Why a Student Center?

The Student Center actually began as a vision, the seeds of which were planted back in 1992 when Young Focus first started sponsoring children from Manila's garbage dump. Sponsoring children is a long term investment: you will not see immediate results, but you will see permanent ones!
Yet the people running Young Focus did notice that school sponsorship was not always effective. Many students seemed to miss the opportunity to develop their talents within the Filipino education system offered to them. Part of the problem was that young people from squatter areas wrestle with low self-esteem; they also lack support from their parents. 

What can you do in a Student Center?

From 2002 onwards the vision started to really grow: with a Student Center Young Focus would be able offer what the students really need. It would be a place providing:

1. Computers for the students to use, both for their studies as well as recreationally
2. Staff and rooms to coach the students
3. Educational programs and classrooms for extra tuition in English and Mathematics
4. Workshops covering all kinds of subjects relevant for the students during their studies: career planning, creativity, school subjects, specific courses, etc.
5. Place to study, do homework assignments
6. A library
7. Place to relax and have fun

Young Focus has a Student Center since 2008!

Young Focus now has a Student Center which offers all of the above! With a strong team of 10 local full-timers and some volunteers Young Focus can give comprehensive and dynamic support to the sponsored students as they prepare for the future. A future beyond the boundaries of a squatter area, beyond the 'prison bars' of poverty.

Experience shows that combining the sponsorship program with coaching, extra tuition and the relevant tools, such as computers, etc., provides the student with a strong foundation. With such support and supervision the number of students dropping out - giving up their studies - is being drastically reduced.

Young people growing up in a squatter area, where the basic necessities of life are a daily issue, are constantly faced with the 'temptation' to look for work rather than to continue studying. There is often also pressure from their parents to help provide for their family. Sometimes the need is so acute that there is no alternative but to find work. However, not finishing school automatically means far fewer openings in the job market in the future. At the Student Center Young Focus staff talk about these issues with the parents and their children, looking for a solution together so that the student can stay at school one way or another.

Go here to the application form to sponsor a student.
Or click here if you would like to make an online donation to Young Focus!