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