Do you believe that every child deserves an opportunity to grow and realize his worth?

We do.

Hello! We’re Louie and Steph, volunteers of World Youth Alliance (WYA) in the Philippines. Every day, on our way to work, we see a lot of street children roaming the busy streets of Manila--usually begging, if not finding small opportunities to earn a few pesos for their meals. As volunteers of WYA and other humanitarian organizations, we have met and interacted with street children who do not receive quality education and have very little clue about their worth and potential. Some don’t even have a family or a place to call their home. Recently, we encountered a project called the Human Dignity Curriculum (HDC) which aims to teach children from ALL backgrounds about their worth, teaches them how to make better decisions, and teaches them the importance of values such as friendship, excellence, and what it means to be a “hero.” We realized that through this simple curriculum, we could reach out to these children, empower them, and hopefully give them a strong sense of purpose. This simple fundraiser is our way to make this initiative happen and we hope you could join us in this meaningful journey.

By donating to this page and helping us reach our goal, you will help us visit a community within Metro Manila, teach 30 to 50 out-of-school youth and public school students (perhaps more if we are able to reach our goal or even surpass it) with 7-8 sessions of the HDC per class. Funding from this campaign will also help provide our HDC students with writing materials, worksheets, certificates, and other HDC activity materials. It will also help fund our (volunteers) trips to the site.

What’s inside the Human Dignity Curriculum?

When roaming the streets of Manila, it’s not difficult to notice the harsh environments that many out-of-school youth and children, in general, are exposed to or are a part of; a lot of impoverished children belong to abusive environments, violent gangs, and broken families. These circumstances impact a child’s development and how children end up viewing their worth.

The Human Dignity Curriculum is an educational program for children from kindergarten age up to their teens. It aims to teach children and youth about human dignity--who they are and who they can be, and how to make responsible decisions. Through working with schools and other non-academic organizations, we help provide children and youth with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of themselves, understand the value of respect and friendship, and promote a sense of purpose.

Since the HDC was launched in 2016, it has taught more than 100 children in the Philippines--children both from formal academic institutions and from impoverished communities like Tondo and Payatas. For many of them, the HDC sessions were their safe haven.

In the HDC, children are taught about dignity, the power to choose excellence, taking care of oneself and others, friendship, and other themes. These values are communicated through interaction with the teachers and their classmates, games, poems, drawings, and other group activities. In the end, we only hope for them to build a strong sense of purpose and a foundation of values that they will carry throughout their lives.

In the coming months, we will be implementing the HDC in another community of our choice and we need your help to make it happen! Below are some quotes we’ve gathered from past HDC teachers, partners, and graduates:

About World Youth Alliance (WYA)

Founded at the United Nations (UN) in 1999, WYA is an international youth NGO that advocates for human dignity. As a United Nations ECOSOC-accredited organization, we train young people to work at the regional and international levels to impact policy and culture. Throughout the past two decades, we have grown to over 1 million members and are present in 6 regions worldwide: Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.

We continue to devote ourselves to promote a culture that respects and protects the human person. With projects and programs within the areas of advocacy, education, and culture, we promote the intrinsic value of each and person, the importance of family as well as holistic development.If you would like to learn more about us and support our cause, kindly visit our website or social media pages:
www.wya.net
https://www.facebook.com/WorldYouthAlliance.AP/
https://twitter.com/wyaasiapacific
https://www.instagram.com/wyaasiapacific/