Last week, we introduced you to Carlo and his story. This week, we share a similar story for someone completely different… but very similar.

April is not just Carlo’s teammate in the senior teams of Payatas FC, April is also Carlo’s teammate in coaching. Together, they learned to play. Together, they learned to coach. And together, they worked hard for a path forward.

Growing up in scarcity, children often think very deeply about practical needs. Rather than playing, everything is about how this can help their family right now. So from a young age, April was keenly aware of practical needs growing up.

April joined Payatas FC and Fairplay later than Carlo. With the right support from friends, family, and Fairplay, though, April was able to focus on his family’s needs right now as well as his opportunities for the future. Together with Carlo, April learned to coach younger children and let them play and have fun and have more of a childhood. Ronalyn mentored them both, coaching them as players and also as budding coaches.

As part of the Payatas FC U18 and men’s team, April continued to improve and feel part of the team. And after graduating Senior High School, April was offered a College Varsity Futsal Scholarship. He would become the first in his family to go to College.

Yet he still hummed and hawed about going to College, knowing the commitment for the next four years. Knowing the costs. And knowing the uncertainties. With the support of his team and mentors, April saw others take the same path and now has taken that opportunity to study and play for the University of Makati.

Coaching unlocked these possibilities for April, as he grew in confidence and has become a mature, young man. Through our mentees to mentors program, supported by Thinking of Yves, and with his monthly sponsor through the Fairpaly Scholarship program, April also had the financial support required to breakthrough the limits holding him back. With his teammates and mentors, possibilities that didn’t exist before are now his… and April becomes the first in his family to go to College.

April is now able to focus on playing and on studying. He still coaches in Payatas sometimes, but much less than before. And while April (and Carlo) are studying and playing and learning, Ronalyn and our other mentors continue to train the next batch of coaches and mentors.

A successful mentoring program requires more than one area of support to succeed. In fact, some mentoring programs don’t just fail to help, they actually make things worse. But when they’re designed well, with the participation and context of our community, they have the power to transform futures.

April has joined Carlo at the University of Makati, and together they have an opportunity they never would have dreamed of when first starting. But this is also now just one more chapter in their journey, with many more to come thanks to their hard-work and the support of their teammates and mentors.

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How to Help: If you’d like to help, this week share April’s Story on Facebook or this blog post with someone you think will be inspired by their story.

Next Week: How to Run a Successful Mentoring Program