Meet Sherwin Canillo
The Philipinnes
Sherwin Canillo comes from the province of Batangas, the location of one of the Centres which was established by the help of two EWB Volunteers in June 2004. Sherwin was among the first 15 youth who were trained in the province. Selected to be trained because with only a high school education, despite his obvious intelligence and motivation, he was not able to find a job and spent his days idle at home.
Sherwin began studying computer engineering immediately after high school but was forced to stop because his family could no longer afford the tuition. His family's income (less than $100 CAD a month) comes primarily from his brother.
Sherwin was honored to have been chosen as one of the recipients of the Scala Project. He wanted to learn more about computers and the Scala Project was an opportunity to study which he could afford. He paid the 300 pesos ($6.50) commitment fee and traveled an hour everyday to receive computer and life skills training from our local partner, the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
When I was introduced to Sherwin, the social workers who trained him bragged that he was the brightest in his class. Sherwin, a shy but confident youth of 23 reminded us that his inspiration came from a desire to help his family. But his inspiration didn't end at successfully completing the training which includes two months computer and life skills training followed by two months of practical on the job training. Sherwin had a plan. His plan was to open his own internet café and finance the rest of his education.
Although he did not have much formal computer training and it was mostly limited to basic computer operation Sherwin taught himself troubleshooting and networking to prepare for running his internet café. Despite Sherwin's motivation and intelligence, he was challenged with a lack of resources to finance the café. During a visit to his past computer trainers from the Scala program they shared with Sherwin that if he really, really wanted to pursue his plan that they could help him. They helped him prepare a Project Proposal for the Internet Café which was submitted to a local rotary club who exists solely to help underprivileged youth in the community. With Sherwin's brother acting as the signatory, Sherwin was able to secure a 30,000 peso loan interest-free for one year. He leased a space in the commercial area of the local market, purchased two Pentium 4 computers, was lent a photocopier and set-up shop almost one year after first beginning his Scala training.
Named JC Computer Shop after Sherwin's brother, the internet café charges a rate of 25p/hour and also accepts typing jobs, photocopying and private tutoring. When I visited, JC Computer Shop was empty except for Sherwin who sat behind an office desk. Sherwin shared that he plans to advertise at the nearby schools to inform them that he was open for business. And as for his other plans, to get a university degree and to help his family live a better life, Sherwin had begun with his own personal motivation and skills, received training from the Scala Centre in his province, developed a relationship with the social workers who trained him, gained access to resources to start an internet café and was little by little making steps towards those dreams.
