Sustainable solutions to global issues require dedicated people. People who are able to act locally, and who are political, scientific and community leaders. We are keen to connect with inspirational people who can help nurture these future leaders.
Poverty is one the main obstacles facing these future leaders. Economic disadvantage forces many young people to abandon their ambitions, in turn perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Every year in Indonesia alone, 1.5 million teenagers drop out of school, unable to continue their path towards future leadership due to economic hardship.
Many of these teenagers are the stars of the next generation, extinguished before they have a chance to shine. They are the dedicated, focused students. The students who have already identified a calling, a direction, and a passion. The students with a vision for improving their local communities and the world around them.
These students need our support. They already posses the motivation, they simply require an opportunity. An opportunity to be mentored with the skills and the knowledge to blossom.
We want to provide that opportunity by investing in higher education, and supporting students who have academic potential but who are economically disadvantaged.
The MantaWatch Scholarship Program is a proposal to establish a scholarship fund to support university students who demonstrate academic merit in a field related to marine conservation, but who would otherwise be unable to pursue their studies.
By supporting students through higher education, we aim to encourage them to develop vital life and professional skills, and to become analytical, knowledgable, and responsible leaders. Leaders who are able to empathise with their local and global peers, who can pragmatically reach consensus through compromise, and who are able to seek innovative and integrated solutions to marine conservation issues.
By investing in these future leaders, we aim to lay the foundations for solutions to the global issues that affect us all. We hope to nurture future leaders with the skills to empower their local communities, and to start implementing these solutions where they are most effective – at home. After all, who better to manage and protect threatened marine biodiversity than the communities who possess deep cultural, economic and spiritual ties to it?
At present, the MantaWatch Scholarship Program is a just a concept. A proposal that we would like to achieve, and that we feel is critically important to the success of marine conservation initiatives.
We are keen to connect with inspirational people and organisations who share our vision, and who can help us to establish a university scholarship program to build conservation leadership capacity in Indonesia.
You may come from a finance background, and can offer advice on how best to manage a scholarship fund. You may be an academic, with links to university programs. Perhaps you are a motivational trainer, able to offer suggestions on leadership development.
If you can help, or if you would like to find out more, please contact us today.