A young Filipino student named Arjean has the opportunity to represent the Philippines this July and GoodX needs you to help make it happen! Arjean is from the Talaandig tribe in Bukidnon, Mindanao and is a Cartwheel Foundation college scholar. We are on a mission to help her to attend an international summer camp in the US called Camp Up with People.

We are raising funds offline and through The Spark Project to cover part of Arjean’s camp tuition fee, domestic and international airfare, travel insurance, passport application, visa application, food allowance and other related expenses. Let’s all help Arjean go on a life-changing journey! ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child’, so goes the song.

We are taking this saying to heart by helping an underprivileged young Filipino cultivate a love for travel, culture, service, and international friendships. Seeing the world and discovering different cultures are memorable ways for a community to build character and self-confidence in a young person’s life. In our experience, education and experiential learning outside the four walls of a classroom are both life-changing and fun. In other countries, young people are even encouraged to travel during a period called their ‘gap year’ to help them learn a new language or skill or simply to broaden their horizons. Helping a young Filipino join an international summer camp is our first contribution in that direction. Through the performing arts, community service, multicultural educational activities, field trips and international friendships, we would like our Filipino travel scholar to embark on an unforgettable journey of adventure, creativity, and self-discovery.

About GoodX The GoodX team loves traveling as experiential learners – staying with multicultural host families, volunteering in foreign lands, and learning about the world beyond the typical tourist holiday. The team has organized volunteer trips to the Philippines and other countries before with participants from all over the world. They’ve seen the impact a volunteer trip makes on participants’ world view, life skills, and cultural and professional development. This year, GoodX is sending a young Filipina to attend a summer camp abroad to broaden her horizons through experiential learning. Partnering with Cartwheel Foundation, they are currently raising funds to cover camp, airfare and other expenses by July. About Cartwheel Foundation GoodX is thrilled to partner with Cartwheel Foundation, an NGO that sprang from the desire to help build a school for the children of the Talaandig tribe. Since that initial project, Cartwheel Foundation has grown to empower indigenous peoples all over the Philippines through quality and culturally relevant education for pre-school, college and adult learning levels. They have been a partner to marginalized and underprivileged indigenous communities since 1999 by customizing programs that suit their realities and dreams. About ArjeanName: Arjean Marie Belco Tribe: Talaandig Community: Tinaytayan, San Miguel, Talakag, Bukidnon No. of siblings: 5 Parents’ occupation: Farmers

"My dream in life is to be a successful professional teacher someday. Because I want to rise up my community and family from poverty, not totally in financial problem but in a right way on how to live with courage and to discover the true values of life."

About the camp The international camp is called Camp Up with People and will take place between July 21 and August 10, 2013 in Harrisonburg, VA, near Washington, DC, in the United States. Camp Up with People is a non-profit performing arts, leadership, community service and culturally diverse summer camp that brings together students from around the world to impact and inspire the community through service and song. Through this unique combination of components, including outdoor activities, service projects and staging, campers will gain a sense of social responsibility, confidence and purpose, as well as the skills and appreciation of working cooperatively as part of a diverse group. The camp with culminate with a professionally produced public performance, showcasing the campers’ talents, cultures and hopes for the world while making lifelong friends in a supportive and safe environment, while also having a lot of fun. Camp Up with People is a partnership between Camp Horizons and Up with People, an international educational organization in existence now for 48 years.

Links to interviews & features: Expat Insights Mindanaoan.com