For the Youth and Community: AFS Youths Assembly

To whom it may concern;

Greetings of Peace!

I hope this letter finds you very well.

I am Juveriel Depay Tenio, a first-year agriculture student of Caraga State University - Main, an aspiring 21st Century Farmer, a global citizen, a 4-Her and an advocate of United Nations - Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially related to agriculture.

My goal is to create an agricultural playground for kids and young people in Caraga region by immersing them to farms and agri-industries to understand the concepts and sciences behind agriculture towards sustainable agriculture and food security.

Prior to that, please allow me to share a story of about myself.

I am an alumnus of Asia KAKEHASHI Project 2019-2020, a fully-funded scholarship, high-school exchange program by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) Japan and AFS Intercultural Programs, which I became a Youth Peace Ambassador of the Philippines to Japan. During the program, I was hosted at Tokyo, Japan, living in two (2) Japanese host families and studied at Keimei Gakuen High School, representing the Philippines which runs from August 19, 2019 to March 9, 2020.

After my exchange journey, I was able to join a community organization, Taguig City Youth towards Development (TCYD) Organization, which I volunteered as the org's General Secretary and an author of Barangay Youth Coordinators (BYCs) program, from August 2020 to June 2021.

Later on, I become an Administrative Secretary and then-President of Creative Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO), INC. which I co-designed our incubation programs such as, The Apprenticeship Program, The Internship Program, and Business Apprenticeship Program, from June 2021 to March 2022 while studying my Senior High School (SHS) program. During my stay at the social company, I have discovered my passion with agriculture and skills development of young people.

When I graduated my SHS program, on June 19, 2022, I received a scholarship from Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) - Bulacan Campus, GK Enchanted Farm, Angat, Bulacan, a school for agriculture of Gawad Kalinga (GK), where I conducted the Organic Agriculture Production NCII training. After the one-month program, I was offered another scholarship opportunity, the SEED 2.0 program, which I went to San Lorenzo Ruiz, Camarines Norte, Bicol to establish a Community Food Farm for two (2) months. I graduated the program on September 23, 2022.

That was the time I am enrolled already at Caraga State University - Main, where I pursue my undergraduate studies about Agricultural Sciences.

On late September, I was received once again a full virtual scholarship from the AFS Intercultural Programs and Center for Social Impact Strategy (CSIS) of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) which is the AFS Global You Changemaker (GYC) program. In this collaborative curriculum from AFS Intercultural Programs and the Center for Social Impact Strategy, I, together with my fellow KAKEHASHI alumni have access to a rigorous 12-week social impact and personal development curriculum.

As part of the program, students will develop a social impact project, observe and explore their communities, and connect with AFS students and volunteers worldwide. Then, I developed the prototype of BarnHouse, the above-mentioned agricultural playground for kids and young people.

On March 21, 2023 - 4:05AM, I received once again an email from AFS Intercultural Programs that I have been selected as a standout alumni of the Asia-Kakehashi program - and especially the GYC cohort program - and invited to represent Asia-Kakehashi alumni at the 2023 AFS Youth Assembly in New York City from August 11-13.

See here for more details about the 2023 AFS Youth Assembly: https://www.youthassembly.org/

However, the said program didn't offer a round-trip flight ticket, to and from New York City, which I and my family, which my father is the sole person who works for living, and might be the hindrance for me to not participate to the program.

I am hereby requesting from your good office if I could ask any amount of assistance from you regarding the matter so that I could join and not miss this once again, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. AFS has been offering me great opportunities since 2018 and I really want to represent my country again.

Provided that, I'll be given an opportunity to share the BarnHouse, an agricultural playground, agri-education focused system I am currently brewing to my fellow alumni through the exclusive workshop for Asia-Kakehashi alumni on the afternoon of Friday, August 11 led by AFS Intercultural Programs leadership.

I hope, I have presented well my experiences and my capabilities to do more, not just for myself but for the development of our society and community.

If there's anything I could be of help in return, please let me know. Nevertheless, I'll go forward to promote agriculture to the young people and be part of the Changemaker of the region.

Should you sponsor, donate, or any clarifications, I would be happy to present myself for a meeting (whether virtual or face-to-face). Any amount of love will do.

Contact Information:

Number -

+639454436918

Facebook Handle -

https://www.facebook.com/Juvsthe21stCenturyFarmer

Email Address -

[email protected]

[email protected]

Thank you so much for allowing me do this!

Kindest regards,

Juveriel