Mikaela Reyes ’17 wrote in to tell us about her crowdfunding campaign. Read on for details, and please consider supporting Mika’s project and her efforts to work for inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development in the Philippines.

 

Kaya Collaborative is a non-profit organization whose vision is a redefinition of “balikbayan” and the transformation of Filipino diaspora networks into engines of inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development in the Philippines. Click this video link and find out more: http://vimeo.com/86656977

In the words of the Filipino Reporter: “The Filipino dream, to put it succinctly, is to leave the Philippines.”

For too long, Filipinos have been driven out of the Philippines by necessity, by opportunity, by the promise of a better life abroad.  From a distance, we give back, yes, and we continue to reach and to love from a hemisphere away.  And yet for too long, nothing’s changed.

Now a new generation is coming of age.  And the record is beginning to replay.

But does it have to?

How can we break the cycle?  How can we reimagine and redefine the global Filipino community?

This June, the Kaya Collaborative is sending emerging leaders from the Filipino diaspora to the Philippines for a summer internship, an exploration of Manila’s social sector, and a design process that seeks to bridge diaspora and development in the PH.

Help us redefine the story of a homeland and its scattered sons and daughters by sponsoring one of our fellows today! Read their profiles here.

This summer, Mikaela Reyes ’17, a fellow of KayaCo and a Wesleyan student, will be working with Gifts & Graces to improve the quality of life of marginalized members of society by providing product development, technical training on enterprise management and global market access to livelihood communities. Help her in her journey to give back to the Filipino community as much as it has given to her: https://www.crowdrise.com/kaya-co/fundraiser/mikareyes.