Project for special kids gives Philippines 2nd environmental leaders award

It was a routine commute for Mary Jade Gabanes some two years ago until a little girl, seated across her in a jeepney, smiled and asked to sit on her lap.

That moment changed the teen’s life forever.

“I knew from her features that she [was differently abled]. She looked at me and she kept on smiling. Her mother asked her why (she was smiling)? She said…because I was her friend,” Gabanes recalled the encounter in 2009 in her native Iloilo.

“That was the first time we saw each other. (She) sat on my lap… I cried in the jeepney… From then on, I was really sure that I want this,” Gabanes said.

The encounter led the way to the world stage. Gabanes was one of this year’s four Bayer Young Environmental Leaders, chosen from 47 delegates from around the world who showcased their environmental projects in Leverkusen, Germany. Gabanes’ was an environmental awareness program for special-needs children.

The selection of four environmental leaders was the culmination of the annual Bayer Young Environmental Envoys (BYEE) program, a joint undertaking of global company Bayer and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The other awardees were Kenya’s Michael Sam Muli, who made low-cost briquette from waste, as fuel for poor neighborhoods; Maria Rosa Reyes Acosta of Ecuador, who used aquatic fern to remove mercury from water; and Indonesia’s Sarah Ervinda Rudianto, who invented a “bioreactor” that turned household waste into fuel.

“I can’t believe I won…when I heard all the other projects during the panel discussion, I was like, OK my project’s nothing compared to theirs,” said Gabanes, a third year special education major at the West Visayas State University (WVSU) in Iloilo City.

Back-to-back winner

Her victory made the Philippines the only country to win the environmental award two years in a row. Last year, Christopher Millora, also of WVSU, became the first Bayer Young Environmental Leader for his environmental storytelling project.

Bayer and UNEP only started recognizing top envoys in 2010, although the BYEE began in 1998.

Three other Filipino BYEE went to Germany for the Bayer field trip. Reymart Canuel of the University of Baguio designed a web site, GreEnitiative, to raise awareness of forest conservation. Cris Viray of St. Paul University of Quezon City leads youth environmental camps and training programs in his native Rizal. Alfie Desamparado, also of WVSU, wrote 10 original environmental songs that he performed at bus and boat terminals in Guimaras and Iloilo.

UNEP associate public information officer Bryan Coll noted the diversity and creativity in this year’s submissions.

“We have projects that are looking at education, raising awareness on environmental issues, [like] projects for disadvantaged or disabled children, right up to the more practical side of things, the more scientific projects; people who are coming up with new technologies or new ways of using materials,” Coll said in an interview.

“I’m really impressed with the diversity and also the quality of the projects, especially talking to the young people, the kind of questions that they ask. I’m hoping that they could go back to their home countries, taking some of the lessons they’ve learned here in Germany and using those to increase the (impact) of the projects,” he added.

=

At the final judging, the lively and articulate Gabanes impressed the panel of judges that included UNEP and Bayer representatives.

=

She introduced herself a la beauty queen: “Mary Jade Gabanes, 19, Philippines!”

Heartfelt

In her presentation, Gabanes also wowed the judges by speaking from the heart.

Speaking in flawless English, the Ilongga explained her project: She had some 100 volunteers working at a locally funded special education center in Iloilo to teach children with physical and mental challenges about caring for nature.

She encouraged special-needs children to perform in talent shows and create art from recycled materials.

Asked if she faced some of the known challenges in teaching special-needs children, Gabanes replied with a wide smile: “I’ve never had a problem.  I’ve always had a soft spot for special-needs children.”

Gabanes, in turn, asked the judges: “If we see these children doing something for the environment, wouldn’t we take a second look at ourselves and ask what we can do?”

In an interview later, Gabanes said, “I told myself I had to present this very nicely because I had to give justice to the efforts of the people who were involved in my project, especially the children… they exerted the greatest effort during my project so I had to give justice to them.”

Hours before the awarding, the Philippine delegation worked together, rallying behind the team’s “muse.”

Canuel wielded a flat iron to press Gabanes’ outfit for the awards night, a modern Filipiniana costume of delicate fabric. Desamparado, the team’s beauty expert, did her makeup.

Rushing to catch the bus to the venue in heels, Gabanes missed a step and fell down the stairs.

But at awarding time, everything was forgotten. Gabanes was loudly cheered and applauded by her fellow envoys as she received her plaque and certificate.

With the funding support she will receive as part of her prize, Gabanes hopes to expand her program and give her students more hands-on learning.

“During the project implementation, I wasn’t able to hold a tree planting activity because I wasn’t able to buy mangrove seeds (as) they were a bit expensive. So, maybe with the publicity…I can get some sponsors and really give these children experiential activities on how to plant a tree, not just through videos, etc.,” Gabanes said.