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The Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation ensures children in the Philippines reach school safe and dry

2 min read

Better Society
Source: Facebook/YellowBoatOfHopeFoundation

What began as a national movement to help children who had to swim to school in the mangrove is now branching into other areas of social well-being.

Children of this community in the Philippines use yellow boats – not buses – to reach school

Did you ever hear of children having to swim to school? This was the reality for a whole community of children in the mangrove village of Layag-Layag in the Philippines. With no road, children had to swim to reach the school some 2 km away from the village. After witnessing such conditions, two men founded the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation. They started with one boat to bring about 25-30 kids to school, but soon they realised that it was not enough for all the children…

Changing the world into a better place through every child’s education The Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation (YBOH) provides yellow school boats and other modes of transport and structures (such as boats, bridges, dormitories) to help struggling children get to school. They want to ensure that no child is left behind, which means changing the world into a better place through every child’s education. Source: Facebook/Diply

Children miss out on their right to education due to location, financial situation or isolation

In the Philippines, many children face difficult challenges simply to be able to go to school, with some children even have to swim to school with their school bags and uniforms getting wet in the process. Some children don’t even have the option to swim as they live on remote areas or far-flung islands with no nearby school, or they are forced to work to help their families survive.

It was from this calling that the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation or YBHF was born. The mission of the foundation is to pool resources from all over the world to improve children’s access to education, make it easier for them to go to school and keep the passion to finish their studies run in their system.

They provide them Yellow School Boats and other modes of transportand structures such as classrooms, bridges, dormitories, etc. to meet this goal.

The foundation say they will stick to their commitment until no child is left behind. 

Watch below as Jay Jaboneta and Anton Mari H. Lim, co-founders of the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, talk about its beginnings.

Source: YellowBoatFoundation

Yellow Boat of Hope is growing to meet the needs of the people What started out as simply building Yellow School Boats for the swimming kids has become much more as they soon realised there are more children and families out there who need boats and other interventions if they are serious about securing them a better future for their children. Source: Youtube/DocAntonLim
Most of time, the children’s notebooks, bags and other items would get soaked, if not properly wrapped in plastic. Children would arrive at school wet and sometimes injured from corals and crabs.
With no road, children had to swim to reach the school some 2 km away from the village Most of time, the children’s notebooks, bags and other items would get soaked, if not properly wrapped in plastic. Children would arrive at school wet and sometimes injured from corals and crabs. Source: Facebook/YellowBoatOfHopeFoundation
Make an Impact

Adopt A Fisherman!

Partners and Friends in HOPE building, the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation has launched the ADOPT-A-FISHERMAN project to support and help Yolanda (Haiyan) affected communities. Help us help them recover their livelihood after the disaster by providing boats so they can go fishing again, support their families, and send their kids back to school.