During my twenties I spent five years living in a fishing village in the Philippines. What began as running programs turned into 30,000+ clips, now being shaped into two companion films: Village - about building the community, and Voyage - an immersion into fisherfolk culture.
This page shares a bit of the Village story, along with details about the scholarships helping the village teenagers through university. If you’d like to sponsor a student (with a discount on video production in return) or just hear the story, keep reading below and watch the blue links.
The Story
This story has been running fourteen years now, so I’ll try and keep it tight. Back in 2011 while I was at film school, Daniel Kuzeff at the age of 19 raised 200k to house families in the Philippines who’d lost everything to a typhoon. After hearing about his initiative, I joined him on a trip to the village in 2013 to film the laying of the first brick. That’s where we met the would-be villagers and Aida Vergara, the local matriarch who donated her land for the village to be built on. Daniel had a grandiose plan, bring TWENTY TWO Aussie schools into the village the very next year. Each group would raise funds, build more homes and experience the culture. Ambitious? Yes indeed. We were early-twenties whippersnappers with energy to burn, but we eventually scaled it back to just one school - my old high school in Bendigo. They raised 5k, built another home and it was epic.
From there the program kept rolling. More schools got involved, and a couple of times a year we’d land back in the village with a fresh batch of bright eyed teenagers. The homes kept going up, the community kept expanding. On the surface it looked like a happy picture… but meanwhile I was 25, living in Melbourne and depressed (cue the sad back story music from The Voice). So I packed my bags, moved to the village, and decided to eat rice three times a day for a while.
What was meant to be one year turned into five. The ultimate immersion - facilitating school groups, managing construction projects, gallivanting around in boats, picking up the language, teaching the kids to make movies and meeting Regil, who is the first point of harsh criticism on all of my edits. That five year stint set me on a straighter, calmer path than I ever expected.
These days, living back in Australia, I still return to the village once a year to see the gang and check in on things. Daniel runs his school program independently, while Regil and I continue to search for university scholarships to help lift the next generation through education. I’ve known most of these teens since they were little kids, so making sure they get the best possible start at uni means a lot. If you’d like to get involved, have a gander below and hopefully I’ll catch you in the village one day for a lechon fiesta!
In exchange for sponsoring a student, I’m offering a 10% discount on editing costs - one student per project. So if editing on a project comes to $5,000, you’d get $500 off, and the balance of your support would go straight to covering a student’s uni fees. On average, that works out to around $7 a week over four years.
This is grassroots stuff - no overheads, no middlemen. Regil and I volunteer our time to set up the connections, then it’s between you and the student to keep in touch directly on Whatsapp (we'll be in the convo too). We’ll help match you with a student, set up their bank account, and make sure receipts and report cards get sent your way each semester. Funds can go through Western Union, GCASH, or my favourite, Wise. If this sounds like your cup of coconut wine, or if you’d simply like to visit the village and support in another way, flick me a message and we’ll chat.
Why Sponsor a Uni Student
In the Philippines, a uni degree is often the only way into steady work - from banking to hospitality, but for most fishing families, the fees are out of reach. From an Australian perspective though, we’re talking $250 to $600 per semester for four years.
So far, we’ve helped more than 30 kids from the village through uni, but another 50-plus will be coming of age in the next decade. Sponsors make a huge difference; life-changing, really. The best part? You’re not just sending money - you’re building a relationship. Many sponsors have travelled to Bantayan Island, stayed in the village, met their student and family, and experienced the culture firsthand. It’s raw, unforgettable, and something I’m always happy to help organise.
