HS students turn ‘teenpreneurs’ in challenge

Several local business organizations are now looking to tap the imagination of the youth so that sustainable livelihood and a culture of self-reliance and productivity will thrive in every Gawad Kalinga (GK) community where poor and landless families have found home.

The Entrepreneurs School of Asia (ESA) in partnership with the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship and GoNegosyo launched yesterday "Teenpreneur Challenge," the country’s first inter-high school entrepreneurship competition where the ideas and inputs of high school students will be used to conceptualize and improve the business performance of livelihood projects for GK communities.

Joel Santos, co-founder of ESA and chairman of the Teenpreneur Challenge, said the program aims to advocate entrepreneurship and social responsibility in the high school level.

Santos said the participating schools are honored for doing this project for Gawad Kalinga.

"The participating schools are so excited for the program because the students are not only able to hone their entrepreneurial skills but they are also contributing to the development of society through the GK communities. We all want to help Gawad Kalinga," Santos said.

Tony Meloto, founder and executive editor of GK, welcomed the initiative, stressing that GK’s thrust is really to develop a culture of productivity, self-reliance and food-sufficiency among people living in GK communities.

"Our thrust is to make every GK village food sufficient. We want to develop their self-reliance. We want to enhance their entrepreneurial skills and we’re working with Department of Trade and Industry (cottage industries), TESDA (manpower development) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for the development of productivity and livelihood through GK communities," Meloto said in an interview.

Meloto added they’ve entered into various multi-sectoral partnerships to attract the expertise of government and non-government organizations to help GK communities develop a culture of productivity.

Gawad Kalinga, an NGO that provides a holistic approach to poverty, offers a concrete plan to rebuild the Philippines, aiming to construct 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in seven years - or GK 777.

In the Teenpreneur Challenge, all 25 teams from 20 high schools in Metro Manila will be trained by entrepreneur lecturers from ESA and the University of Portsmouth (UK) before they embark on this year’s "challenge" which is to provide winning ideas and inputs to improve the business performance of the livelihood projects of several GK communities. All teams will be mentored by volunteer entrepreneurs from the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc. (AFFI).

At the end of the month, the GK products will be sold in the Teenpreneur-GK bazaar in the SM Mall of Asia during the Tourism Negosyo Expo on March 2-4, 2007. The products will serve as a "true market test" of their sustainability.

Proceeds from the Expo will go to the Bayan-Anihan Livelihood program of the GK communities.

The 20 participating schools in the Teenpreneur challenge are the Assumption College (San Lorenzo), Elizabeth Seton School, Immaculate Conception Academy, Immaculate Heart of Mary, International Christian Academy, Kostka School, Lourdes School of Quezon City, Makati Hope School, San Beda College, San Benildo Integrated School, St. Bridget School, St. Paul’s College (Pasig), St. Paul’s University (Quezon City), Tabernacle of Faith Christian Academy and Xavier school.

Santos said they believe entrepreneurship is the tool to fight poverty and hoped this project would help create viable and sustainable livelihood for GK communities.