It was a highly emotional graduation ceremony as the
scholars of Monsanto and Human Nature received their diploma marking the end of
their two-year course at Gawad Kalinga’s School for Experiential and
Entrepreneurial Development (GK-SEED). The scholars have definitely grown very
close not only to each other but also to their mentors as evidenced by the
exchange of warm messages accompanied by heartfelt tears indicating a mixture
of joy, excitement and sadness as their two-year live-in training ends.
The GK-SEED was launched in 2014 to provide an
education-based solution to rural development. It is the country’s first school
for social entrepreneurship for the poor which prepares students to create
social enterprises with a vision to develop rural areas through rural job and
wealth creation. During the two-year program, students take a variety of
courses that focus on character development, enterprise management,
communications, business math, and agriculture.
The school is also a pilot program that will be
replicated to provide quality education to thousands in communities across the
Philippines. It aims to raise the next generation of agri-entrepreneurs.
“It is the first school to be training people from
the bottom of the pyramid, specifically the young to actually learn business.
We teach them to become employers and leaders,” said Mark Lawrence Cruz,
Director of GK-SEED Philippines. “Our vision for them is to lead their
communities out of poverty.” Cruz underscored that the scholars will not only
end poverty for themselves but also for their families, their communities, and
our country.
Meantime, Corporate Affairs Lead Charina Ocampo said
that “we are humbled and honored to have been given the opportunity to help
children from farming families achieve their dreams. We are excited that
through GK-SEED, they are now equipped to realize their fullest potential and
can help alleviate the lives of not only of their families but also of the
other members of their communities.
Monsanto also helped build a two-storey dormitory
inside the GK-SEED campus to provide a place for scholars to stay during their
two-year course. These scholars come from various parts of the country and as
far as the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
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