[ALUMNI-INFO TEXT="In 2018, Vladimir Mata registered Bridging Opportunities Philippines, Inc to help the poorest of the poor Filipino break out of the poverty cycle. Today, his first students have graduated from the programme and garnered spots in state universities. This brings hope to the families that have never dared to dream of lifting themselves out of poverty. This is his story."][/ALUMNI-INFO]
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the national poverty incidence among families in 2023 stood at 10.9 per cent. This meant 2.99 million Filipino families were not able to scrounge enough to meet their basic food and living needs. This number is one that affects Vladimir Mata deeply. “We’re trying to break the poverty cycle for many of the rural poor families. They live in a state of despair. They cannot see any way to get out of their situation.
“That’s why we started Bridging Opportunities Philippines (BOP) in 2018. We want to bridge the gap; to provide the poor with opportunities. We do this by offering children from the poorest of the poor families with a university education,” Vladimir told us.
[ALUMNI-QUOTES TEXT="“We want to bridge the gap; to provide the poor with opportunities. We do this by offering children from the poorest of the poor families with a university education.”"][/ALUMNI-QUOTES]
Unfortunately, many of the families are so worried about their daily needs that they do not want their children to go beyond basic school education. “Many of the parents don’t have proper education themselves and they cannot imagine ever breaking out of poverty. They do not have hope,” stressed Vladimir.
Children must contribute to their families whenever they are able. If they come from fishing families, they would have to go out with the fishing boats. If they farm, they have to till the fields. Vladimir is acutely aware of this sentiment so he designed the programmes to first win over the parents.
“Education is only one part of the strategy. We also take care of the families’ needs with economic support. We teach the fathers and mothers basic livelihood know-how; to generate more income for the family.
“We also give them the tools they need. For example, we give fishing equipment to help families to catch more fish and generate more income,” Vladimir explained.
The non-profit organisation goes a step further by making sure families stay healthy. As the families live far from regional health centres, BOP arranges missions with mobile clinics to conduct regular health and dental checks. The poor are more susceptible to illness due to poor diet, inadequate rest and accidents from old equipment. “If the parents are not well, the children have to go out to work,” said Vladimir. “Furthermore, they do not want to tack on university expenses when they lack basic necessities. Our approach is an integrated one. We remove obstacles, then motivate them to pursue that all-important university education.”
As one can imagine, funding such an endeavour is not an easy feat. Besides supporting the families, volunteers in BOP help the students with tutoring and practicing for the state exams. Vladimir’s vision is for the students to get into state universities, which would give them better opportunities in life.
While they leave the students to choose the schools, they do hope the children would choose courses that could help the agriculture or fishery sectors. “If the children choose to study medicine or law, they may leave the country to find better opportunities. We want to stem the brain drain by encouraging them to stay and help our agriculture industry,” Vladimir shared.
Aside from support given to families, BOP also supplies books, bags and stationery to the schools. Vladimir tells us they do not receive government support for the programme. Funds come from his network of friends, colleagues and ex-classmates. “I am a product of scholarship programmes. I was able to pay my way through university with bursaries and scholarships. I want to give back in the same way.
“We are only able to do so only through the generous support from friends I’ve made in school, in my former employment as municipal and city administrator, from my day job at the National Defense College of the Philippines, as well as from donors in the private sector,” Vladimir said.
This is testament to the importance of a wide-reaching network. Something Vladimir learned at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy when he did his Master in Public Management, between 2013 and 2014. He had learned the dynamics of organisations, and the importance of establishing networks and contacts. That helped him to garner support from various sectors and people to carry out the vision he had for BOP.
The organisation has made headway in the provinces it is operating in. “More schools are more willing to work with us now – but they’re also asking us for more school supplies. If we could, of course we’d love to give it to them but we have to manage our resources well,” laughed Vladimir. The goal is to expand to more regions and support more schools, he adds. “We hope BOP can sustain 200 to 300 students in the next five years,” projected Vladimir.
BOP welcomed its first graduating batch in 2024, after a halt due to the pandemic. The students have secured coveted spots at Caraga State University. “Two of them (from different schools) are valedictorians,” Vladimir beamed. Like a proud father, Vladimir looks forward to seeing more of his students graduate from BOP, go to universities and bring hope back to their hometowns.