Full Circle: Honey Jane Finds Her Way

Honey Jane came to Manila to find a better life, but no one envisioned the path that would ultimately take her back to exactly where she started. We introduced you to Honey Jane back in 2017 when she entered our Bikes for Education program in the Philippines. Then, she was a student at Regional School for the Arts Angono (RLSAA) in Manila. She was hand selected to become one of our bike beneficiaries by a teacher at the school who recognized her potential when she first arrived in Manila as a high school drop out. 

Honey Jane made the decision to leave school, and her family, when she left her remote village on the island of Mindanao. She made the decision to come to Manila and live with a cousin in hopes of finding more job opportunities. She was fourteen years old. 

It all panned out, thanks to Bikes for the Philippines. Once she became a bike beneficiary, she re-enrolled in school and found a tight knit community of bike scholars that she quickly called friends. The RLSAA students rode together, studied together, and pushed each other to work harder in class. The same teacher who recognized her potential originally saw Honey Jane apply herself in school and noticed her grades improving her senior year. 

Honey Jane was encouraged to apply for a scholarship to attend a trade school post graduation. She was awarded the scholarship, graduated high school, and went on to secondary school, where she again excelled academically. She earned her degree in 2018 and was excited to begin her new chapter in life.

Honey Jane began working with Bikes for the Philippines, sharing her love of biking, recruiting and training new beneficiaries, and for the first time, getting to travel and see new things. She was having a blast. Then the pandemic dropped and life instantly stopped. Bikes for the Philippines was no longer donating bikes to schools, students weren't even traveling to go to class. 

Honey Jane found herself back at home with her family so they could help each other survive the global health crisis. Thanks to her schooling and training, Honey Jane was able to fine a job at home working with one of the largest food processing companies in the Philippines. For Honey, a bike opened the door to a new life, helped form a new community of friends and introduced her to connections that helped transform her life.