Built from scratch. Driven to give back.

Project IQRA

Helping students take the next step toward opportunity.

My parents saw education as a way to give us more choices in life. Project IQRA carries that belief forward.

Named after the Arabic word for “to read” or “to learn,” our flagship educational initiative is designed to help under-resourced Filipino students pursue fully funded scholarships. Its focus is on a gap that can be easy to overlook: even when a scholarship covers the cost of studying, getting through the application process can require money and guidance a student does not have.

For a young person from a low-income household, the cost of travel, securing documents or completing application requirements can put an opportunity out of reach before their application is even considered.

Through Project IQRA, we aim to help students navigate those requirements and address the upfront financial barriers that stand in their way.

This initiative is my tribute to my parents, and a way to extend the opportunity they worked so hard to give me.

Grassroots Sports Development

Giving young people room to pursue their love of the game.

Some of my happiest childhood memories are of my family watching basketball on television together.

Life at home could be difficult. But when our favorite team was playing, we had something to share. We cheered, argued about the game, and enjoyed being together. For those few hours, things felt lighter.

I never had the resources or opportunities to explore how far my own love of sports might take me. But that love and passion stayed.

Today, we want to help young people have the chance to participate, train, and discover what they can do. Our focus is on grassroots support: equipment, access to training, and safe places to play.

We want to encourage the young person who keeps showing up, works hard, and loves the game, even if they are not yet the strongest player on the court.

Mental Health & Neurodivergent Support

Helping people feel understood and families feel less alone.

For much of my life, I did not have a clear understanding of my own neurodivergence.

From the outside, I could appear capable and in control. Privately, I struggled with things I could not explain. That gap affected my work, my relationships, and the way I understood myself.

Finding language for those experiences helped me look at my life with more understanding and less blame. It also showed me how much earlier support could have mattered.

This is why supporting mental health and neurodivergent communities, including autistic people and people with ADHD, is deeply personal to me.

Our focus is on local advocacy, awareness, and school and family support networks in General Santos City. We want to contribute to a community where people can ask for help, understand their needs, and find support without shame.

I cannot speak for every neurodivergent person. But I can share my experience and support the people working to make life more understandable and manageable for others.

Childhood Cancer Care in Zamboanga City

Supporting children and the families beside them.

I was born and raised in Zamboanga City, and supporting children receiving cancer care there is deeply personal to me.

Two very close members of my family died from autoimmune diseases in their teenage years. Their loss left me with grief and a lingering sense of guilt: a wish that I could have done more to help them.

Their illnesses were different from cancer, but the experience taught me how difficult it can be for a family to face a serious illness, especially when the cost of treatment stretches beyond what they can afford.

I know what it feels like to desperately want someone you love to get better while feeling that the help they need is beyond what you can provide. Alongside the fear of losing them is the question that never quite leaves you: What more can we do?

For families facing childhood cancer, that struggle comes with the daily demands of caring for a sick child, making difficult decisions, and keeping the household going through exhaustion and uncertainty.

These experiences are part of why we want to support the Pediatric Oncology Section of the Department of Pediatrics at Zamboanga City Medical Center. By contributing to identified needs in treatment and care, in coordination with the hospital, we hope to ease some of the burden these families carry.

Every child deserves care, comfort, and the chance to grow up. Every family deserves support as they help their child through treatment.