A student initiative receives a Go Make a Difference grant
Our first-year student from the Philippines Lhana has received a grant from Go Make a Difference and will be spending her summer vacations working on a meaningful project in her home country. In doing so she will be joined by Keziah – also a first-year from the Philippines at UWC SEA.
Lhana did an internship at the Bless the Children Foundation in 2022, an experience that opened her eyes to the severe issue of food insecurity in the Philippines. She describes how this journey began: «It all started during a feeding program at my school. I was talking to a group of 7-year-olds about my school and expected questions about fun events and activities. However, all they wanted to know was what it’s like to have a cafeteria and snacks available every day. I could hardly believe that a basic right such as access to safe and healthy food could be denied in the Philippines, so I began to research this issue. I then came across the Bless the Children Foundation, which I joined, witnessing how children and elderly people from poverty-stricken sectors bear the brunt of the food insecurity crisis. During my two-month internship, I mentored volunteers, tutored children, fed the sick, spearheaded marketing projects and ran fundraising campaigns. Throughout this time, I kept thinking about ways to make a difference in these people’s lives».
During her first year at UWC Adriatic, Lhana came up with the idea for Food on Wheels, and Keziah was thrilled to join her in this endeavour. The project aims to increase access to safe and nutritious food in the impoverished neighbourhood of Tondo in Manila. Embracing the popularity of mobile street food in Asian culture, Lhana and Keziah plan to purchase and revamp at least five second-hand food carts and donate them to NGOs running feeding and livelihood programs in the slums. By collaborating with the Bless the Children Foundation, they will help tackle undernutrition and food insecurity experienced by 25,000 residents living in extreme poverty.
According to UNICEF, Manila holds the unfortunate record of having the world’s highest homeless population, with 35% of its residents living in slums. Barangay 105 is a section of Tondo – the poorest slum in Manila – where 25,000 people live on a dumpsite surrounded by piles of garbage. During her internship at the Bless the Children Foundation, Lhana noticed that only a small portion of the people living in Barangay 105 participated in the food distribution programs. The reasons were clear: single parents were unable to come to the distribution points because they were busy taking care of very small children; teenagers were tasked with staying at home to care for younger siblings while their parents were away; seniors couldn’t move easily and many families lived in isolated areas.
Food on Wheels aims to adapt the Asian culture of popular, commercial mobile street food vendors to meet the needs of undernourished people living in Barangay 105, thereby extending the impact of NGOs involved in food distribution programs. Lhana and Keziah have carefully planned the implementation of their project. They will order the second-hand carts, arrange for their repair, refurbish them with equipment, and decorate them with the project brand design to distinguish them from commercial food vendors. The carts will then be delivered to the NGOs, and arrangements will be made to find volunteers to operate them. They will also organise the launch event and engage with the local community and NGO staff to collect feedback and assess the project’s initial impact. Using this data, they plan to apply for government grants, reach out to other NGOs, and start a crowdfunding campaign to extend the project’s impact and ensure its sustainability.
Lhana and Keziah’s commitment to addressing food insecurity through innovative solutions like Food on Wheels exemplifies the UWC spirit of taking personal initiatives to make a tangible difference in the world. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of their work and are proud of their dedication to making a difference in the communities in need in their country.
