Population: 100,998,376
Percent Below Poverty Line: 25.2%
The Mano Amiga community in the Philippines prides itself on the school’s holistic approach to learning. Combining the imperatives of a developmentally appropriate learning environment, solid curriculum, a strong spiritual formation program and extra-curricular activities, the school has seen great success in educating impoverished children, many from the urban slums of Manila.
Students: 100
Founded: 2008
Location: Paranaque, Philippines
Founded in 2008, Mano Amiga Paranaque can attribute its creation to the success of another one of our schools halfway across the globe. In her early twenties, Filipina native Lynn Pinugu spent time as an international youth volunteer at Mano Amiga Guanajuato in Mexico. Impressed by not only the quality of the school but also the “students’ self-confidence, good communication skills and enthusiastic participation,” Pinugu pushed for a location in the Philippines. Through the aid of Catholic World Mission, the number of enrolled students has more than tripled from its initial 60 during the school’s starter year.
At Mano Amiga Philippines:
Student leaders, social innovators, community developers, and tech enthusiasts from all over the Philippines represented their causes in the second Digital Youth Summit, called #iamDigital. #iamDigital was a three-day workshop with the goal of promoting authenticity, critical thinking, empathy, and helping form youth leaders in effectively promoting digital responsibility and citizenship.
Participants received mentoring and guidance form content creators, social entrepreneurs, and thought leaders through various panel discussions and speaker sessions.
The Summer ended with a celebration as five groups were recognized as outstanding Digital Youth Ambassadors. It is truly inspiring to see how young leaders and community organizers are shaping the digital landscape into a more meaningful place!
The 8th grade class worked hard to support the Autism community in the Philippines. They led the school-wide effort to raise money for Autism Society Philippines by organizing a garage sale fundraiser. Students from all grade levels brought clothes, toys, and other goods to sell. They raised about 8,000 PHP (the currency in the Philippines is the Philippine Peso)!
Lovely Marie, MA Philippines 8th grader, told us: “We wanted to help the autism community and raise awareness so that other people will accept it as a difference and not as a disorder or disease. It was such an amazing, meaningful experience for all of us, especially to me because this made me realize more that children like me can have a huge influence in making this world a better place.”
Lovely and her classmates also created a video and PowerPoint presentation, which they presented to the younger students to raise awareness within the student body.
Thank you for all you give so that Mano Amiga schools can continue to educate and empower children throughout Latin America and the Philippines to be world changers!
Idea Carnival allows students to shine! Students in every grade level got to showcase projects and ideas to their parents, guests, and school donors and partners. Students shared artwork, ideas (including solar panels students made themselves!), and audio visual communications skills!
Project-based Learning projects are in full swing at Mano Amiga Philippines! PBL activities focus on immediate application of what students learn in the classroom.
Examples include: 6th grade students turned their classroom into a TEDx event to educate guests on important topics like Role of Education in Terrorism and Changing Corruption in the Philippines; 4th grade students created a fire safety puppet show; 3rd grade students acted as tour guides for their guests as they led them on a journey through Manila with dioramas, display boards, maps, and a Manila-themed photo booth they created!
This August, Mano Amiga Philippines opened their campus to double the number of students they had enrolled in the 2015 school year! This huge leap is thanks to the generosity of so many donors who have made it possible for Mano Amiga Academy to expand and move into a new building! This new building now has nine classrooms and 171 students who are eager to learn. Partners also enabled Mano Amiga Philippines’ students to swap their heavy textbooks for e-tablets, a change that is more cost-efficient long-term, and will create an engaging learning experience that fosters responsible digital citizenship among the students.
Mano Amiga Philippines was also granted a five-year Non-Government Organization certification by the Philippines Council for NGO Certification! Meaning they can better serve the community by maintaining their nonprofit certification.
Mano Amiga principal, Revelyn Tria-Siasoyco, shares, “To develop life-long learners, students need to associate learning with both fun and hard work. We take pride in giving our students an exciting and enriching learning experience.” (philstar.com, 21 November 2016) The students at Mano Amiga Philippines come from extremely impoverished families. Without the generosity of donors and the Catholic World Mission family none of this would be possible.
Earlier this year Mano Amiga Philippines broke ground on their new site! Their school is going from a three room house for 95 students where they currently take turns attending class between morning and afternoon shifts to a dedicated building where all the children can attend school at once! When Deacon Rick, Executive Director of Catholic World Mission, visited Mano Amiga Philippines this year he saw how happy the children are at their school!
“I’m excited for my son, John Christian, as he joins the move of Mano Amiga from FTI, Taguig to Betterliving, Paranaque. He and his friends at school will have a different and better environment where they can actively learn through their access to world-class facilities.” – Mary Jane Gorgonio, Mano Amiga Parent for 5 Years
The new permanent campus will enable Mano Amiga Philippines Academy to accommodate between 800 – 1200 students at once! The school year begins in August 2016, and Mano Amiga is in the process of acquiring tiles, piping, windows, doors, and other materials needed to finish the building. The facility is three stories high, and students are already lining up to take a seat in the new building. Mano Amiga Philippine’s long-term goal is to build a library with a technology-enabled classroom to enhance the students’ learning.
See photos from all updates below:
One in every eight Filipino youth is not in school. That means thousands of God’s children need to be rescued from a hopeless life plagued by hunger, sickness, and chronic poverty. We know that a good Catholic education will 
literally save lives. Every gift matters and is a great blessing. Smaller gifts add up quickly and will help with construction materials, books, and other classroom needs. Please be as generous as you can. Your compassionate response right now will be an answer to a prayer and allow us to bring Christ’s hope to the least among us.
In addition, Mano Amiga Philippines has finished the construction of a dedicated school building. This new facility holds between 800 – 1200 students – a big leap from their former campus, which could accommodate only 95 students! This new three-story building allows all the students to attend school full time. However, with a new, larger campus, security, ventilation, and waste disposal systems are in need of major upgrades. They also need new classroom furniture to accommodate the expanding number of grade levels and growing student enrollment. These students are so excited about their new building and their continued learning. Your generous gift today will enable students for lifetimes to receive a quality, Catholic education.
