The Jessica Smith Scholarship Fund empowers and protects Children at Risk.
Philippines
The Jessica Smith Scholarship Fund
Providing educational opportunities for Children at Risk in the Philippines.
Educating children – especially girls, is the single most effective way of fighting poverty. Our scholarship program reaches the poorest of the poor and has already achieved remarkable success.
The Jessica Smith Scholarship Fund matters
It offers a way out of poverty for Children at Risk. It delivers education, leads to protection and empowerment, enhances their dignity, self-confidence and self-esteem.
Fr Shay explains, “The only way out of grinding poverty, exploitation, and a life of child labour in the developing world is to give the children an education. A former student of years past came today and told me of his steady professional job and that his four children are all employed professionals.
“The goal of The Jessica Smith Scholarship Fund Program is to empower the youth and give them a sense and appreciation for the value of life, the environment and a love of justice and dignity.”
The photos of their graduation tell this uplifting story.
Fay’s turning point
Fay wanted to become a teacher. But this was completely out of reach. School was a luxury her family of seven couldn’t afford. She was forced to drop out.
Fay’s options were few. She could easily have become a statistic of modern slavery. Poor girls in remote villages in the Philippines (a global magnet for sex tourists) are at high risk of trafficking and exploitation.
The turning point in Fay’s life came when she was offered a place on our Jessica Smith Scholarship program.
Fay grabbed the opportunity and worked tirelessly. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and gained her teaching license after passing the difficult board exams.
Fay now works as a teacher and is lifting her own family out of poverty. She said, “It was a long, tough journey – graduating, studying endlessly, and finally passing the board exams. But I believed I could do it. And I did!”
Fay is an inspiring example of a life changed by the Jessica Smith Scholarship Fund.
* Names and details have been changed to protect the children’s privacy.
“This is what empowerment looks like”
- Fr Shay
“I saw two of the students from the scholarship fund here today. They were registering their personal details with our office. We needed this information to get them a new ID card. Many of these kids don’t have any ID, but with this official document, they can get their own ATM card. As part of the scholarship program, we deposit their allowance into this account for their school expenses, transport and some food costs. They are very proud of this card. It gives them a higher self-esteem and a sense of dignity and independence. This starts already when they are enrolled in the scholarship program.
“Their own personal ATM card is a status symbol for these young people who have no status in society.
“This is how empowerment works in practise. This is what empowerment looks like.”
Jessica Smith Training Centre
This educational facility at Preda provides programs to help students achieve their potential.
The Centre delivers workshops and training sessions on human rights, anti-trafficking, human development and values for life, empowering students to become advocates for children and women’s rights.
Why are Filipino children at risk?
The Philippines is a major magnet for sex tourists from all over the world. Poor children face the risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation as many recruiters go to villages and lure the uneducated teenagers away to jobs in the towns and cities. They find themselves locked inside sex bars, trapped in debt bondage and afraid to escape. They get little help from corrupt officials.
For over 40 years, Fr Shay and Preda have defended the rights of children and women trapped in modern slavery and at risk of trafficking.
Father Shay Cullen, champion of the poor
Father Shay Cullen is an Irish missionary of the Society of St. Columban, who went to the Philippines in 1969 and started the Preda Foundation. His mission fields are the jails and back streets of Metro Manila and Olongapo City, once called “the biggest brothel in the world” until he helped to end it by organising a nationwide campaign to close the US Naval base on Subic Bay in 1992.
He defends the rights of children and has brought suspected paedophiles to justice, bringing healing, freedom and closure to the child victims when there was a conviction.
Fr Shay’s life-long mission has been to fight for social justice for the poor and the oppressed. He explains that this is an important part of biblical justice, human rights and fair trade.
He has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize and received numerous awards as a pioneering advocate for children’s rights. His autobiography Passion and Power was commended by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland. Hollywood star Martin Sheen called Fr Shay “a very powerful inspiration”.
Find out more at preda.org
Fr Shay remembers Jessica Smith
“It seems only yesterday that we were there together. Our last meal together when I was with you in the UK is frozen in time for me.
“The Jessica Smith Scholarship Fund is a beautiful way to remember Jessie. I look on the children she is helping as Jessica’s Kids. This is what she would have been doing – working in the developing world, giving future life to kids that would otherwise end up on the dumpsite of humanity.
“Thanks to Jessie, they all now have a bright future – and their children also.”
The Jessica Smith Scholarship Fund was started with a personal gift of €3,000 by our friend Fr Shay.
Jessica in India. From an early age, Jessica was active in Jubilee Campaign, and this charitable tribute has been established in her memory to complete her unfulfilled dreams to help vulnerable children.
Feeling inspired? See what else we’ve achieved in Jessica’s memory
A future reclaimed
Our Scholarship Program helps children from the Aeta community by giving them an opportunity for further education. The Preda team visit each home and ensure that the poorest children are included. The Program also supports vulnerable Children at Risk of exploitation and trafficking.
Aeta farmers
Who are the Aeta?
The Aeta (‘eye-ta’) are among the first inhabitants of the Philippines. Hunter-gatherers, they lived for thousands of years in the shadow of an active volcano. Mt Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 was one of the worst in history and devastated the Aeta community; hundreds died and over 250,000 lost their homes, livelihoods and way of life. They suffered racial discrimination for their dark skinned African features
What problems do the Aeta face today?
Almost all of the Aeta population are subsistence farmers struggling to survive by growing vegetables, making wild honey and harvesting mango fruit to sell. But there are no roads only tracks from their mountain villages, and few reach the market where traders offer only a pittance for their fruit. Under pressure, the Aeta know unsold fruit will soon rot in the tropical climate.
Will Aeta farmers survive?
These indigenous people found a friend in Fr Shay. Through Preda Fair Trade, he developed a successful organic harvest program producing mango puree that became the basis for many popular products sold in Europe.
What is their future?
Most farmers from the Aeta community have just enough income to feed their families but cannot afford good education for their children. As a result, children are trapped in this vicious cycle of exploitation and poverty.
Where are they now?
Many of the Aeta community lost some of their ancestral homeland to land grabbers, slash-and-burn farming, loggers and mining operations backed by corrupt officials. These indigenous people now live on what remains of their ancestral lands but not yet recognized by the government in Zambales, 140km north of Manila. Here, Aeta families live in remote areas and mountain villages in shacks made of bamboo and grass.
What difference did Fr Shay and Preda Fair Trade make?
He bought their mango fruit at three times a higher price and set up a bonus payment for profit sharing. He and the Preda team provided steel pipes, hand pumps and construction materials to enable the people to make wells and get clean water. They built community toilets to provide a hygienic village environment and provided solar lamps to make the village safer for women and children; this also helped students to study.
Preda’s mango products from the Aeta (and dried mangos from poor tenant farmers) proved hugely successful over the past 20 years. The Aeta’s mango puree is the first organic mango project in the Philippines to be approved for export in the EU. The mango puree makes delicious mango products and the dried mango snack has proved popular in shops including Waitrose, Tesco, Ocado, Asda and Sainsbury’s.
“If not for Preda Fair Trade, my family and I would still be living in poverty”
Fair Trade farming
Preda’s delicious Fair Trade dried mango snack made from Aeta farmers mango puree is available to buy from supermarkets including Tesco and Waitrose.
