The information presented above was prepared in year 2012, when FDAI was still negotiating with Kindernothilfe Germany/Philippines for a long-term project partnership.
Past forward to 2019. Currently, FDAI has been supporting 2,899 children in Agusan Marsh barangays. The support comes in various forms, all components of a program dubbed as Self-Help Approach – Children-Focused Community Development (SHA-CFCD). One prominent component of the program is Educational Development and Child Sponsorship; which was originally intended for elementary pupils only.
But FDAI saw the opportunity to work for College Scholarship when it came to know of Pamulaan Center for Indigenous Peoples Education, an educational institution founded by Benjamin Abadiano, a 2004 Ramon Magsaysay Award winner for Emergent Leadership and president of Assisi Development Foundation. Pamulaan Center is devoted to educate the indigenous peoples in the Philippines, specifically in Mindanao region. Primarily, its goal is “to create culturally appropriate and relevant pathways of professional training and formation for indigenous youth and leaders.”
Pamulaan Center for IP Education is located inside University of Southeastern Philippines – College of Governance Business and Economics (USEP-CGBE) in Mintal, Davao City.
The FDAI-PAMULAAN partnership came easy and smooth because SHA-CFCD Program Officer Juana Paula S. Dumaguing was a pioneering volunteer at the center and therefore knows the requirements for aspiring individuals to qualify.
And for the first time, on June 11, 2019, three (3) FDAI College Scholars receive their diplomas. They are Jolly Boy Enterio Osma from La Flora, Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, BS in Social Entrepreneurship; Ritchen Alvarez and Angel Rose E. Oliva both from Buenaswerte, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, Bachelor of Indigenous Peoples Education.
The three graduates will be absorbed by FDAI for their 2-years return service and be assigned various community works. As trained IP Leaders, they are expected to make a difference in the lives of Manobo-Agusanons.
The three graduates and FDAI Staff: 2nd from left, Jolly Boy Enterio Osma; 4th from Left, Ritchen Alvarez; 5th from Left, Angel Rose Olivar. Extreme Left, FDAI Project Officer April Joy G. Barrios; 3rd from Left, FDAI Executive Director Rex T. Linao; Extreme Right, FDAI Program Officer Juana Paula S. Dumaguing.