The Hope Effect

Nanette Medved-Po shares the progress of non-profit organisaiton Generation HOPE and its impact on education, the environment, and beyond

- Vicki Abary-Farol

Nanette Medved-Po—founder, chairman, and president of the non-profit organisation Generation HOPE—is totally in her element in a remote school outside General Santos, South Cotabato, Mindanao, which has become incredibly meaningful for her of late. “On Mondays, 46 kids walk three hours with one teacher from home to here,” MedvedPo shares. “There used to be only a shed where they would study, then sleep in until Friday, when they would walk the three hours back home. This was a school with no buildings, electricity, or water. Now they have classrooms—and this is the first time for Generation HOPE to build something more than just that.”

Well-versed with other non-profits such as World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) and Bantay Bata, Medved-Po knew fundraising for a cause had its challenges. In a flash of inspiration, she came up with HOPE in a Bottle, a bottle of purified water just like any other in the market, with one main difference: 100 per cent of its profits are donated towards building classrooms. Generation HOPE finds retail partners to buy its product, the customers who buy HOPE in a Bottle at those locations create profits for the company, and the profits build schools identified by the Department of Education (DepEd)’s Adopt-a-School programme in the neediest of areas in the Philippines.

According to generation hope.ph, classroom shortage is a real problem, resulting in lower achievement and lower engagement levels in students. DepEd says 84,000 classrooms need to be built to bridge the gap in classroom deficiencies all over the country.