An Estevan woman is moving half way around the world to help impoverished children find a better future.
Tareina Hunt will be spending six months in the Philippines where she will join up with Young Focus, an organization that works with children from poverty stricken families in the southeast Asian country.
Hunt said she came to the idea of volunteering in the Philippines through her friends, former Estevan residents Tracey and Jonathan Heppner. The son of missionaries who operate an orphanage just outside of the capital city Manila, Jonathan spent a number of years in the Philippines as a youth and the family moved back to the country over a year ago.
"I was talking to Tracey and Jonathan; I love to travel and I wanted to sort of give back and this seemed like the perfect opportunity given what I do for a living," said Hunt who is the owner/operator of Nut-Nae Art Websites and Graphics.
"I wasn't sure where I wanted to go and I was looking into a few different options, but because Jonathan and Tracey are there, it gives me a head start to know someone where I am going."
Although she admits the whole adventure is a bit overwhelming, Hunt said she is looking forward to the trip, noting that the need for volunteers in the Philippines is huge.
"I won't be one of those people who says 'I'll be 100 per cent prepared,'" she said. "I've been to Asia before and I have been to Third World countries before, but I haven't lived there. I've tried to educate myself through reading about the country and watching as many videos as I can as far as seeing what exactly is going on and where I'll be needed to help."
Founded in 1992 in Holland, Young Focus takes a somewhat different approach to assisting children as they work with them directly in their own environment such as the Manila slum area Smoky Mountain which is a massive garbage dump. Hunt said thousands of families live on or around the dump and make a living from scavenging recyclable items from the garbage or from making charcoal from collected pieces of wood.
"They build little huts there and they rummage through the garbage to find things to eat or plastic to recycle. So what (Young Focus) does is, they try to find kids from that area and give them sponsorship to be able to go to school and they also teach programs and classes at their facility in order to help bring children up to speed if they haven't been to school when they are younger.
"They help young adults learn skills to start a business and they help malnourished babies."
Aside from the programs Young Focus offers, the group also has a student centre which has computers for students to do their schoolwork on, and for private use as well as staff to assist the children. There are also educational programs and rooms for English and math tutorials; workshops on relevant subjects; career planning, a library and recreational areas.
"Some families in the Philippines, they just don't see education as important a lot of times because their parents aren't educated. Sometimes kids will go to school for a couple of years and then they'll have to work at as young as six or seven-years-old and drop out of school, so Young Focus will take them and get them back up to speed and then try to get them back into education programs and in school."
In speaking with the director of Young Focus, Hunt has learned she'll be able to help out in whatever area she chooses. However she hopes to see all of what Young Focus has to offer.
"A lot of it is going to be figured out when I get there," she said. "I've been in touch with Paul, the director, quite a few times and between figuring out exactly what my day-to-day schedule is going to be and where I am going to live, all those things will be decided once I get there."
Prior to her departure, Hunt set a goal of finding 10 sponsors to support Young Focus' education program and accomplished that goal in a short period of time. Anyone interested in assisting the organization can do so by going to http://www.youngfocus.org/whatcanudo-sponsor.html.
Hunt also has a blog that she will updating while she is in the Philippines. It can be found at tareinahunt.blogspot.ca.
