August 18, 2026
After 16 years as a Tzu Chi scholar, he plans to give back
By Joy Rojas
Having spent 16 of his 23 years as a Tzu Chi scholar, Kenneth Capara has witnessed how the foundation and its educational assistance program have evolved.
When he was in elementary, Tzu Chi coin cans were brown, not green, and the scholar uniform was all blue with a Tzu Chi logo, until Dharma Master Cheng Yen suggested adding a white collar to signify the sky and clouds.
Together with a mix of Filipino and Chinese scholars, he attended Humanities classes at Tzu Chi’s Agno Street branch in Quezon City. There, volunteers taught them timeless values and a sign language performance that aired on DAAI TV, the broadcast arm of Tzu Chi in Taiwan. Although volunteers were strict during rehearsals, making them start all over again if one so much as moved unnecessarily, they were kind too. After-practice snacks included pizza and Tzu Chi spaghetti, whose distinct flavor still lingers in Capara’s memory.
Another thing that he never forgot: The fact that his entire education—from grade school at D. Tuazon Elementary School, high school at Don Alejandro Roces Sr. Science-Technology High School, and college at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines—was funded completely through donations, from Tzu Chi’s wealthiest patrons to the poorest of the poor, who still had something to give despite losing everything to a fire, flood, or earthquake.
“Since my first day in Tzu Chi, that was already instilled in me,” said Capara. Not one to squander on a golden opportunity, he hopes to do his sponsors proud someday and use education to ease his family out of poverty.
Capara’s mother was pregnant with her third child when his father lost his job as a mechanic. To make ends meet, they borrowed money from friends and neighbors, then started selling fish from the sidecar of a bike. The short venture only led to more debt.
Chancing upon a sign by Tzu Chi announcing that it was looking for elementary-level applicants for a scholarship program, his mother brought him to the Agno branch to sign up. Capara, who represented his school in academic contests, was awarded a scholarship in 2010.
“This was after Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) and there were lots of applicants from Marikina,” said Capara. Among his fellow scholars, he found lifelong friends.
A consistent honor student, he was often asked to deliver a speech during graduation rites. When he graduated valedictorian in Grade 6, his mother borrowed money to buy the school’s staff food as a way of saying thanks. Meanwhile, the family celebrated the milestone by eating kwek kwek (deep-fried orange quail eggs) from a vendor outside the school.
It was a defining moment for Capara. Right there and then, he vowed to persevere in his studies so his family wouldn’t have to feel deprived again.
Slowly but surely, he is headed towards his goal. When he officially graduates from his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in March 2027, he plans to take the board exam in August.
The scholar, who benefited from the generosity of so many people for 16 years, also intends to give back, a teaching that monthly Humanities class cemented in his mind.
Together with Tzu Chi scholar alumnus Acer Dane Nacario (who finished his BS in Engineering Technology, major in Construction Technology, at the Technological University of the Philippines), Capara wants to be involved in the construction of the Tzu Chi Medical Center, a 12-story healthcare facility within the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
“That’s what Acer and I agreed on before he graduated,” he said. “We pledged to help in building the hospital.”
Years after witnessing Tzu Chi’s transformation, this scholar is now eager to be part of its growth.
A Tzu Chi scholar since 2010, Kenneth Capara (front row, first from right) joins fellow scholars in a group shot after a symbolic graduation ceremony at the Jing Si Hall.
Together in good times and bad: Kenneth’s father (in brown) works as a water proofer, his mother (in white) is an on-call housekeeper, and his two siblings (in striped shirt and white printed shirt) are enrolled in a state college and university.
The Tzu Chi scholar uniform was originally all blue until Dharma Master Cheng Yen suggested adding a white collar to make the shirt represent the sky and the clouds.
(Second from right) Cheering participants on at the Tzu Chi Charity Run for Education
Celebrating his birthday as a volunteer of the Tzu Chi scholars’ camp
Kenneth Capara plans to use education as a way to ease his family out of poverty, and to contribute to the construction of the Tzu Chi Medical Center.