Wading through and swimming in the water to get to school can be fun. But doing it every day is not only unexciting but also dangerous. Many students from various parts of the country went through this exhausting and risk-taking routine.
But the good news is that some people who couldn’t just close their eyes went to explore opportunities to help address it. In October 2010, one of the volunteer group’s founders, Jay Jaboneta, took it to social media. He posted a status on Facebook requesting funds to build a boat for students in Layag-Layag, an island in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.
Financial donations poured into the volunteer group following its call. The amount raised was used to build a double-outrigger engine-driven boat that could ferry about 30 elementary students. The volunteer group turned over their first boat in 2011, a year before they officially registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Our first students from Layag-Layag swam to get to the school with plastic bags, containing their learning materials, over their heads,” said Dr. Anton Mari H. Lim, DVM, co-founder and current president of Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, Inc. “They arrived in the class starved, wet, and tired.”
FUNDRAISING
The initiative to raise funds and build and donate boats to students who had to cross water did not stop there. The number of boats donated kept growing, and the program’s reach expanded. “We donate both paddle and motorized boats,” Lim said. “The boats are designed to adapt to the community needs and the boat builder capabilities.”
The paddle boat could carry three to five elementary students, he added. The regular motorized boat could load about 10 while the large, motorized boat can transport around 30 students. “The foundation sources funds mainly through fundraising campaigns,” Lim said. But sometimes they get funds through grants, he added.
Patricia Diana S.A. Ayo, foundation grants and partnerships officer, explained how the construction of boats gets support. “The process for donation usually goes like this: a community reaches out to us on their need for a school boat,” she said. “We assess the community by mobilizing our Hope Paddlers within or near the area. Once we confirmed the need for a school boat, we connected with the local boat builder to get the cost of the boat.”
When an organization, or an individual, communicates interest in donating, she explained, the foundation submits to them the assessment and estimates, providing them with an idea of the cost. “Once we receive the donations from organizations and individuals, we mobilize our Hope Paddlers in the communities or schools that need yellow school boats,” Ayo said. “Our Hope Paddlers coordinate with the local boat builder. They also turnover the yellow school boats to the recipients.”
“Our Hope Paddlers are mostly public school teachers,” Ayo said. “Since our programs are directly provided to public schools, teachers as Hope Paddlers are helpful in documentations and information. They can also best assess what is most needed by the schools since they work there.”
She explained that a paddle boat usually costs P12, 000 to P18, 000 to build, while a motorized boat costs P70, 000 to P100, 000. The cost varies depending on the size of the boat and the community’s location.
The foundation has donated boats to students in the provinces of Isabela, Tarlac, Mountain Province, Bulacan, Pampanga, Zambales, Palawan, Romblon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Sorsogon, Capiz, Negros Occidental, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Samar, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Davao Oriental, Cotabato, Surigao del Norte, Basilan, Maguindanao del Norte, and Sulu.
“The most recent recipients are students at Dungon Elementary School in Tongkil, Sulu,” Lim said. “Thirty paddle boats were donated to students who must cross shallow waters.” He added that the boats were also donated to support the fishing community’s livelihood.
“The parents of the students can use the boats to catch fish while their children are in school or have no classes,” Lim said. The school boats are painted in yellow like the yellow buses and other vehicles that transport students. The color also warns other watercrafts that the yellow boats are carrying young students.
BOATS FOR FISHERMEN
In 2014, the foundation donated no less than 600 yellow boats to fishermen in Leyte, Samar, and Cebu who lost their boats to Typhoon Yolanda. One of the donors of the boats was American best-selling author Mitchell David “Mitch” Albom. He donated six boats to the foundation for the fishermen through the National Book Store. The boats were named after his book titles– Have A Little Faith, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Time Keeper, The First Phone Call from Heaven, and For One More Day.
In 2023, the foundation, in collaboration with various organizations and individuals, turned over 123 boats under its Adopt-A-Fisherman program. Better Giving (formerly Angel Giving and Angel Protocol) donated 88 boats for the program. The recipients were fishing communities in Bohol, Cebu, and Siargao hit by Super Typhoon Odette in December 2021.
Under the program, Yield Guild Games Philippines, a web3 gaming community, donated three boats to fishermen in Bohol and Cebu struck by typhoons. Another group of fishermen in Pang-an, Cebu were handed over 10 boats in March 2023.
Fishing communities in Bohol received 34 boats in May 2023. Out of the number, nine were turned over to fishermen in Cabul-an, 10 to the fishing community in Bagonbanwa, 10 to the fisherfolk in Cuaming, and five to fishermen in Mocaboc. Also in May, 11 more boats were handed over to the fishermen in Cubian. Also in May, fishermen in Cebu received one boat, and fishermen in Bohol were handed over one boat.
In the following month, 13 boats were turned over to the fishing families in San Isidro, Siargao. Also in April, Steve and Ella Davies donated two boats to the foundation’s newly-adopted community in Mainit Norte, Perez, Quezon. Under the program, the Santa Clara Marine Plywood also donated 20 boats to the families of students of Dungon Elementary School in Tongkil, Sulu.
The boats were turned over in December 2023, together with two more boats sponsored by Kabataan Culture, one boat by DefiJedi, and seven boats by various private sponsors. Under the program, the fishermen are encouraged to transport children to school and back home when needed. Also, they should use the boats to generate income to support the children’s education.
“This initiative not only helps restore livelihoods but also ensures access to education for children in these communities,” the foundation said.
OTHER YELLOW PROGRAMS
Aside from boats, the foundation also offers the programs of Yellow School of Hope, Starter Classrooms, Yellow Dorm of Hope, Yellow Bridge of Hope, Educational Hubs, Support Our Schools, and Hope In A Box. They also provide school supplies and groceries. The said programs are offshoots of the boat-giving advocacy of the foundation.
In 2023, phase three of the construction of the Yellow School of Hope for the Sam-Bajau learners of sitio Teheman, Maluso, Basilan was completed. The foundation was supported by Sun Life Financial, Sun Life Philippines, KC of the Yellow Boat of Hope USA, Kindreds Spirits of Arch.
Peach Buencamino, and Dr. Angela Pineda of VBP Dermatology assisted in the construction of this yellow school. Also last year, the foundation handed over 847 Hope Boxes to schools and communities in Romblon, Bulacan, and Tarlac. Hope Boxes contain notebooks, pencils, paper, sharpeners, erasers, scissors, crayolas, bond papers, and other school supplies.
A STORY OF HOPE
Jenny Tulawi, now 16 years of age, received not only a boat, but also a “lifeline to education.” “When Jenny was still 14 years old, she collected seashells to sell them to help her family earn a living,” Lim said.
The story started with Allison, an 8th-Grader from Qingdao Amerasia International School in China, who raised funds for a paddle boat, Lim recounted. Allison had the boat signed “In memory of NINA ELIF ROWE,” in honor of her late friend Nina. The boat found its way to Jenny. Jenny graduated from elementary last 2022, and is currently in 8th Grade.
There are just so many stories about the Yellow Boat of Hope, and a day is just not enough to tell one or two. Since its inception, the foundation has donated 5,373 boats to schoolchildren, Lim said. Over 81,600 students have benefited from the boats, covering 149 adopted schools nationwide.
Lim was hailed as the 2023 Asia Pacific Kindness and Leadership Listee for helping students on the margins rise above challenges and achieve their dreams. The Yellow Boat of Hope received MetroBank Foundation’s Partners in Empowerment, Advocacy, and Commitment to Excellence (Peace) Award in 2019.
