Pagsibol: Project Management Workshop with the Women’s Organization of Baseco (Phase 1 and 2)

Pagsibol is a Filipino word which means growth or sprout. Pagsibol: Project Management Workshop with Women’s Organization of Baseco was conceptualized after Binhi: Project Concept and Proposal Development Workshop with the Women’s Organization of Baseco during the first semester of A.Y. 2021-2022. Pagsibol is a project management workshop that aims to promote growth for the beneficiaries individually and collectively, this serves as the next step after developing a project proposal. During Binhi, the Women’s Organization of Baseco came up with an “itlugan” as their project as this will cater to the needs of the community. The organization came up with Pagsibol in order for the community to acquire skills in how to properly manage a project. Through the knowledge and skills they acquired on both workshops - Project Concept and Proposal Development and Project Management, our organization hopes to be a big help for the success of our partner community’s project. The said event specifically aims to serve as a channel of new knowledge and skills about project management as the next step after coming up with a project proposal to achieve specific goals and ensure the development of a certain project. This can also serve as a growing opportunity for a long term benefit for the partner community in finding ways to manage their own future projects and partnerships. The Phase 1 of this project focused on participatory management while the Phase 2 that will happen on April 03, 2022 will be focusing on financial management of a project.

Phase 1: Participatory Management

                  Project Pagsibol is a 2-phase community development project with the Women’s Organization of Baseco that aims to teach the importance and value of Project Management to organizations. 

To begin with, the phase of the Project Pagsibol – Participatory Management was conducted last March 13, 2022. Initially, the first phase was conducted through Facebook Messenger Room as this is the most accessible platform for the partner community. To formally begin the event, a prayer and the national anthem was played and followed by the opening remarks of Aizelle Majam, the project head of Pagsibol. 

        The main event is the discussion and workshop spearheaded by Asst. Prof. Froilan Alipao, MCD who also served as the resource speaker that day. In the first part of his talk, Asst Prof. Alipao emphasized on the importance of active participation while doing a project collaboratively. With this being said, project management is a way to strengthen not just the bond of the community but for them to distinguish specific roles that each one plays in the success of a project. It is crucial to pick a project that caters to the needs of the whole community as this will benefit them in the long run. The socio economic work should be focused on the development and success of the project as this will be the backbone of success of the whole community. Aside from focusing the project on its success, it has been highlighted that a project should also be focused on strengthening the skills of the community members when it comes to managing a project whether it is already existing or to be implemented. Asst Prof. Aliapo also mentioned the common problems that may be encountered when it comes to managing a project. One problem could be the lack of stability and honesty that may lead to the downfall of a project so it is important that the community have a good values system. Each member of the community should be participatory in order to have a more cohesive bond that will help the project. Asst Prof. Alipao also showed a blueprint that talks about “pagpapaunlad ng pamayanan” that serves as the backbone of the project. The framework showed how important it is to be cohesive as a community because a project will be more successful if its organizers are as one. It is crucial to assess the needs of the community and identify possible project development. The members of the community actively participated during the discussions but at the end part of the event, they had technical issues that’s why the organizers decided to end a bit earlier to give way to the community to fix their issues at that time. The exercise that was prepared by the speaker will be given asynchronously to the community and they will share their answers to it to the next Phase of the event – Financial Management that will be on April 03, 2022. 

Phase 2: Financial Literacy

   To end the community development projects of the UST Sociological Society for this term and for the A.Y. 2021-2022, the second phase of the Project Pagsibol – Financial Literacy was conducted last April 03, 2022. Initially, this phase was still conducted through Facebook Messenger Room as this is the most accessible platform for the partner community. To formally begin the event, a prayer and the national anthem was played and followed by the opening remarks of Katarina Vicedo, the Vice President Internal of the USTSS.

The main event is the discussion and workshop spearheaded by Asst. Prof. Franklin U. Prieto who also served as the resource speaker that day. In the first part of his talk, Asst Prof. Prieto emphasized on the importance of financial literacy and that even having the first level of it is considered as an essential skill in life. With this being said, financial literacy is a way to strengthen not just the bond of the community but for them to develop a sense of responsibility especially in handling their own finances. It is crucial to know how to properly handle finances for it is something that could lead us to success or lead us to failure and debt in the future. Asst Prof. Prieto also mentioned the common problems that may be encountered when it comes to managing finances at home or in a business. One problem could be the culture of 'pautang' and how it can start a downfall of a person or a business. He mentioned some examples of computations on how one can manage finances by taking note of the needs more than the wants in order to have enough to survive and save at the same time. He also emphasized that financial literacy is not only for rich people but for everyone who wishes to learn and be wise when it comes to money.  Each member of the community should be participatory in these types of discussions for it will help them both personally and also as an organization who manages some businesses together. The members of the community actively listened and participated during the discussions and shared some of the difficulties that they experienced for the past years. The discussions were fruitful for Ms. Noemi Estrella, a faculty in the Department of Sociology who specialized in community engagement as well, shared some of her thoughts and tips regarding the topic. Ioni Kho, the treasurer of the USTSS, also shared her sentiments and learnings from the speaker that day. While Asst. Prof. Froilan Alipao, the USTSS adviser, also shared his thoughts and actively interacted with the participants in Baseco. The project was ended by some final remarks from the head of the project binhi and pagsibol, Aizelle Majam, who thanked everyone who participated and made the event possible. She also wished that everyone learned something throughout the five phases and that the USTSS will continue to work with the Women's organization of Baseco and will work hand in hand to solve some issues, maybe not all at the same time but step by step in achieving empowerment and meaningful partnerships.

Project Details:

Proponent: UST Sociological Society

Speakers: Asst. Prof. Froilan Alipao, MCD

                  Asst. Prof. Franklin U. Prieto, CPA, MBA, MSC

Publication Materials by: Gracelle Tungbaban

                                            Johan Sebastian Dela Torre

Writer: Aizelle Ann Majam

          

Partner Community: Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Baseco

Date: March 13 and April 03,. 2022

Binhi: Project Concept and Proposal Development Workshop with the Women’s Organization of Baseco

Project Binhi is a community development project with the Women’s Organization of Baseco. The project’s title was derived from the Filipino word “Binhi” - a plant that in its early development stages and in relation to the project it means that “ang binhi ng pagkilos ay sisibol bilang palatandaan ng paglago sa mga susunod na panahon”.The project revolves around the importance and value of conceptualizing and developing a project proposal through a series of workshops. The project aims to be a channel for organizations to help them in building their own project proposal. Project Binhi has 3 phases - “Sama-Samang Pagpapaunlad at Pamamahala ng Proyektong Pangkaunlaran”, “Pagbuo ng Panukalang Proyektong Pangkaunlaran”, and “Paglalatag ng Panukalang Proyektong Pangkaunlaran”. The first phase of the project revolves around the discussion of Asst Prof. Froilan Alipao, MCD regarding administering of livelihood projects, steps and guides on how to manage a livelihood project collectively, and the common reasons behind the failure of a livelihood project and the things to do in order to avoid this. The second phase of the project involves a workshop with the partner community in order to assist them in developing their project proposal - the partner community expected to be able to have a preliminary proposed project based on their needs. This phase includes the community’s brainstorming and conceptualizing session for their own project.  The third phase revolves around the presentation of the proposed project of the partner community. In this phase, the community will present what their project is all about and their plans in order for the project to be successful.

 Phase 1: Sama-Samang Pagpapaunlad at Pamamahala ng Proyektong Pangkaunlaran

            Project Binhi is a 3-phase community development project with the Women’s Organization of Baseco that aims to teach the importance and value of Project Concept Development to organizations. 

    To begin with, the phase of the Project BINHI - “Sama-Samang Pagpapaunlad at Pamamahala ng Proyektong Pangkaunlaran” was conducted last November 6, 2021. Initially, the first phase was supposed to be conducted on Zoom Cloud Meeting but due to internet connectivity problems the organizers decided to switch to Facebook Messenger Room as this is the most accessible platform for the partner community. To formally begin the event, a prayer and the national anthem was played and followed by the opening remarks of Aizelle Majam, the project head of BINHI. 

    The main event is the discussion and workshop spearheaded by Asst. Prof. Froilan Alipao, MCD who also served as the resource speaker that day. In the first part of his talk, Asst Prof. Alipao emphasized on the importance of doing a project collaboratively. He also highlighted how important it is to make the project suitable for the community’s skills and needs. With this being said, doing a project together is a way to strengthen the bond of the community. A part of his talk also talked about the different steps on how to collectively administer a project. It is crucial to pick a project that caters to the needs of the whole community as this will benefit them in the long run. The socio economic work should be focused on the development and success of the project as this will be the backbone of success of the whole community. Aside from focusing the project on its success, it has been highlighted that a project should also be focused on strengthening the skills of the community when it comes to planning and administering a project development. Asst Prof. Aliapo also mentioned the common problems that may be encountered when it comes to implementing a project. Microlending can be a problem if someone decides not to pay for it but the partner community assured that all in the community if someone borrows money they make sure that they pay for it. Another problem mentioned was the lack of stability and honesty that may lead to the downfall of a project so it is important that the community have a good values system. Each member of the community should be participatory in order to have a more cohesive bond that will help the project. Asst Prof. Alipao also showed a blueprint that talks about “pagpapaunlad ng pamayanan” that serves as the backbone of the project. The framework showed how important it is to be cohesive as a community because a project will be more successful if its organizers are as one.It is crucial to assess the needs of the community and identify possible project development. After identifying a list of possible projects, it is important to study what you intend to do and finally decide if what project will really be feasible. It is also important to prepare a project proposal and plan the project and after this the community can implement the project it will be up to them on how they will monitor and evaluate their project. After a thorough discussion, an open forum happened wherein the partner community can ask the speaker for further information and clarification. One member of the community asked if they should pick a suitable project and Asst Prof. Alipao said that there can be a lot of projects that will help the community like health and wellness and education but he also pointed out that the project should focus on their needs. Ms. Noemi Estrella also added that the community should pick a project that would be easy to manage and beneficial to all members of the community. She also pointed out that it is important to have a livelihood project that is sustainable.

Phase 2: Pagbuo ng Panukalang Proyektong Pangkaunlaran

On november 7, 2021, at 2pm PHT — The UST Sociological Society conducted the second phase of Binhi: Project Concept and Proposal development workshop entitled “Pagbuo ng Panukalang Proyektong Pangkaunlaran”. Held on messenger call due to difficulties in connecting via zoom, the goal for the second phase was to primarily guide the conceptualization, writing, and creation of Project Concept & Proposal fitting for the community, specifically The Women’s Organization of Baseco. 

To start off the program, the Women’s organization of Baseco led the prayer and was followed by the opening remarks of USTSS Vice President-Internal, Katarina Gabrielle Vicedo. Spearheaded by the resource speaker Simbahayan Director Asst. Prof. Froilan Alipao, MCD, the workshop for project conceptualization and creation commenced with a recall of the previous phase’s discussion.The community recalled that planning for the project should be analyzed and assessed thoroughly according to the needs of their community, emphasizing on sipag and tiyaga as a core value that they should exhibit. Using the previous workshop’s framework, the community first spoke from their experiences and perspectives on their situation; wherein one member remarked that in spite of those that decided to leave the group, they maintain their strength through perseverance and the desire to succeed with the people who stayed and the people who have just joined. They also talked about the pandemic’s effect on their livelihood, how the men’s livelihood are less restricted compared to the situation of women. 

Upon understanding their situation, the workshop continued to its next segment which is the identification of possible projects that could aid their situation. Two projects were suggested: pananahi and itlugan. For pananahi, they discussed that they already have the machinery, however maintenance of these machineries (ie. rust removal), materials, and the time to create products were needed. For itlugan (as suggested by a member named Annabelle), they considered selling eggs & delivering to the mothers of Baseco that had stores. They also said that these eggs could be paired with tuyo and mantika, along with their existing project which is the bigasan (rice). After considering the options and their environmental situation, they remarked that the more likely project was the itlugan since it is easier to manage and the products were easy to sell. This was then developed by the members of the organization, wherein they were given 10-15 minutes to discuss among themselves the specifics of their proposed project; the technical aspects of how it will be implemented. They were given a guide for factors to ponder by Asst. Prof. Froilan, which are the following: a) What are the tactics needed in order for them to conduct their project well from the start to the implementation proper? b) How will the project start and How will this project run? c) Where will the materials be taken from, how much is their price? d) Where will the project be conducted?. This served as a guide for them to list down factors that they would have to consider for the implementation of their project. They used what is dubbed as the community feasibility study, wherein they identified the necessities for the project from the tangible aspect (materials, expenses) to the intangible (action plan). After their discussion, they presented their identified factors like the source of their eggs, the pricing, and the management process. They also looked into the projected challenges of the project, like the paperworks and the situational obstacles which may be encountered, which accounted for another 10 minute discussion among the members present. After considering the possible factors and challenges, the workshop came to an end with them being tasked to build on the already existing work and create a proposal to be presented by the next and final phase. 

The program ended with the closing remarks of USTSS Secretary Michelle Margaret Zuñiga, who gave her gratitude with the people present from the speakers to the community and stated that she was amazed by the sheer resilience and willingness of the Women’s Organization of Baseco in creating a project that would better the livelihood of all. “Umaasa po ako na ang Project Binhi ay maging hakbang sa patuloy pa pong pakikilahok ng mga miyembro ng komunidad at pakikipagtulungan sa pagpapaunlad ng ating pamayanan, hindi lamang po sa kasalukuyang panahon pati na rin po sa susunod na henerasyon”, she remarked.

Phase 3: Paglalatag ng Panukalang Proyektong Pangkaunlaran

                To be a catalyst for social change was what inspired us to push through with everything. Working in this pandemic is very difficult as we are interacting virtually which hinders a lot of motives to push through in this event. Even if our motivation is there –to develop and help other communities who are struggling, in the back of our minds, accomplishing this event is really full of doubts considering that we aren’t able to monitor everything completely. But surprisingly, we were able to make something out of our resources. Reaching this far was very fulfilling for the organization. The participation of everyone also was a very large factor for this event to push through. 

            Through the help and willingness with support of everyone, the UST Sociological Society was able to aid the Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Baseco a Baseco Women's Organization to create an income-generating project. This was Phase 3 of the event which means that the main spotlight is the women’s organization. They are to share with us what they have thought of as a project through the influence of the previous phases. Our organization’s adviser who is also the director of the community development of the University was the main lead of this project. His past and ongoing on-ground practices made him used to situations like these. The way he handled both organizations was fascinating; handling these kinds of community work is not easy –one must really have the heart, determination, and patience for this. Moreover, the women’s organization was able then to think of a project that is fit for their environment and situation. They chose eggs as their income-generating project. According to them, eggs are economical; eggs are easy to cook and are easy to eat. Aside from that, having a stall to sell eggs is doable even under this pandemic since eggs are a staple in almost every Filipino household. With the project proposal they presented, you could see that they were really determined and willing to participate in this project. 

               After they presented their ideas and proposals, the event had a segment where they were to share their opinions and were able to ask some questions. With the questions and concerns shared, we are still uncertain about what is to come since it hasn’t been implemented yet.

               We would also like to consider that this project is not the project of the UST Sociological Society but the project of  Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Baseco, a Baseco Women's Organization.  We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who became part of the team –from organizers to participants. Although as much as we would want to expect the best in this project, we still cannot conclude what may come. To succeed in this project would be a statement that there are people who need help and that to voice out the realities of hardships in life.  This accomplished project (phases 1 to 3) is not only a community development project that is required for us to do but also an outlet for us to mobilize as advocates for social justice. 

Project Details:

Proponent: UST Sociological Society

Speaker: Asst. Prof. Froilan Alipao, MCD

Publication Materials by: Gracelle Tungbaban

                                            Johan Sebastian Dela Torre

Writers:  Aizelle Ann Majam

                Maria Isabelle Velasco

                Gracelle Tungbaban

                Kalea Adrienne Aquino

Partner Community: Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Baseco

Dates: November 6, 7 and December 5, 2021

MULAT: CAREER NA CAREER (May, 17, 2021)

Narrative Essay on the Project by UST Literary Society - Community Development Committee 

       In the beginning, the difficulty posed by the global pandemic proved to be a greatly significant hurdle to the team. It limited the options we had in terms of pulling off any project with the limited resources we had. However, it was resolved that we would take the opportunity to engage our partner community, because chances are, they too would appreciate any form of help we could strive to impart. And so we begun to plan our project for Juan Luna Elementary School - ALS Department. 

    Starting from getting sufficient data on what the community needs thereby arranging interview meetings with faculty members of the ALS Department with a series of questions that gives us an overview as to how the community is handling its students, coping with their work, and braving through the pandemic. As such, we identified that are difficulties with regards to learning, English and Mathematics being key problem areas. Moreover, with the government allowing schools to shift to online learning, we were able to infer where else their current troubles were heading. It was at this juncture that we started to narrow down to a course of action that was in the best interest of a the community.

    At first we were opting to start a donation drive for them, to purchase books that could reinforce the lessons the students were being taught at school, but this proved to be above the capacity our resources allowed made even more complicated by the pandemic. And so we thought of a way to condense our project to something that would be greatly educational and insightful for the students. This was how we honed in on an online seminar, or what we've come to know as a "webinar." However, we needed to weigh the data we had to properly assess the needs of JLES - ALS' students. Finally, over the review of the interviews from our Community Profiling, we were able to agree, with the help of our Community Development Coordinator and the coordinator from the partner community, that a Job Hunt Career Counseling Webinar would be a great project to suit the unique needs of the students from the Alternative Learning System Department of JLES.

    At this juncture, we were able to plan more concretely, and we involved as many of our stakeholders as we could all the way through implementation.

    With everything in place, the seminar was pushed through on the 17th of May, 2021. Our speaker, Ma'am Chin Cristobal, elaborating on the tough decisions we'll all make when we go out to find jobs and giving us tips on how to best prepare for it all not only gave the students of the ALS Department an insightful talk but also those of us from LITSOC who worked to implement this webinar. 

    Towards the end, we were able to learn that job hunting isn't easy, but it shouldn't be that hard as long as we put our best foot forward and equip ourselves to be able to do that.

    Looking at this closely, I feel glad this seminar could greatly improve the students of the ALS Department’s will to get that job they really want as the seminar is dedicated to them. It made us feel that we know these students will be able to succeed and overcome their hurdles someday and that gives a huge assurance that their journeys and stories are things we can all look forward too. And to us project managers who are currently studying, this event serves us as a testament and reminder that we can still continue to help even at a time like this.

Narrative Essay by: Markus Louise N. Dionisio

Project Proponents:

Gabriel Koji G. Reyes (UST LITSOC Community Development Head, A.Y. 2020-2021)

Patrisha V. Carillo (UST LITSOC Community Development Committee Member, A.Y. 2020-2021)

Markus Louise N. Dionisio (UST LITSOC Community Development Committee Member, A.Y. 2020-2021)

Special thanks to Prof. John Jack G. Wigley, Ph. D., Faculty Adviser - UST Literary Society and Asst. Prof. Ronald M. Castillo, MA, Community Development Coordinator - Faculty of Arts and Letters.

Community Profiling: Juan Luna Elementary School - ALS Department (May 5, 2021)

Infographics by: Patrisha V. Carillo

 

USTSimbahayan Project Proposal Flowchart and Forms Link

For ease of use attached are:

Process map for making community development/advocacy project proposals -

Link

Link to Simbahayan Forms

Link

Note:  There's a difference between community development project and advocacy project (use the correct proposal form and terminal report form for each)

Pilosopiya sa Panahon ng Pandemiya

The entire community development program unfolded in a rather organized manner. This began with the preparations mostly done by the undergraduate philosophy organization Concilium Philosophiae’s Community Development board. Zeus Suazo and Mikaela Avelino took charge of coordinating with the Healing Path Foundation as the partner community and pushed for the continuation of the community development program in spite of the restriction of any physical arrangements. Initial arrangements were possible which continued the previous arrangements with the partner community. 

In partnership with the philosophy cluster of the UST Graduate School, the volunteer speakers were then identified among the graduate students, namely Anton Heinrich Rennesland, Gillian Marian Garcia, and Blaise Ringor. It was considered best to have a speaker in relation to counseling and so Lovely Ana Ventus Aguas was invited to be one of the resource speakers. The invitation of Lovely Aguas was also timely because being a registered counselor and psychologist herself, she provided key points to the speakers for them to consider in giving talks to people recovering from illnesses especially addiction. She emphasized certain words that must be avoided and even supplied the group with how it would be better to frame certain sentences for a more inclusive approach.

Alongside this, official documentation was prepared especially in securing the signatures of all the administrators. Since this was an event that featured two groups within the Department of Philosophy, the undergraduate and the graduate groups, the administrators of the Faculty of Arts and Letters and the Graduate School had to sign the documents. This took a couple of days to secure entirely.

In preparation for the actual community development project, the speakers were grouped into two groups for two separate talks. Lovely Aguas and Blaise Ringor in the first group while Anton Rennesland and Gillian Garcia in the second. The core of both talks would center on healing, recovery, and community integration. Both groups prepared the outline of their talks in advance which was conferred with the Concilium Philosophiae’s Community Development board and the Healing Path’s community organizer(s) to secure that no sensitive topic would be tackled. The topics of the two talks are as follows: (1) "The Role of the Family and Family Values for the Healing and Recovery of an Individual" - Target Audience: Family of the Residents of Healing Path; (2)"Important Values and Virtues to Overcome Fear and Anxiety and Attain Recovery" - Target Audience: Residents of Healing Path Both groups then had their recordings via Google Meet done during their respective common schedules according to the agreed flow. After the videos were finished, these were once again screened by the community leader to verify once more that no sensitive material is included.

Last May 14 was the day of the turnover of recorded videos and of material support to the partner community, Healing Path. Via Google Meet, the session was attended by members of Healing Path and various members of the UST Department of Philosophy from a faculty representative, Anton Rennesland, to alumni, Ivan Gozum and Christian Ramos, and also members of the Concilium Philosophiae, Zeus Suazo, Mikaela Avelino, and Lorenz Layao to name a few. The turnover began with a prayer, followed by messages from the various members of the Philosophy Department, then by the partner community through a special dance number as also a sign of appreciation. The event ended with the sharing of the Google Drive containing the videos and the arrival of the purchased goods. This was capped with the singing of the UST hymn.

True enough, the whole community development project was a living testament that the discipline of philosophy can thrive even in times of crisis. Providing educational materials to Healing Path provides enough reason to how philosophy and its underlying virtues can provide hope for people who are undergoing a program of recovery. This also implies how philosophy - despite being construed as always in the ivory tower - can translate its teachings towards the masses and help it in its development. Indeed, the community development project that the philosophy students implemented with Healing Path Foundation serves as an exemplification that the learning experience provided by philosophy engenders a light that others can follow for one's development, or in the case of Healing Path, for their complete and total recovery. 

Mr. Anton Rennesland, MA (Faculty of the Department of Philosophy) expressing the commitment of the Department of Philosophy to help Healing Path

The Community residents actively participating during the project launching.

Sir Marco “Macoy” Tangonan (Community Leader) formally accepts the pre-recorded videos and gives his message of gratitude for the efforts of Concilium.

Zeus Suazo (Main Project Implementer) giving the opening remarks.

MakiBOTO at MakiALAM 3.0: Paghimok sa kabataan na bumoto at maging aktibo sa komunidad

    The Political Science Forum (TPSF), with its own aim to be collaborators in creating larger civic education programmes, conducted a voter’s education webinar to educate the thirty youth participants from the Ministry of the Urban Poor, Caloocan last May 3-4, 2021. Prior to the implementation of the project, it is a continuous advocacy of our organization to seek all means necessary in educating voters and bringing the information about electoral candidates, voting rights and duties, and voting procedures accessible to all people most especially to the youth sector. As the 2022 National Elections draw closer, the relevance and importance of the said project became much evident. Therefore, the organization refused to let the pandemic restrict them from shaping smart voters and promoting active participation in strengthening democracy regardless of the distance of each participant and facilitators. Catalyzing smart voters through a Digital voter's education project was the main goal of each organizers. 

Phase 1: Community Profiling Activity

    Using all the online means necessary to carry out the efficient implementation of our project, the organizers divided the flow of the implementation into two phases. First phase was meant for the Community profiling activity and the second phase was set for the online or recorded voter’s education webinar. In the first phase of the said project, the activities were scheduled as (1) Data Collection stage, (2) Documentation, (3) Arranging of data into meaningful order and using an infographic and (4) Analyzing or Understanding the data for probable interpretations. This stage was deemed important because of the nature of community development programs to conduct profiling to the community or members to picture their needs, participation, level of active participation and so on. There were a total of 10 questions asked towards the participants which sought information on whether or not they were registered, plan to vote and the standards for candidates they usually set. Additionally, we asked them why they registered or chose not to register including the kinds and traits of candidates they will surely vote for and support.  

While socially distanced, community youth members fill up Google forms used for data collection captured by Mr. Noli Madeja

    Having acquired the complete data, we deemed it necessary to conduct a voter’s education webinar in the community because of three salient points which are (1) lack of voter’s education seminars in the community (2) high number of unregistered voters (3) low level of importance associated with voting. Each of the participants were also given a meal for lunch and for them to enjoy. Through strict compliance with safety protocols, the participants were wearing face shields, facemasks and were observing social distance while they answered the questions. Towards the end of the first phase, they gave out their warm smiles and expressed their gratitude through the Community partnered leader Sir Noli Madeja who distributed the food in each house to avoid the participants from flocking into one place.

Socially distanced distribution of food to participants captured by Mr. Rainier Mendoza

    Overall, the participants had a very efficient communication with the kamanlalakbay and efficient answering of the questions through the help of the load or data the organizers provided during both phases. 

Phase 2: Voter’s education Done Digitally

    During the second phase however, the participants were set to watch the one-hour pre-recorded online webinar that taught them about the importance of youth representation in voting as well as the increasing roles of the youth in the society. Two speakers were invited during that webinar. The speakers were intended to be both youth leaders in order to create more connection and establish a relatability in a snap. The speakers were also both advocates of youth empowerment and youth representation that's why we think the event objective was easily achieved. Moreover, the first talk of the event was led by the Invited Speaker Mr. Paul Roset who is currently a scholar and a student leader who works in one of the Non-profit organization with engaging youth parliamentarians. He talked about the importance of voting and asked the insights the youth can express which flamed their desire for change and recognized the need to vote. The second speaker on the other hand was Ms. Kaye Angelica Lacurom who discussed the rights and responsibilities of a voter which can be applied to all general electorates, not just the youth. This can enable the participants to learn and also teach other people such as their parents, friends and anyone in their close social circle to register and vote wisely. 

A youth participant watching intently the recorded voter’s education webinar captured by Mr.  Noli Madeja

    In addition, since the webinar was pre-recorded, the participants were able to watch, resume, pause and re-watch the seminar as many times as they liked. Hence, it facilitated a more meaningful reflection and pondering. Afterwards, the participants watched two video materials that were included in the online webinar. These materials were included in order to make the event more interesting, active and dynamic. In the end, the participants also answered the evaluation part which can evaluate the performance and success of the event and the project organizers. The participants then ended the event by receiving their own sets of tokens which composed of canned goods, noodles and rice while wearing face shields, face masks and observing the provided safety protocols. The webinar ended with enriched minds and sweet expressions of gratitude from the evaluation results. Each of the participants then took a picture to show that they all received the food lovingly prepared by the organizers. 

While wearing face shield and face mask, the young participant poses for a picture as he receive his token of participation captured by Mr. Noli Madeja

Overall Learnings and Recommendations 

    Lastly, adjusting to the new normal takes grit, the same can be said for the adjustments and changes made to conduct community development programs. As with everything in the new normal, assumptions could already be made on how the adjustment would be. Planning for these projects in the new normal can be monotonous, stressful, and difficult at times as processes have changed and interaction with the partner community has become more limited. It would be a challenge for the organization to adjust. On the other hand, the pandemic has increased the need for assistance of communities and programs that would aid them in achieving long-term solutions to improve their own community accordingly. With this also came multiple complications with schedules and challenges amidst conducting an event during a global pandemic. Conducting community development programs during the new normal would require more planning and advanced plotting of dates as interruptions are more likely to occur and unpredictable and uncontrollable circumstances arise. 

    Even though we had a few setbacks along the way, the program was successful. It also highlighted the importance of active civic participation as the overall program would not be completed without the help of the identified leaders of the community. There is truly power in collaboration. Assets within the community itself can be further utilized. This program was created to address civic participation and increase engagement especially in elections. There is still a lot of work to be done to increase engagement and access to information about governance. Continuing this program will help enable the partner community to participate in societal institutions that are influencing their daily life. Therefore, the upshot of this event is that good leadership can be achieved as it is a step towards improving communities. 

PROJECT DETAILS:

Target Beneficiaries:

Youth participants of the Ministry of Urban Poor, Caloocan

Date: 

May 3-4, 2021

8:00 am to 12:00 am

Project Proponents:

Gia Karla Martin: TPSF Community Development Project Head (2020-2021)

Hannah Love Galigao: TPSF Community Development Project Asst. Head

 

Collective Education:Learning Through Collaboration

   Community Development Project of AB Debate Parliament and UST History Society: Brgy. Kanluran Kabubuhayan, Laguna

    For the A.Y. 2020-2021, the AB Debate Parliament (ABDP) and UST History Society (UST HST SOC) have partnered up to reach out to the community in Laguna, Brgy. Kanluran Kabubuhayan. Particularly for this year’s community development project, both organizations focused on providing assistance to the students who are having difficulties in adjusting to the new educational set-up, modular-based learning. 

    In assuring that our plans will be able to pin point the specific problems that students are experiencing, the organizers consulted with the AB Community Development Coordinator, Asst. Prof. Ronald M. Castillo, and coordinated with the community resource persons, Brgy. Secretary Rajalen Mayani and Brgy. Captain Olimpio Violanta. 

    In formulating the output for this project, the organizers divided the tasks into four different phases. Namely, these are; (1) Data Collection, (2) Output Formulation, (3) Output Distribution, and (4) Project Evaluation.

Data Collection (Phase 1)

    After the AB Community Development Coordinator, Asst. Prof. Ronald M. Castillo, introduced us to the resource person of Brgy. Kanluran Kabubuhayan, we scheduled a meeting for our data and gathering. Prior to the meeting, both the community development heads of ABDP and HST SOC have already formulated the interview questions that will be used for gathering information about their community. These questions, however, were revised upon consulting with Mr. Castillo and taking his comments and suggestions into consideration. The meeting proper was held in Zoom Cloud Meetings on March 5, 2021 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM. The resource persons present in the meeting were Brgy. Captian Olimpio Violanta and Brgy. Secretary Rajalen Mayani.

A screenshot of the recorded interview with Brgy. Capt. Olimpio Violanta and Brgy. Secretary Rajelen Mayani last March 5, 2021. Unfortunately, due to the bad internet reception, Mr. Violanta and Ma’am Mayani could not open their cameras.

    The first question that was asked of them was to describe the state of their community and the essential problems that need to be urgently addressed.

    The first problem that they discussed is regarding the health center in their barangay. Particularly, Mr. Violanta mentioned how the pandemic has caused problems in the construction and functionality of their health institution. Not only did it halt the building process but he also mentioned that the budget allocated for its completion was insufficient. As a result, he expresses his dismay that the health center, which is a crucial institution at a time like this, is not functional.

    Although the problem was acknowledged and taken note of, the organizers have acknowledged that they do not have yet the proper resources and skills in addressing this problem. Realizing that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for us to address the budget issue of their health center in a short notice, the organizers redirected the interview in asking questions that are related educational sector.

    Questions regarding the resources and learning materials of students, how students are coping up in online classes, and if the pandemic had any effect to the number of enrollees were brought up during the interview.

    With regards to the learning resources and materials, Mr. Violanta explained that the students in the barangay adopted a modular setup of learning. Wherein, schools would provide students with modules that contain lessons that they need to study. According to him, there were no problems with the distribution of modules. The barangay has not received any complaints regarding students not getting their modules. Similarly, in the aspect of enrollees, the community did not face problems of reduced rate of enrollment.

    However, regarding the aspect of coping up, both students and parents struggle in the new system of learning. Mr. Violanta explained that, since the setup is modular learning, both parents and children were having difficulties adjusting. In the part of the parents, Mr. Violanta said that parents are forced to teach their children topics that they, themselves, do not even understand. Especially in subjects like English and Math, some parents feel that what they are teaching to their children is not right and insufficient. Likewise, the children themselves are experiencing problems in absorbing and understanding the lessons. As Mr. Violanta pointed out, the modular learning is ineffective in making the students learn because when it comes to answering homework, the students would just ask some of their parents to answer it for them. Thus, they don’t really develop any learning at all.

    Overall, the most important information that the organizers were able to extract from this interview was that the adjustment to modular based learning had significant effects to the student’s academic undertakings. More specifically, children have been more demotivated to study.

Output Formulation (Phase 2)

    From the information that was gathered in the interview, the project heads have come to the realization that the main problem that needs to be addressed in our project is the demotivation of students. The initial plan was to create two outputs. One was an educational infographic that would supposedly serve as a complementary learning material to the modules they use. While the other was a motivational video to remind these students on why they still need to pursue their studies even during these trying times. 

    For the creation of infographic, what the organizers planned to do was to focus on one grade level and one topic in one subject. The reason for  these limitations is because the organizers knew and acknowledged the fact that it was not feasible to create reviewers for all the topics that elementary students are studying. Moreover, when we consulted the Brgy. Secretary, she proposed that we gear our project in helping Grade 1 students with their math subject.

    Supposedly, the infographic’s function was to be a reviewer and a complementary material to the modules that they can use. However, this endeavor was not anymore pursued because the organizers failed to acquire a soft copy of the modules of the Grade 1 students. Particularly, because of the spike in COVID-19 case, there had been complications with its distribution. In our timetable, May 10 – May 14 were the dates allotted for the creation of the infographic, but because we were not able to secure the soft copy in this timeframe, we have decided to forego of this output.

A screenshot of the video output created by ABDP and UST History Society

    The other output we planned for this project is the motivational video. Unlike the infographic that required soft copies of modules, the video did not require anything but the project implementer’s presence. Since this community development project is a collaboration of two organizations, the tasks were divided accordingly. ABDP was in-charge of shooting the video and delivering the message about the importance of studying. The HST SOC, on the other hand, was in-charge of editing the video. They were the ones who put the effects and animations to make it more appealing to the viewers. 

A screenshot of the video output created by ABDP and UST History Society

Output Distribution (Phase 3) 

    The final video output was accomplished 3 days before the scheduled distribution, and was sent to the Asst. Prof. Ronald M. Castillo for checking. After Mr. Castillo gave his approval, the organizers prepared to send their output to the community. Given the limitations brought by the pandemic,  the distribution of output was mainly done through online means. The google drive link, containing the video output, was sent to the email of the barangay and the barangay was the one who disseminated it to the respondents. Supposedly, there should have been 30 respondents. However, because a lot of families and students are having a hard time securing a stable internet connection, there were only two people, out of thirty, who were able to view the output. This was shown in the post-evaluation survey wherein only two were able to answer

Project Evaluation (Phase 4)

    In relation to not being able to meet the target number of beneficiaries, there were only two people who were able to evaluate the project output. The google form link was sent by the barangay secretary to the two people who were able to watch the video. 

Learnings and Recommendations

    Although the plans of the project were well thought, there had been certain roadblocks that the organizers encountered. One of which was not being able to reach out to all of the 30 respondents in the community. The organizers overlooked the problem of internet connection stability, thus, they were not able to make the output mor conducive to the situation of the people. Provided this, one of the improvements that can be done in future projects is to think of alternative means to deliver the output. Especially if the desired output is online-based, it would be better to take into account how the beneficiaries are going to make it useful in their own state.

PROJECT DETAILS:

Target Beneficiaries:

Elementary students of Brgy. Kanluran Kabubuhayan, Laguna

Date: 

May 17, 2021

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Project Proponents:

Francis Miguel Z. Fernandez: ABDP Community Development Project Head (2020-2021)

Angelo Luis G. Alonzo: UST History Society Community Development Project Head

ABDP Speakers
Regine Andrea Estacio

Ian Ralph Uytico

Exel Bernal

UST HST Society Editors

Angelo Jade Caputolan

Judie Francesca Montejo

Mark Neil Vergara

Aaron Kane Vergel