She had to drop out of school for lack of money. Her unemployed parents rely only on her grandmother, a reflexologist, for finances.

That was before.

Today, Cindy is a sophomore high school student in Sienna College. She is one of the 100 students who are recipients of a Bosch Class 2010 sholarship in Sienna College Tatay, Rizal and Quezon City.

Among her schoolmates are Robbid Dalano, 13; and Mary Joyce Christine Fugnit, 14, who helps run her parents’ sari-sari store.

Night school

Through its partnership with Springboard Foundation and A BetterChance (ABC) Foundation, the Bosch Class 2010 adopt-a-school program aims to provide comprehensive education for incoming freshmen of Sienna Colleges’ night school. Bosch provides tuition fees, uniforms, text books, school supplies and daily snacks for the students until they graduate from high school in 2010.

Beyond the financial benefits, the scholars learned more important things like gaining confidence.

"I want to prove to everyone that it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor," Joyce said.

For Cindy, the experience taught her to be stronger, especially in the absence of her parents.

Because they are more focused on their studies, their goals have become clearer to them as well. Cindy plans to take up accountancy in college because she likes numbers and she wants to fulfill her promise to help her four siblings in their studies. Joyce hopes to become a nurse and work abroad. Robb wants to take up mass communication or speech language pathology.

For Robb, it is the promise of a better life.

Robert Bosch, Inc. is the local company of Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), one of the world’s largest private industrial corporations. Ninety-two percent of the shares of Robert Bosch GmbH are held by Robert Bosch Stiftung, a charitable institution.