Universal Children's Day

Universal Children's Day was celebrated on October 19th and 20th this year.

Each of the girls dresses in a costume to represent a different country in a parade through the local community and in performances at the school. 

(The costumes were donated to the school and do not come out of the sponsorships.)

School Shoes

This past weekend Edgardo and Yenyen with the help of some of the children's parents took 50 girls out shopping for school shoes!

These 4 girls had never been in a store before this day. They'd never  owned a pair of new  shoes.

Matching Grant Challenge

A supporter of Her Star Scholars has offered us a matching grant challenge. If we raise $1500 by May 1, the donor will donate an additional $1500.

This is a great opportunity for us to help us support the children!

That means every dollar you donate will go twice as far.

Please consider using this opportunity to help us change the lives of girls through education!

Click here to donate through paypal.

Congratulations to our Littlest Stars!

Your Gift of Learning, Our Tool for Nation Building

On March 24th the Obod-Obod Christian Learning Center held their closing exercises for the year. Seventeen girls graduated from Kinder 2 and will be moving on to Grade 1 in the fall.

The children and parents arrive for the ceremony.

Receiving Certificates of Completion.

Part of the Graduating Class

Presents in the Philippines

Several sponsors gathered presents for the children in Her Star's Philippine project. They didn't make it in time for Christmas, but the children were so excited when they did arrive!

Presents unpacked

Waiting is so hard!

A Huge Thank You to Everyone Who Helped Make This Such a  Special Day!

Her Star Sholars in the the Philippines Celebrate Christmas

Preparing for the Christmas Party

Gifts for the children and their families

There was a lot of singing!

More singing!

More Singing...

And more singing!

There were games like rolling a calamansi (like a key lime) with your nose.

And games with children on their mothers' shoulders

And lots of special food! This is a lechon (roasted pig).

 Thank you to all of the sponsors who made this possible!

Christmas in the Philippines

A week before Christmas the children of the Obod-Obod Christian Learning Center put on a performance for their families and the community. They sang songs, danced, and performed a short play. Afterwards the children were surprised by a visit from the Jollibee Bee!

Program Success!

One Meal at a Time

We started off the school year in the Philippines with 50% of the pre-school girls classified as malnourished. As of yesterday, the most recent medical exam shows no malnutrition among the girls who started class in June.

Thank you to everyone who has made this possible!

United Nations Parade

Philippines

Vietnam

On October 21 the children from the Obod-Obod Christian Learning Center celebrated United Nations Day. They learned about different cultures and then had a parade and program.

Libya

USA 

Japan and Hungary

Lessons in Sharing

This sister and brother are Ruella Joy and Mark. On days when lunch is served they choose not to finish all the food they receive so that they can take some home for their siblings. When they were asked about who would eat the food they were saving, Mark said that his younger siblings will be the one who will eat it, because they have no rice to cook at home. 

This was a decision Mark and Ruella Joy made together. No one had to tell them to do this.

Lunch Time in the Philippines

3 days a week all of children of the Her Star Scholars in the Philippines gather together for a full and nutritious lunch with soup, rice, fruits, meats, and vegetables. When possible we add vitamin enriched milk or fruit juice to the menu. Many of the children bring siblings with them or bring boxes or bags to take left-overs home to them.

Filipinos are very generous. Part of their culture is too share food with family, friends, and neighbors in need, even if they don't have enough food for themselves. We make sure that there is more than enough food for the Little Star Scholars with some to take home.

We had hoped to spread the budget far enough to feed the children daily, but the decision was made that 3 highly nourishing meals were ultimately better than 5 filling, but less nutritious meals. Weight and height of the children are taken on the first day of each month to help us judge whether or not the daily meals are making an impact. So far they seem to be!

For $400 dollars a month, which is $10 per child, we can continue with the 3 day a week lunches. Imagine,  just $5 will provide 6 nourishing meals!  If we can increase the monthly budget to $550 a month, we will be able to provide daily meals. Please consider making a donation to the Philippines Lunch Fund. You can designate on PayPal or on your check.

Our Program in the Philippines - Butuan

Butuan City in the northern region of Agusan del Norte, on Mindanao island in the Philippines. It is one of the poorest 20 regions in a poor country. We are working in the two poorest communities in Butuan where each and every family lives beneath the poverty threshold. In the Philippines the poverty line for a family of 6 is US$ 179 per month. The majority of our families make less than a third of that. 

For these families it is a challenge to feed their children every day. Many of these children are malnourished and it is not unusual for some children to receive only one small meal a day. One mother talks about how she encourages her children to drink a lot of water so that their stomachs will feel filled. 

There is universal public education in the Philippines so it would seem that scholarship help wouldn’t be necessary. However, there are costs associated with the “free” public education. There are registration costs, required uniforms, a need for shoes, transportation, and school supplies like pencils and notebooks. 

Additionally meals aren’t provided in school. It is not unusual for children to miss school because they are too hungry to attend. Teachers will also tell you that children with empty stomachs find it very hard to pay attention and succeed at their lessons. 

Many thanks to our September Donor!

We had an generous donor step forward and pay for lunch for the children in the Philippines for the month of September! Many thanks to this donor and all of the others that are helping to educate and feed and make a difference in the lives of the children of the Her Star Scholars program.

Wanted: Santas and Elves!

The children we work  with in the Philippines don't get gifts - not on birthdays and not for Christmas. 

We hoped to fix that this year by shipping clothes and toys to the children. Enough so that parents could provide a gift for each child in the family.

Then we ran in to a snag. Our head Christmas Elf got sick and couldn't organize the program. We have no presents! We need to send 200 gifts for children ages birth-16 by mid September.

We need items for both boys and girls. Kids' clothing and shoes (remember this is a tropical climate so no winter items please), hair clips and bows, purses and backpacks. Dolls - preferably Asian or with dark hair, UNO, stuffed animals, toy cars, baby toys, legos, Harry Potter books or related items always a good bet for older kids, coloring books and crayons...Nothing that uses batteries or electricity, nothing that is illegal to ship through the mail (perfumes, nail polish), nothing that could spill or melt, nothing that promotes violence please the Philippines has seen more than its share of violence (no tanks, toy guns, soldiers). 

In December the volunteers in the Philippines will set up a toy store. Parents will be able to purchase an item for each of their children for only 1 or 2 pesos - about the equivalent of 3 cents. We are asking the parents to buy the items for several reasons: 

• We want them to feel a sense of pride for being able to provide special things for their children.
• We want the children to know that their parents can provide special things for them. 
• We want parents to feel like they are participating in the program as equals and not victims.   

If there are any prospective Santas or Elves, hiding out there looking for an exciting project to take on really quickly, please contact Julie at info @ herstarscholars. org. I can arrange pick-ups or drop off areas in Ithaca/Corning/Elmira, Pittsburgh and possibly the Washington DC area. For others I can provide a shipping address in California.  For more details or a copy of the toy store project proposal feel free to contact Her Star Scholars. 

I want everyone to know that the funds for shipping these items to the Philippines are not coming from any general donations we have received. All of that goes directly to the programming for the children. One generous donor has offered money specifically for the shipping.