Top F.A.Q.s and Sponsorship
Questions
How does Next
Step Ph. Help?
Next step Philippines student
sponsorship program solves the main cause of the cadet’s ability to receive an
education. These includes, malnutrition,
transportation, the family’s farm, tuition and books, shelter and needs, and so
much more. With the support of Next Step
Ph. these teens receive what they need to achieve their education and break
away from poverty. Thus, these teens are
in a better position to help their family and sustain a good paying job. This helps the local economy and community as
these teens become business and community leaders. Next Step Ph. Works with the local Barangay,
the Mayor of the neighborhood, and develops a plan where these they can partner
with the local government, get involved, and learn how they can make a difference
in their town. Next Step Ph. Helps
develop a sustainable plan for future growth and practice their skills while
serving in their community. We try to
focus on basic community needs like; clean water, ocean pollution, beach
protection, tutoring, nutrition education, health & wellness, human
trafficking, and canonical empowerment.
Very effective! Our whole teen approach helps the teen, their family, their community, and empowers themselves to develop the skills needed to be a productive community member.
Cadets receive the health and wellness you would expect every human to have. They get regular check-ups, immunizations, access to doctors, needed monthly supplies, a variety of healthy foods, nutrition counseling, adult guidance, and more. Next step Ph. Provides everything a cadet needs to live, study, and grow into a positive leader on and off campus.
What makes Next
Step Ph. Different?
We serve the most Economically Disadvantaged
teens in the Philippines, in one of the hardest places to reach. We currently work with province teens on the
island of Mindanao. Mindanao is an
island stricken with extreme poverty.
Mindanao has a 29% poverty rate.
The average income is about $20 – 40 US a month. Housing, nutrition, and any education is
almost impossible with this budget.
What is Next Step
Philippines and how does it work?
Cadet sponsorship gives us the ability
to give and make a difference in the cadet’s life. Next Step Ph. Connects the sponsor with a
squad of six cadets, soon the sponsor and the squad develop a bond and this helps
the learning experience to help the cadets walk down the educational path with
the sponsor. These cadets come from far
up in the mountains, leaving their family behind. Communication with a sponsor helps them
develop a new familial bond, so needed for these cadets to thrive. Next step Ph. hopes the sponsors develops a
relationship using emails to foster and maintain a positive attitude and encouragement
for the future. Sponsors can send cards
and gifts to show the cadet they are special and sponsors from far away are
providing care and prayers for the cadet’s future.
Because of the generous donations from
our sponsors we are able to strengthen the cadet, provide real life examples of
help, and help the local community. With
continued support, our sponsors are healing our cadets and their community by
meeting some of the never-ending needs for nutrition, health care, dental care,
fresh clean, water education, and opportunities not available to them.
Although every community has very
special and geographical needs, Northern Mindanao is considered the poorest
island in the Philippines. Not to
mention, it hosts Marawi City where active terrorists live and far-right Muslims
maintain control. Very few “Sponsorship
Programs” even come to Mindanao. But,
the need to stop severe poverty, provide hope with education, and preventing human
trafficking will not stop Next Step Philippines from helping and providing the
main catalyst to end generational poverty – an Education.
The poverty and hopelessness are so
visible here in Mindanao. Young girls
and boys go to school with dirty clothes, no shoes, no pencils, no backpacks,
and often without underwear. They
survive on the staple of products like rice, ramen noodles, canned sardines,
and cheap bread rolls. Many do not
attend school because it is kilometers/miles away and it is not affordable to
pay for transportation. Transportation
is about $1US to ride the tricycles and or the jeepneys round trip. Often the families only make $20US per month
so transportation is not affordable. It
is so sad these teens do not receive an education because they cannot afford
the $1USper day for the ride to school.
Join us and help sponsor squad and
soon see the difference you can make.
Next Step
Philippines recruits and serves fragile teenagers.
Next Step Ph. is different because we
serve fragile teens who have little hope for education. We search and recruit Teens from the poorest
province areas. These are the areas
where schools are over 10 Km (6.5 miles) away.
Even if they could go to school the transportation fees would be over
$20US a month. So, these teens are
mostly retained on the family farm to help and market the crops and education
is not a priority.
Is Next Step
Philippines effective?
Next Step Ph. provides everything
needed to be a success in school.
Because we receive students from miles and hours away, we maintain a
boarding school academy environment that provides all necessary needs to
succeed. Everything from a variety of
health food, shelter, beds and bedding, technology, health and dental care,
tutors, books, tuition, counseling, transportation, clothing, uniforms, and extension
activities. We truly take the teen from
where other organizations leave them at the age of 18. Next Step Ph. Goal is to provide physical,
social, emotional, and educational support to eradicate the problems and lack
of choices poverty plagues them.
Are other people
sponsoring the same teen?
Our program provides many more
services to our teens than similar “child sponsor program” would need. Typically, a “child sponsor” organization
provides minimal services for the $40US given by the sponsors. The child receives access to education (a
local government ran school,) health & wellness (technicians visits every
3-4 months,) counseling (weekly group motivation talks,) uniforms (one shirt
needed for school,) food rations (5Kg of rice a month,) and these children live
at home and walk to school (no transportation needed.) The Next Step Ph. Teen Cadet receives a
fully inclusive program that takes care of all of their education tuition,
health, & boarding needs. Next Step
Ph. Provides everything needed to be successful student and community leader.
Next step Philippines provides everything
needed to live and thrive. As stated, we
provide everything needed to live, study, and succeed a rigorous college curriculum. Therefore one $40US sponsor is not enough. We place students into dorm squads of six
students. The squad needs 66 sponsors at
a $41US a month to be successful.
Because these teens are generally smart, they quickly figure out who is
fully sponsored and who is not individually sponsored. The Squad sponsorship model helps provide
stability if one sponsor leaves and helps prevent jealously for individual
students who would receive individual sponsors.
The squad communicates with the
sponsors on a monthly basis using test and or post video and sponsors can
communicate with the squad as well.
Sponsors can visit their squad and see how your donations are helping
them and their community.
How much does it
cost to be a sponsor?
Next step Philippines sponsors pool their
donations to support a Squad, the equal share of each donor is $41 per
month. Sponsorship gives you access to
the six cadets in the squad to develop and maintain friendships with.
How much actually
goes to the cadets?
Donations, sponsorships, and grants
make up most of our budget. The cadet receives
87% to cover the costs incurred and the remaining 13% goes to marketing &
administrative costs.
How are teens
selected for the program?
Mindanao island is torn by poverty and
we are not able to meet all the needs of the island. Therefore, we seek applicants who apply to
our academy. New recruits generally have
letters of references like pastoral references, community references, teacher
recommendations, report cards, an interview, and other tools to see the teen’s
potential. At this time, we have a build-out
limit of 165 Cadets, in the next 5 years.
When selected these teens often travel
many hours by bus to reach our campus. We travel to where the need is and strive to
recruit teens from province farming areas where education access is very
limited. When fully funded we will place
about 42 cadets per year. If applicants
are not chosen, they can reapply every year and they will receive tips on what
to do better next time.
What does my donation
cover?
Sponsors cover the daily needs for
the cadets. Unlike some “child sponsor sites” where the child lives with their parents
Next step Ph. Cares for the cadet 100% on campus. The list below is only some of the direct
benefits the cadet receives.
We provide:
Student tuition Boarding
Healthy meals Nutrition awareness
Bed and bedding Dorm environment
Class tutoring Technology lab
Technology lessons School uniforms
Laundry Personal needs
Basic clothing Health care & Insurance
Organizational structure Dental care
Value lessons Counseling services
Guidance Transportation
English Classes English support
Community events Job placement
... and then some.
There are several indirect benefits
the cadets receive from attending Next Step Ph Academy.
Unbreakable friendships Biblical influence
Personal counseling Career guidance
A structured environment Individual accountability
Group accountability Protection and security
Community events Community outreach
Individual successes Public speaking
English coaching Guidance in decision making
Personal discipline Personal goal setting
Physical fitness Nutrition counseling
Whole family expectations Gender role modeling
Life and culture lessons Developing an advocate mindset
Technology skills Video & editing skills
Web development water survival
Business lessons Business case studies
Communication skills Peer development
Leadership skills Household skills
Shopping skills Child development
Elder care First aide & CPR
Situational awareness Family lessons
Water rescue classes Summer classes
Advocate lessons Government lessons
Project preparedness Term projects
Manners lessons Fashion lessons
…and then some.
Next Step Philippines, in short, provides
all necessary support and structure to maximize their educational experience
and become a confident leader to make changes in the future.
Our cadets receive all of this from
your $1.33 a day sponsorship. ~ Thank
you and God bless you.
Can I send money
to a specific cadet?
Jealously is a negative virtue many teens
hold so a tactful plan for giving should be considered. Giving a cadet money directly could cause
problems for the squad. For this reason,
sending cash directly to the cadet is frowned upon. We encourage donations to the “Group Gift Pool”
the pool benefits all cadets on campus or to the “Squad Gift Pool” where all cadets
in the squad will benefit.
However, we do have a way for you to
send your squad or cadet a special monetary gift when attached to a scholastic goal. These reasons could be attached to their GPA,
test scores, report card, or any achievement.
Please email us directly for assistance with this.
Does monthly
sponsorship go directly to the cadet?
Next step Philippines connects you
with a squad of cadets; a squad is 6 students called cadets. In order to achieve economies of scale,
buying items in bulk, we pool all donations to achieve maximum value. As a result, all donations are not directly
given to the cadets. All sponsorships
are pooled together with other fully funded squads to support all cadets for
every semester. Our goal is to fully
fund the entire semester before it starts.
So, if funding slows these students can complete their classes and not
have to drop out mid-term. On occasions,
we also give some food, water, health & sanitary items to the local
underprivileged children who live close to our campus.
Our cadets provide the local community
with short informational classes about many topics like; nutrition, dental
health, human trafficking, and motivation to stay in their school. Next step PH goes beyond passing out a simple
flyer about brushing your teeth, we demonstrate how to brush and provide
toothbrushes and toothpaste to the community.
One of our guiding goals is to provide sustainable practices that can
help end poverty.
To note: dental care is neglected on this
island. It is very common for these young
teens to have 3-5 of their teeth missing because they had to get them pulled because
of lack of dental care and knowledge. Next
Step Ph. Provides dental and health care to all of our cadets.
We are intertwined with the local
community, so the cadets’ work is received and appreciated. Our model is based on community in and off
campus.
Can I sponsor more
than one share?
Each monthly sponsorship is $41US. So, if you wanted to sponsor another share in
the same squad you would simple sign up for another share. You could choose to add to your current squad
or choose a different squad altogether. With
a second squad share you would receive a total of twelve cadet communications. We encourage donors to sponsor different
squads so each squad is protected from heavy sponsor losses if the sponsor defers
their sponsorship.
Is there a
commitment?
Although there is no monthly
commitment or contracts, sponsoring a squad should be a significance
decision. You are fulfilling the basic
needs needed for success and you are making a daily impact on their lives. We encourage communication and encouragement
on your part. You will watch them
develop and grow into responsible young adults.
You will become a virtual member of their community and see them prosper
and thrive when they leave. Many
sponsors get attached to the squad and become part of the daily struggles and
successes these teens strive through.
Are my donations Tax
deductible?
Next step Philippines is a 501c3 corporation. All sponsors and donors may receive tax
benefits, please refer to your tax planner or accountant for further details.
How long do
sponsors help?
The length of
sponsorship can be a lifelong experience.
Sponsors can maintain relationships with our staff and get yearly
updates as to how the squad is doing, even after cadets leave.
It is truly a
miracle watching these cadets develop, learn, and lead others in the future. However, sometimes “life Happens” and a cadet
needs to leave because of drama at home, a family members death, or something
else. Yet, the squads are formed around
six cadets who are first, second, and third year cadets, who will shortly
replace the leaving cadet. We have a five-year
program, so new cadets will join and older cadets will leave when their education
is complete. This is the natural flow of
Next Step Ph. academy, so sponsors see this first hand as the squad develops and
changes over time.
Can I write or
visit?
When you first help sponsor a squad, a
group of six cadets, you will receive a letter introducing all of the cadet
members. In about a month, the squad
will start sending you bi-weekly updates, if you wish. Different members of the squad will
communicate with you every two weeks. At the end of every scholastic term you will
receive their report cards and a brief summary of their successes.
Your encouragement and prayers are
truly appreciated. You are welcome to
send prayer requests in your life as well and sending messages through our
portal. Sending hope to them is
important for their emotional growth and English communication skills.
Although world traveling is difficult,
you may visit if you want. Western
visitors are such a powerful blessing.
Maybe you could share your story of hope and love with the Academy. Local 3-star lodging is about $50US per
night, and an economy ticket is about $1,500US using advanced ticketing.
Traveling - Using Extreme Caution and Do Not Travel warnings!
To make matters worse, Mindanao is where a serious risk of terrorist attacks and kidnappings in this region have occurred.
Philippines Travel Advisory
Philippines - Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution!
– when traveling in the Philippines due
to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, a measles outbreak, and kidnapping. Some
areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.
Marawi City in Mindanao – Level 4: Do Not Travel!
280 Km / 172
Miles AWAY.
The Philippine government has declared martial law
throughout the Mindanao region. Civilians are at risk of death or injury due to
conflict between remnants of terrorist groups and Philippine security forces in
Marawi.
Mindanao – Level 3: Reconsider Travel
The Philippine government has declared martial law
throughout the Mindanao region. The Philippine government also maintains a
state of emergency and greater police presence in the Cotabato City area, and
in the Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
Terrorist and armed groups
continue to conduct kidnappings, bombings, and other attacks targeting U.S.
citizens, foreigners, civilians, local government institutions, and security
forces.
Bombs
causing deaths and injuries have exploded in public areas of major city centers,
including the cities of Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Kidapawan, Zamboanga,
General Santos, Jolo and Isabela. Marawi
City is where the Terrorists live and kidnappings, hostages, and human
trafficking thrives. Therefore, Northern
Mindanao is considered a Terrorist area and is not served by many “World Help”
organizations. As a result, these young
teens are preyed upon and must avoid the traps of poverty on a daily
basis.
Is sponsorship right for me?
You
want to support a cadet growth in faith.
We work on the
Island of Mindanao, one of the poorest areas in the Philippines, boasting 29%
poverty. Our goals are to teach and
maintain a Biblical influence. The
Philippines is extremely faithful country and maintains an open Biblical policy
in government and schools. The 10 commandments
are posted on many school entrances. We
seek local churches and Next Step Ph. provides transportation to weekly
services. Our campus staff demonstrate
Christian faith in the way we present ourselves and the work we do to others. Sponsoring
a squad truly, truly provides these teens with a full Biblical influence.
You
want to change the direction of a young teen.
Each cadet in Next
Step Philippines is attached to a squad.
These squads are matched with many sponsors in a squad pool. As a sponsor, can establish an educational relationship
with cadets in the squad. You can hear their
individual stories and their dreams for success. We encourage writing to them and sharing your
success as well.
You
want to see the results of your sponsorship.
A Next Steps
Philippines sponsorship helps empower the whole group, because your monthly
sponsorship gifts are pooled for maximum effectiveness. Next Steps Ph. does not give to individual
cadets or their families. We let you join
other sponsors to fund long-term educational plans and helps cadets give back
to the community as community service. We
strive the cadets and to maintain a positive relationship with the local
community and this helps foster a communal culture.
You want to see changes in the cadet’s ability to be leaders.
Developing the “Whole Cadet” to be an independent and positive community member is the goal and baby steps are needed to develop it. That is where the name “Next Step” comes into play. Next Step Ph. Strives to the leader in developing the next generation of leaders in advocacy training, Biblically based influence, empowered and educated members of their community to foster change in their communities, and their future government.
Group
sponsorship -vs- individual Child Sponsorships; what is best for our cadets?
Making individual
payment to a single child account can cause unforeseen problems. Individual cadet sponsorship connects
personal relationship with the donor and receiver. This is great for the cadet and helps them
feel encouraged and keeps the cadet motivated.
However, this single bond can lead to unrealistic expectations for the
cadet and sponsor. They may both develop
unachievable goals and this may give a false illusion of success over
time. Furthermore, single individual sponsorship
may have future problems if the sponsor stops their membership and a
replacement sponsor is not found. Thus,
leaving the single cadet “out to dry” and stopping all school achievement for
that semester leaving them depressed and confused.
Not to mention, the
cadet sponsor may think they are in charge of the cadet and believe they have
some kind of “say-so” in their development by asserting their perceived right
to influence or guide for specific religious development, or program.
Direct single
cadet letter exchange may be inappropriate for the cadet. Although, developing a relationship and sharing
daily aspects of drama and success, some exchanged letters maybe to sensitive
to the developing minds of the cadets and thus inappropriate at that time.
It
is sad to imagine another
problem of individual cadet sponsorship as it creates feelings of jealousy from
the other cadets who do not receive any gifts or help. Cadets may feel ‘unworthy’ of receiving any gifts
and their self-confidence may lower. In
contrast, the cadet receiving aid may feel guilty in front of their peers.
These hurt feelings are the main reason Next Step Philippines offers the “Squad” funding model, where six cadets share the same sponsors. This helps prevent jealousy and the risk of sponsorship withdrawal.