By ELIZABETH LOLARGA
Photos courtesy of JAYSON FAJARDA, PAOLO GONZALES and ROUELLE UMALI
The people behind the non-profit organization Sinag are not altruistic millionaires. They work hard like any Juan but still passionately pursue their goal of providing a beam of hope to financially struggling students who are pursuing their dream of finishing college.
Margaret Yarcia, marketing director, recalled how Sinag, Filipino word for “ray of light,” got started. Six officers had been friends since their University of the Philippines Integrated School years where they understood the meaning of serving the people.
Yarcia said the seven UP alumni who make up Sinag are bound by friendship and a vision “which we share with the rest of young Filipinos: that of a more progressive Philippines.” The seven are: Sheena Jamora, executive director; Rica Cruz, finance and development director; Carla Baful, media production director; Mary Anne Tuazon, program director; Meiling Lee, technical director; Juan Carlos Soriano art and design director, and Yarcia.
While growing up, Yarcia saw the value of education in finding life opportunities. She realized her duty of “giving back to my fellow men. It is in the school setting where the youth discover and hone their skills and develop themselves to become who they want to be. Everyone, regardless of ethnicity, gender, economic situation, among other factors, has a right to quality education. I feel proud to be a product of state universities from kindergarten through college, but they have become less and less accessible, especially to the poor, with the decline in government subsidy.”
Sinag supports calls for the state to promote an inclusive educational system and to allocate more funds for schools. It sees the private sector’s potential to contribute to the cause of keeping young Filipinos in school. Sinag helps pool such efforts.
Yarcia described the situation: “The college drop-out rate of the country is at 83.7 percent according to the Commission for Higher Education in 2012. That’s 2.13 million college dropouts annually compared to only 500,000 graduates. Students need support to stay in school and to graduate.”
She continued, “Financial difficulties due to soaring tuition form a big chunk of the problem that Sinag hopes to address. But there is a lot more to it. Quality of education in the country suffers from lack of adequate school facilities, books, other learning materials and teachers. Many teachers receive meager pay and few opportunities for being trained. There is no incentive for them to stay in schools or in our country.”
An innovative Sinag project is “Dreams on Canvas,” the group exhibition featuring 25. It is up until June 24 at the Bulwagan ng Dangal, UP Main Library, Diliman, Quezon City.
Yarcia said when the Sinag team discussed their fundraising projects, they agreed that these shouldn’t be charity (one-way) affairs. “We want supporters to bring home something as they contribute to our advocacy of helping students in need. ‘Dreams on Canvas’ involved all of us where we discussed what kind of people compose our organization: young, driven, passionate. We didn’t want to stray from our interests in arts and crafts, health, fitness, good food and music.”
Why an art show? Yarcia explained, “Owning a piece of art is special. It carries an artist’s time, passion, creativity and ideas all captured in a piece of canvas, paper or wood. In essence, they’re sharing a part of themselves to the new owners. That the sale will help keep students in school comes as a great bonus.”
Sinag has sold about half of the works in less than two weeks after the opening. An online art catalogue can be found in the Facebook page Sinag Microfunds.
Yarcia said it was easy to convince the artists to join. “We talked about our organization, our beneficiaries (our student borrowers) and three-fold goal for the event: raise funds for Sinag’s student micro-lending program, improve community awareness about this cause and promote the work of UP artists.”
To avail of a Sinag student loan, the studentmust submit his/her Form 5. It has their registered classes and daily class schedule. Yarcia said, “We’ve never had to use it to ‘monitor’ students. Those who receive our loans automatically become Sinag members. We regularly see and talk to them over Sinag Lunch.”
The team gets the students’ feedback on the application process and how it can be improved. Consultations are held on the repayment schedule. Throughout the semester, the students join Sinag’s photo or video shoots for the org’s marketing. They write articles for the newsletter and spread the word about Sinag to other students.
Yarcia said the repayment rate for loans stood at 80 percent. “We hope that letting students know that they’re a part of the organization will give them ownership of Sinag’s growth and sustainability.”