5 top youth groups in Visayas chosen

LAPU-LAPU CITY—A group of young people makes notebooks from used paper, another teaches basic accounting to a tribe, and still another is into herbal medicine.

These are some of the projects presented by 10 groups in the Visayas on Sept. 23 as they competed for slots in the national finals of the country’s search for Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (Tayo).

Quoting national hero Jose Rizal’s famous query “Where is the youth of the fatherland?” Markwil Bert Ramos, 18, of  Abellana National High School Rescue Group Inc. said “this is our answer.”

His group was among the five winners joining the 20 Tayo national finalists who will meet this month in Manila. Ten national awardees will be chosen and will receive P50,000 each and a trophy sculpted by Toym de Leon Imao.

The other Visayas winners are the Aklan Catholic College’s Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants (JPIA) chapter, Industrial Engineering Council (IE Council) of Cebu Institute of Technology University, Alyansa ng mga Kristiyanong Mag-aaral Responsable ng Balikatan han mga Kabataan (Akma-Resbak) of Tacloban City, and Hayag Youth Organization in Ormoc City in Leyte.

Recue mission

Ramos’ group trains young people on basic rescue skills, such as first aid, life support, rope techniques and firefighting. Its project aims to motivate them to respond to emergencies in their barangays.

The Aklan Catholic College’s JPIA chapter awed the judges with their dedication to teach basic accounting to four cooperatives in Barangays Agbalogo, Aglucay and Libang in Makato town and in Barangay Bolabog, Boracay Island, which is part of  Malay town.

The project started in October last year during the semestral break, said Joeby Barrientos, chapter president.

“When you say Boracay, what you see are white sand beaches, the party people. But behind this picture are the neglected people who are not given attention,” Barrientos said, referring to the Ati people, the island’s native inhabitants.

‘Eco-notebooks’

“Though some of them are not able to set foot in schools, they are eager and interested to learn how to help manage their cooperative. That inspires us to continue with our work, no matter how hard it is,” she said.

Applying their classroom learning was the driving force for members of the IE Council of Cebu Institute of Technology University in coming up with “Now is the Time to Build Up Kids for Sustainability” (Nowtbuks). The project produced “eco-notebooks” from scrap paper and used cardboard donated by faculty members and students of the university.

To date, the IE Council has produced more than 500 notebooks distributed to students in Barangay Pangan-an in Lapu-Lapu City and in Barangays Labangon and Agsungot in Cebu City.

“We teach children the joy of recycling … from giving them lectures to the actual making of notebooks. The concept is to reuse the clean side of used paper, creatively stack and stitch them together to form notebooks,” said Roxanne Hernaez, its president.

The Akma-Resbak chose to encourage the use of herbal medicine in treating common community illnesses. Its chair, Christian Poleño, said the “Greens for Health Initiative” project in Barangay Balud in Basey town in Samar has helped the residents and transformed its members as leaders.

“I’ve learned to become more patient in dealing with people,” he told the judges during the panel presentation and defense.

World Savers

Virginia Caballero of Hayag Youth Organization said the lack of concern among the youth on environmental issues pushed her group to be aggressive in promoting “World Savers” project, which undertakes coastal cleanups in 10 barangays, organic gardening and a youth “eco-camp.”

The five winners were chosen based on the impact of project entry on stakeholders, harnessing the spirit of volunteerism, creativity and innovation, sustainability and effective use of resources. Each of them received P5,000 in cash.

Other Visayas finalists are the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers student chapter of Bacolod City, Iloilo Prima Galaw Inc. of Iloilo City, San Isidro Youth of Talisay City in Cebu, DuScian Sillimanites of Dumaguete City, and the Waray-Waray Youth Club of Samar.