Eileen Yee was the driving force behind Discova’s Educational Travel business. As a General Manager, she had a steadfast and positive approach to work and was always there to support and rally her team no matter how high the hurdles or difficult the challenges that lay in front of them. Eileen was extremely passionate about supporting local communities through her history of taking education groups into villages and her enduring legacy is cemented by the countless lives she touched and impacted during her time with Discova.
As many of our partners might know, Eileen unexpectedly passed away in September 2023. To celebrate her inspiring and indomitable life, we are proud to announce the launch of the Eileen Yee Education Fund, which will provide scholarships to disadvantaged high school students in communities where Discova has grassroots connections.
As the eldest of three girls, Eileen knew through her work and life that young girls in Southeast Asia face numerous barriers to completing their high school education. Just as her parents instilled in her a sense of responsibility for helping the less fortunate, we hope that this Fund will enable us to empower more families to allow their girls to complete school and open doors to many more opportunities.
With the UN estimating that by 2030, 84 million children and young people will be forced to stay out of school, this Fund could be a potential gamechanger in reducing high school dropout rates and enabling both girls and boys to reach adulthood with a quality education that allows them to pursue a broad range of life opportunities.
Through this Fund, for as little as USD 200-300 USD per year, students can receive access to all the materials and equipment they need for school, including a bicycle, a backpack, a uniform, and all the stationery they require for their studies. We have set ourselves a three-year goal to sponsor the high school education of 101 students. With the estimated monthly cost of USD 25 per student, we are attempting to raise at least USD 90,900 for the first phase of this project.
“Many years ago, a colleague gave her the nickname “101” because her name Eileen Yee sounds exactly like the Chinese phonetic “Yi Ling Yi”; so, when it came to setting a target for the Fund, we did what Eileen would have done; set it high!” explains Suyin.
Although we have only just started spreading the word about The Eileen Yee Education Fund, we have already raised $8,000. This has inspired us to keep building awareness amongst our partners and friends to help improve the lives of hundreds of children in Southeast Asia. Our fund-raising efforts will be further amped up in September as we celebrate Eileen’s birthday and remember all her wonderful work to improve social and economic empowerment of marginalised communities.
You can support the Eileen Yee Education Fund by making monthly contributions or a one-off donation which would go a long way in ensuring access to education for students from low-income backgrounds across our destinations in Southeast Asia.
To contribute click here, or to learn more about the implementation of this programme, click here.
A fund impact report will be published and shared with donors on a 6 monthly basis. For sponsors of scholarships, an individual update will be provided that gives an insight into the sponsored student’s progress. This will be suitably anonymised to align with Childsafe policies.
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and stay at the forefront of new product offerings, Discova behind-the-scenes, destination news, travel trends and thought leadership articles from our on-the-ground experts.
