Part of our development team works remotely from the Philippines; here we have found great collaborators. Not only in knowledge, but also in the match with our corporate culture. Given this match between our company and the Philippines, we wanted to give back. Our colleagues are all well trained, but we are aware that this is not a given for everyone. Therefore, the idea arose to establish a scholarship fund for Filipino youth. We call it (entirely in line with musQueteer): All for One.
Arnd Jan Prause, co-founder at musQueteer, says: “A high school friend of mine, Gijs Heuvingh, together with his fold Eva, volunteered for years in Cambodia. Eventually they realized that volunteering is often temporary and somewhat erratic. With education, you make a lasting impact on someone’s life, so they started the Chance2Study foundation. Since 2014, we have also supported this foundation with donations and, with our support, they have provided IT students with scholarships. They have been doing this for 14 years now, so they have gained an insane mountain of experience. That’s why Gijs told us all about it at our office; tips and tricks, but also the pitfalls.”
Simply put, we don’t want to just make donations, we want to be really involved. From Chance2Study, we got a good perspective. Arnd Jan: “Chance2Study has only a few conditions for the scholarship: attendance at tuition is important, the parents or family must be supportive and the students must be able to achieve good results. All tuition costs and books are paid for. There is contact with the student as well as with the university on site to report attendance. If the student would stop showing up, the payment also stops. Such a model is what we are going to use as well. Now, of course, it is not that we stop immediately with one missed class. But if more classes are missed or the results are disappointing, we will enter into discussion with the student. After all, sometimes there are circumstances that explain absence or disappointing results. If that is the case, we look for a solution together.”
A finger on the pulse is nice for all parties involved. This does note that while there is real commitment and we do not want to simply transfer money, there is no desire to have to be on top of it daily. But then we have local representation, in the form of our Filipino colleagues.
Who is the scholarship for?
Which brings us to another point: who is eligible for a scholarship from musQueteer? Arnd Jan: “At Chance2Study, candidates are nominated from their good contacts at various NGOs in Cambodia, but of course we have our colleagues on the ground. So we start by having them each nominate a candidate they think they want, can and deserve. These candidates can then apply for the All for One scholarship and based on those applications, we choose who we award the scholarship to.” When the pathway starts so close to home, of course we already have an immediate point of contact. We also start close to home for the choice of training institute. Coincidentally, the parents of one of our Filipino colleagues own an educational institution. That seems like a perfect place to start.
Clear communication
“We want to be very transparent and ensure clarity and clear rules. After all, there is also a risk of detriment,” says Arnd Jan. “Suppose a candidate does not make it anyway, in whatever way, with the result that we have to stop the grant, that might have consequences for our colleague’s connection with that candidate. But also for a candidate himself, stopping the grant can be harmful. That’s why we also want to keep that finger on the pulse. If it stalls somewhere, we first see if it can be resolved. Do you need something else? Are you going to take a little longer? Then we just engage in conversation.”
Life-changing impact
Do you have a question?
Want to learn more about the All for One scholarship fund? If so, please feel free to contact Arnd Jan Prause, Founder and Consultant at musQueteer
