Granting new beginnings in the Philippines – Changing Lives through education
Hello!
My name is Julie Ann Goodfellow. And if you would have met me 10 years ago you would have been sitting next to me in the slums of Cavite City in the Philippines, right next to the river of San Roque.
And if you happened to visit me during the river’s high tide, you would have been sitting with me in our house filled with water from the stinking river into which the slaughterhouse dumped its refuse; just a couple of metres away from us.
But this is not about me.
This is about the power of education, and how it empowers those who have been less fortunate so far in life, to make a new beginning.
Everyday life in the Philippines
When you think of the Philippines you might think of beautiful beaches and luxurious hotels. When I brought my Dutch boyfriend to the slums where I grew up, he couldn’t believe what he saw. It is very dangerous there. Most people are unemployed and have nothing; they steal or fight for food.
My home in Cavite City, the Philippines, more than 10 years ago.
Time to give back
Since I have received a lot of support to help me make a new beginning in my life, my aim is now to be the voice of the young women in the Philippines that do not have any chance– and help them break through the vicious circle.
Breaking the vicious circle
Girls marry young and are often pregnant by the age of sixteen. A man is their best chance of getting away from the slums, but mostly they get left behind with their babies, unable to make a living as they need to take care of their babies. It is a vicious circle.
My aim to cut through all of this, but granting these young women a new beginning in life through education.
And I very much appreciate your consideration to help me do it!
Whats next?
I have been very fortunate and blessed to have received financial help by the Joana Foundation and other generous people. Like this I managed to complete secondary school in the Philippines in 2006, also financed my college fees in the Philippines, and eventually the Netherlands, where I finished my Master’s Degree at Maastricht University in 2018.
Now its time for me to give back – and you can help with that!
That is what my work at the Goodfellow Foundation is all about.
Me at the opening of the academic year 2018/2019 ceremony when learning about the Student of the Year Award
