Creating Opportunities For Educational Development

In 2019, COED initiated an effort to reach out to the indigenous tribe of the Philippines, the Aetas of Tarlac. The tribe lives in the mountains of Tarlac and education is very hard to achieve. There are very few children who finish elementary school, let alone high school or achieve a college degree. As it stands right now, there is only a school there up to 3rd grade, then after third grade, the students will have to walk for about 10 km to attend 4th grade up to high school. In addition, since the members of the tribe look physically different from the children of the lowlands, they are discriminated and bullied in school. In 2020, COED successfully recruited 4 high school graduate from the community to attend college who are willing to serve the community by their majors in Education and Criminology. In 2021, COED added another student from the community who is pursuing a degree in engineering. They are now the beacon of hope for the tribe and the community for a better future. The Board members communicate with the student coordinator regularly to provide guidance on the financial assistance the students are receiving for their studies. In late 2022, classes to meet face to face has resumed so they had to give up their apartment and stayed in dormitories close to the school they are attending. Three of the Aeta community scholars unfortunately did not continue their studies in 2023 but there remains 4 students from the community. They are continuing to pursue their degrees in education, agriculture and criminology. By mid 2024, three of the students will be graduating.

In 2023, COED continued to provide scholarships to two students in California. They are both graduates of River City High School in West Sacramento. The students are attending California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo and UC Berkeley. COED provides scholarships to both of them and will continue to do so as long as their GPA is maintained at 3.0. COED will continue to do so until graduation. In June 2023, the scholar attending UC Berkley graduated. COED continues to support one student attending CAL State San Luis Obispo.

For the year 2024 COED provided scholarships to a dental student pursuing graduation for 2025. COED provided critical funding for accomplishing the students' requirements for graduation.