Category: Asia

Unbound's office building in Antipolo, Philippines.
Community, Philippines
Sep 30 2016

Community blessings for Unbound’s Antipolo office

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Unbound’s office building in Antipolo, Philippines.
A cake designed to look like the Unbound Antipolo office building.

As we reported in 2015, our program in Antipolo, Philippines, built a new office space and community center. The building project was a community effort, with fathers of sponsored children employed as construction workers, along with others from the local community, and several Antipolo alumni lent their expertise to the project.

The Unbound community in Antipolo recently held a celebration to bless the new building. Father Richard Magararu officiated the blessing, and several members from the community also offered their own prayers in Tagalog, the language spoken by many Filipinos.

Here are their prayers, along with an English translation.

Read the prayers

Ramil goes out each day with other fishermen to support his family.
Economic Self-Sufficiency, Philippines, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Sep 26 2016

‘I will do everything to be a good father’

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Ramil, Domnick and Anita in front of their home in the Philippines.

Ramil, Domnick and Anita in front of their home in the Philippines.


Ramil wakes up at 4:30 every morning and ventures out on the sea to catch fish. Twice a day he heads out on the waters surrounding the Philippines for one reason: to support his family.

The father of seven children, including 10-year-old Romnick who is sponsored through Unbound, Ramil sees his job as a fisherman as the best way to provide for his family. After his first round of fishing for the day, his wife, Anita, sells the fish in the market while Ramil goes back out to bring in another catch.

Ramil has been doing this for 20 years.

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Jeba Mathi loves her job as a social worker for Unbound in Trichy, India, where she was raised by her grandmother and was a sponsored child herself.
Economic Self-Sufficiency, Education, India, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Sep 9 2016

A grandmother’s wisdom and a sponsor’s love

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Jeba Mathi loves her job as a social worker for Unbound in Trichy, India, where she was raised by her grandmother and was a sponsored child herself.

Jeba Mathi loves her job as a social worker for Unbound in Trichy, India, where she was raised by her grandmother and was a sponsored child herself.

Jeba Mathi is a social worker for Unbound in Trichy, India, and a former Unbound sponsored child. Jeba was raised in India by her grandmother, and had a special connection with her sponsor who was raised by her grandmother, too.

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John is a father of eight in Uganda. His daughter Christine is sponsored through Unbound. To support his family, he took loans from the Unbound parents group he participates in to open up his own store.
Bolivia, Economic Self-Sufficiency, Guatemala, India, Philippines, Sponsor a child, Sponsor an aging friend, Uganda, Unbound
Sep 5 2016

Hard-working parents — photo essay

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Charito is the mother of two sponsored children in the Philippines. She is part of an initiative that uses water hyacinth (water lily), which grows in abundance near her community, to create a plant-based leather substitute. They use it to create a variety of products, such as shoes, bags, folders and backpacks. Charito is in charge of drying and cleaning the plants after they have been harvested by scraping off extra fibers, which she is doing in the photo above.

Through supports groups and livelihood programs, Unbound supports the hard-working parents of sponsored children around the world to help them develop their natural talents, so they can create sustainable sources of income to support their families and work their way out of poverty.

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Pritha, at the age of 13, dressed for her coming-of-age ceremony. According to Pritha, this photo was taken in a professional photographer's studio, in front of a mirror so that the intricate braid work could be seen in the reflection.
Community, India, Unbound
Aug 31 2016

Coming of age in South India

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Pritha, at the age of 13, dressed for her coming-of-age ceremony. According to Pritha, this photo was taken in a professional photographer’s studio, in front of a mirror so that the intricate braid work could be seen in the reflection.
In her role as program director at Unbound, Pritha visits sponsored child Antony at Antony’s home in India.

By Pritha Hariharan, program director for Unbound’s international programs

Picture this: a young girl of 13 fully decked out in a brand new sari. All the gold her family can afford hangs on her ears, around her neck, her wrists, her ankles and even her waist. She is the center of attention — all the ladies of the family and the neighborhood mill around her. Some bring gifts, others bring food, but everyone is congratulating her and her parents.

She isn’t quite sure why she’s been put in the spotlight, but she’s enjoying it for now. The male siblings are feeling left out, and for the first time in their lives they can’t figure out why the sister is getting all the attention.

Middle school graduation?

Think again.
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Sundarapandi lost his hands at age 10. He later went on to win numerous medals in the Indian Paralympics as a swimmer.
Asia, India, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Aug 26 2016

Indian swimmer wins Paralympic gold

Sundarapandi lost his hands at age 10. He later went on to win numerous medals in the Indian Paralympics as a swimmer.

Sundarapandi lost his hands at age 10. He later went on to win numerous medals in the Indian Paralympics as a swimmer.

When Sundarapandi, an 18-year-old sponsored youth in India, lost his hands in an electrical accident at age 10, he never imagined he would someday become a decorated athlete.

Winning three gold and one bronze medal in the India National Paralympics in 2015, Sundarapandi has achieved far beyond what he ever could have dreamed.

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Social worker Anibal Perez (right) visits with Angelica and Emerson, the mother and brother of sponsored child Ada in Guatemala.
Education, Guatemala, Honduras, Philippines, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Aug 17 2016

From sponsored members to staff members

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Social worker Anibal Perez (right) visits with Angelica and Emerson, the mother and brother of sponsored child Ada in Guatemala.

Social worker Anibal Perez (right) visits with Angelica and Emerson, the mother and brother of sponsored child Ada in Guatemala. As a student, Anibal was sponsored and had a scholarship through Unbound. Because he comes from similar circumstances as the families in the program, he says, “I understand their struggle. …”


Former sponsored child and scholarship recipient Anibal Perez remembers how important support from the Unbound staff was growing up.

Now, in his role as a social worker with Unbound in Guatemala, Anibal works with 322 children and their families to support them and be part of their lives.

“I understand their struggle and can be sort of a role model for them,” he said.

Anibal credits his family, his sponsors (Dennis and Mary in Illinois) and the Unbound staff for making it possible for him to graduate from high school.

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Several smaller mothers groups come together in Warangal, India for "Pratibhautsav," a traditional celebration of light and splendor. This particular gathering was dedicated to the initiative of the women.
Community, Economic Self-Sufficiency, Guatemala, India, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jul 27 2016

Small groups offer empowerment and support

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Members of a mothers group in Guatemala sit in front of baskets they produce to generate income. Pictured are Ana (foreground) and (in back, from left) Maria, Dora and Maria Eva.
Several smaller mothers groups come together in Warangal, India for “Pratibhautsav,” a traditional celebration of light and splendor. This particular gathering was dedicated to the initiative of the women.

Perhaps nothing says more about Unbound’s culture of learning than our movement toward small, community-based groups within our programs. The families themselves taught us that when those who are systemically disadvantaged come together, great things can happen.

Local Unbound program staffs discovered early on that small peer groups were ideal for building trust and an environment of mutual support within a larger community. They found that the ideal size was about 25 members — large enough to feel empowered but small enough to maintain a sense of intimacy.

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Reynald heads down the boulevard in Dipolog city, seeking the best spot to set up for the day.
Economic Self-Sufficiency, Philippines, Sponsor a child, Unbound
Jul 15 2016

Success with a cherry on top

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Regine (center) with her parents, Judith (left) and Reynald (right), who run an ice cream business. They prepare ice cream each day in a small area of their home in the Philippines and sell it in the community.
Judith (left) and Reynald (right) make their morning batch of ice cream — strawberry and mango!
This Sunday is National Ice Cream Day, and we’re celebrating by honoring an Unbound family who makes their living from ice cream! If you don’t already have a bowl of your favorite cold treat ready to enjoy, you will definitely be craving one after reading this.

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