The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), its six partner associations, and more than 300 member companies, has partnered with My Dream in a Shoebox (MDIAS) to build educational hubs (e-Hub) for two adopted school communities in far-flung areas in Bohol and Capiz.

MDIAS, which is an annual education campaign spearheaded by award-winning integrated marketing experience agency TeamAsia, aims to equip less fortunate Filipino children with tools to help them reach for a brighter future. For its 13th year, the program is working together with the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation to make education more accessible and inclusive even amid the lingering impact of the pandemic.

Present during the turnover ceremony were Jack Madrid, President and CEO of IBPAP; Monette Iturralde-Hamlin, President and Founder of TeamAsia; Dr. Anton Mari H. Lim, Co-Founder of the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, and Jacquelyn Barrios, Vice President of People Function at Genpact. Representatives from other member companies were also in attendance to lend their support to the project.

The two e-Hubs will provide students and teachers with resources and tools that can help with their distance and modular learning. These include laptops, stable internet connection, printing and school supplies, face masks and alcohol, as well as coverage for some administrative and logistical expenses. The first e-Hub will benefit Dr. Cecilio Putong National High School in Tagbilaran City, which caters to over 8,000 students and over 250 teachers. The second one will be constructed in Roxas City for Dumolog National High School and over 700 students and teachers.

“As an industry that deeply values the Filipino talent, the IT-BPM sector has always made it a priority to develop initiatives that center around enhancing and harnessing their skills,” said Mr. Madrid. “This collaboration with MDIAS is not only representative of the values that IBPAP espouses, but also a great way for us to give back to the community through the generosity and continued allyship of our members.”

The donation was made in lieu of a holiday celebration to ensure that the health and safety of employees are maintained.

Education is the key for children to achieve their dreams and aspirations in life. But with the pandemic limiting the access of around 27 million Filipino children, it is imperative that we continue to instill hope and lifelong learnings into their minds. One way we can do this is by ensuring that children get proper education so they can make their dreams come true.

TeamAsia—an integrated marketing experience agency—recognizes the vital role of education for children to recover from the aftermath of the pandemic in the years to come. This is why the company is kicking off its annual education campaign program, My Dream in a Shoebox (MDIAS) to enable children to continue their education, especially during the second school year in the midst of the pandemic.


“Education is the most powerful tool we can equip children with to help them break the cycle of poverty and create new opportunities for them to succeed and map out their own future. The impact of the pandemic only heightens the importance of making sure that every child, especially those who are less fortunate, continuously have access to quality education and the tools they need to conquer and learn in the now normal,” said TeamAsia’s Managing Director and MDIAS Chief Dream Builder, Bea Lim.

In its 13th year, MDIAS will be holding a fundraising campaign in partnership again with the Yellow Boat of Hope (YBH) Foundation—a non-government organization that ensures every child in the Philippines experiences quality education. MDIAS and YBH have previously worked together to help empower children through education to reach their dreams. This year, the two organizations are teaming up once more to help children who are struggling with the blended learning system.

“Even before the pandemic, there are a lot of factors as to why Filipino children are out of school. The pandemic highlighted these challenges even further, reason why we need to reimagine how we do education here in the Philippines and think of long-term solutions to enable children to stay in school,” said Anton Mari H. Lim, Co-Founder of Yellow Boat of Hope. “And Yellow Boat of Hope is very happy to be taking this journey with My Dream in a Shoebox to make Filipino children’s bigger dreams come true.”

MDIAS is raising funds for two causes this school year. First is to fund an E-Hub in one of the far flung provinces of the Philippines that will provide children with tools and equipment they need for blended learning. The goal is to raise PHP150,000 to provide a community with six laptops, internet connection for a year, printer and printing supplies, school supplies, face masks, alcohol, and allowance for logistical expenses.

Second, MDIAS will be calling for donations to raise PHP250,000 to support 10 scholars in each of its 10 partner communities from all over the Philippines. The donations will help finance the child’s supplies for school projects, parent’s transportation expenses in getting the scholars’ self-learning modules from school, and hygiene kits with face masks and alcohol for their daily needs.

TeamAsia believes that now more than ever, it is important that everyone continue supporting and empowering children, especially in creating ways for them to keep learning. Through these efforts, children have the potential to take charge of their future and make their #BiggerDreams come true.

Since 2009, MDIAS has been equipping less fortunate Filipino children with educational assistance. It started with a modest collection of 200 shoeboxes from TeamAsia’s industry partners and friends, containing school supplies to inspire children to go to school. From there, it flourished and has expanded to sponsoring students from various partner communities across the country and impacted as much as 500,000 lives.

If you’re interested to take part in this year’s MDIAS campaign, you may follow these steps to donate:

Step 1: Visit MDIAS website

 

Step 2: Scroll down and click the ‘Make a Donation’ button.

 

Step 3: Choose which of the two causes you would like to donate to--Fund an E-Hub or Support a Scholar? You can also choose both!

 

Step 4: If you wish to fund an E-Hub, you can just input the amount you would like to donate and click ‘Make a Donation’. But if you want to support a scholar or a community, you can only donate PHP2,500 and PHP25,000 respectively.

 

Step 5: Review your cart and hit ‘Proceed to Checkout’.

 

Step 6: Fill up the Billing Form, choose your mode of payment, click ‘Place Order’, and you’re done!

“The pandemic may be challenging, but it has highlighted the value of working and banding together to recover, heal, and make a change no matter how grave the aftermath is. Through this program, we have an opportunity and a shared responsibility to help children rise above these unfortunate events and turn their #BiggerDreams into reality,” said Lim.

Make a donation now and see how your simple effort can make a big impact on children and the community. To know more about MDIAS, please visit https://www.teamasia.com/shoeboxcampaign/ or contact its organizers at shoebox@teamasia.com.

Education in the now normal continues to be a struggle for many Filipino children, especially those in the marginalized sector. The crisis and disruption brought by the pandemic do not only add to the existing education disparities, but also hamper the learning process and opportunities of the youth. Thus, ensuring learning continuity is imperative now more than ever.

As the education sector pivots and innovates from the impact of the pandemic, new approaches and different learning modalities have been developed to better support it. For My Dream in a Shoebox (MDIAS), education is the one thing that must not be taken away from a child, most especially in times of need. For 2020, it shifts its gears to help answer the changing needs of students today.

As annual education campaign spearheaded by TeamAsia, MDIAS aims to equip less fortunate Filipino children with educational assistance and help them make their #BiggerDreams come true. Innovating its dream kits and scholarships for its 12th year, MDIAS transformed its Do-It-Yourself shoeboxes and adapted the calls of the Department of Education to cater to the needs of distance learning. Aside from school supplies, MDIAS has added calls for donations of solar-powered and rechargeable transistor radios, old or new tablets, old usable computers with mobile internet dongle, working printers with ink tank and refillable ink, and photocopy machine with affordable toners to help make learning sustainable for students and teachers in the now normal.

For partners of MDIAS like the Yellow Boat of Hope (YBH) Foundation, the pandemic has surely changed educational efforts. Seeing as the resources that beneficiaries urgently need are educational support to

help them implement the Distance Modular learning approach, YBH quickly pivoted from their yellow school boats bringing kids to school to delivering educational modules to the doorsteps of the learners to ensure that no child will be left behind. Through MDIAS, their scholarship program for 100 vulnerable elementary school kids will continue.

According to Father Didoy Molina, one of MDIAS’ beneficiaries from Christ the King Parish, school supplies given out to their parish scholars greatly improve their capacity to study, increase their confidence and performance, and enhance their self-esteem. He explained that the tools do not only help the children do well in their studies, but are also instruments of love and care shared with them by their parents and by the generous donors, telling them that they are cared for, and that their dreams are supported.

"I am looking forward to seeing more smiles and grateful faces as they receive beautiful boxes filled with school supplies, wrapped with care by generous donors. These memorable experiences really stay with me for life and inspire me to hope for our young people," Father Didoy shared.

For Bea Lim, Managing Director of TeamAsia and MDIAS Chief Dreambuilder, corporate social responsibility is not just about giving back to the community when things get tough. It is a continuous commitment to inclusive growth, progress and development that will ultimately lead to a stronger, sustainable and thriving society.

"This now normal we are in today highlights the importance of bayanihan and malasakit to work together to fight this pandemic and push for economic recovery with compassion, empathy, and faith that we can all get through this together," Lim emphasized. Through the years, My Dream in a Shoebox has equipped over 400,000 children across the Philippines with the necessary tools they need to chase their #BiggerDreams. With the communities facing even greater challenges today due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MDIAS wants to make its impact not only bigger, but more efficient and safe. MDIAS is open to more individuals and corporate partners to join them in giving more underprivileged children the gift of education and to help in making their dreams come true. For more information on making #BiggerDreams come true, log on to www.teamasia.com/shoeboxcampaign, call +639178813724, or email shoebox@teamasia.com.