Foundation is doing good and meaningful work that really is changing the lives of the scholars and their families. We are blessed with the voluntary services of Roland, Daisy and Martha.

The challenge ahead of us is to be able to follow through on the initiatives stimulated by this trip. That will require increased investment of time by all Board members, increased financial resources, and hopefully the time and energy of other RPCVs and friends.  Our need to attract new people to the organization remains urgent, and we encourage you to get involved and help us continue our commitment to the people of the Philippines.