Philippine proposal for girl students’ store is People’s Choice in Project Inspire contest

SINAG Microfunds welcomes its 20 scholars for the first semester of school year 2014-2015. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Sinag Microfunds’ proposed Sinag Store bagged the People’s Choice award in this year’s Project Inspire, an annual social impact competition.

The lone finalist from the Philippines, the proposed project will set up a store run by girl students that would teach them about social entrepreneurship, financial management, etc.

The People’s Choice award gave Facebook users the opportunity to vote for their favorite finalist. Sinag received a trophy.

The grand prize of a $25,000 grant was won by REACH, an organization from Vietnam that aims to improve “the lives of disadvantaged women in Vietnam via a range of skills training (from web design to hairdressing), plus job placement and follow-up support.”

Project Inspire is a worldwide, social impact competition run by the Singapore Committee of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women  and MasterCard, which aims to help “young social catalysts provide real-world solutions for women and girls in need in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.”

Sinag Microfunds is a Philippine nonprofit that grants interest-free tuition loans to financially challenged students at the University of the Philippines  (UP).

Launched by UP alumni, who were members of the UP Integrated School Class of 2003, it provides interest-free tuition loans to help prevent college students from dropping out due to financial difficulty.

Sinag cofounder and executive director Sheena Jamora, who represented the organization at the finals in Singapore, presented the concept of the Sinag Store Project in a five-minute pitch to the Project Inspire judges.

She talked about Kristel Tejada, who committed suicide because of severe depression when she failed to pay her tuition before the deadline at UP Manila.

Jamora said that aside from tuition, most poor students also needed additional financial resources for other school expenses.

Sinag thought of training its scholars “so that they can have skills that will let them earn income now but will also give them the professional edge when they graduate and start looking for jobs.”

The Sinag Store Project aims to harness the girl students’ talents and develop their social entrepreneurial skills so they can “earn additional income that will help pay for their needs and stay in school. This will be done through training and mentorship programs.”

Workshops on social entrepreneurship and financial management will enable the girls to network with local women entrepreneurs who are part of Sinag’s network.

Jamora said winning the People’s Choice award “has already helped spread the word about Sinag among a wider

international circle and this will continue as Project Inspire further promotes our initiatives.”

She said that through the boost in popularity, “we will be able to amplify the voices of the Filipino students who need financial assistance and get more people to support us through donations and partnerships.”

Sinag hopes to reach more students in the coming semesters by accepting loan applications from both UP Diliman and UP Manila students.

Sinag may be reached via e-mail at [email protected]. Its website is Sinag.Org. Like Facebook.com/sinag.microfunds.inc.