Philippines

Anita Fahrni

The Best of All Development Aid
“Supporting education is the best of all development aid,” Anita Fahrni believes, and her experiences in the fields of development assistance, politics, and personal philanthropy have persuaded her that the education of women and girls is especially important.

Mark Raygan Garcia, Silliman University

A New Perspective on the Asian Region
The Philippines has embarked on a major transition in education, and that is creating an opportunity for academic professionals like Mark Raygan Garcia to take a fresh look at their roles in higher education. Mr. Garcia is enrolled in the Master of Public Policy and Governance, with Social Policy Specialization program at the Education University of Hong Kong.

Sokha Om, Royal University of Phnom Penh

A Heart Deep in the Field
“I love working in the university environment,” says Sokha Om, an English teacher and staff member in the studies office at Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) in Cambodia. “My heart is deep in this field, and I understand how tertiary institutions play vital roles in shaping the nation’s human resources.”

Miriam College

Instilling Pride in Indigenous Culture
“The Philippines is a veritable hotspot for festivals,” according to Christine de Vera, a faculty member at Miriam College’s Center for Applied Music. “They range from religious to cultural festivals, from the significant to the absurd, from small town to big regional celebrations, and from local to international patronage. “ These festivals can be important income-generating activities, but Ms. de Vera believes this economic imperative must be balanced against cultural sensitivity.

Tim Chen, Soochow University

Learning alongside Neighbors
At first, Tim Chen was disappointed when he learned his second placement as a 2008-2010 United Board Fellow would be at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. He had hoped to spend four months at an Australian university. But Anne Ofstedal, then the United Board’s director of fellowship and scholarship programs told him, “Trust me, you will like Ateneo” – and he did.

Ken and Marie Losh

A Deep and Lasting Connection
Marie Losh was a mother to four children, the youngest only three months old, when she and her family boarded an ocean liner for the Philippines in 1957. Her husband, Ken, had accepted the position of chaplain at Central Philippine University, and the young family was embarking on a decade-long residence in Iloilo City.

Jema Pamintuan, Ateneo de Manila University

A Creative Learning Environment
After Jema Pamintuan’s placement at Georgetown University, she wrote she was eager “to further push myself in helping our department design new courses and teaching tools, and foster a creative and critically engaging learning environment within and outside the classroom.” Now Ateneo de Manila has offered her an opportunity to put those goals into practice: it named her executive director of the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings, an archival facility that promotes writing by and about Filipino women among contemporary readers.