DAVAO CITY – To translate their concern for their communities into meaningful action—this was the challenge posed to ten youth groups from Davao City, as they participated in Ayala Foundation’s Leadership Communities (LeadCom) project.
Inspired by their dreams for their communities, the teams worked toward refining their projects so they could become more responsive to the needs of their communities. As a culminating activity, participants are showcasing their community projects through an exhibit, which runs from March 31 to April 1 at the Abreeza Mall, Robinsons Hallway.
Aside from showcasing the projects, the participants also use the exhibit as a venue to seek areas for collaboration and to gain the support of other local organizations.
Project teams composed of out-of-school youth leaders from the Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines in Davao City went through the rigors of community assessment, project planning, implementing and monitoring starting April last year to carry out developmental projects which they deem beneficial to their communities.
The projects these young leaders implement ranges from establishment of vegetable garden to address food security, establishment of farmers’ training center in conflict affected areas, to training on various skills geared towards capacitating the community members to become productive, gainful and better employability with the skills that they’ve acquired through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority NCII certification.
“We are inspired by the passion and commitment of Davao’s youth to their community. What we are doing through LeadCom is to help them use their passion to fuel concrete, compelling, and collaborative solutions to their own community challenges,” Joie Lopez, Senior Director for Programs at Ayala Foundation, said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
She said since April last year, LeadCom participants took a journey of leadership, personal growth and realization through community service and during this year-long journey; they were also linked to a support network, which could help their projects achieve greater scale and impact.
Basilan young leaders to learn from Davao youth
The showcase of the youth-led projects was even made more meaningful with its presentation to the 28 Basilan Youth Leaders who are in a journey to discover what they can do best in their communities while honing their servant leadership in the Basilan Youth Leadership Program (BYLP).
BYLP is also a joint-program with the Ayala Foundation, Inc., which saw the potential and supports the same goal of empowering the youth through leadership training.
The foundation will launch its LeadCom Program in Basilan this summer which will be initially implemented with the BYLP fellows as participants.
“With their exposure and planned visit to different Leadership Communities in the country, it will be easier for the participants with the BYLP experience to undergo the LeadCom process,” Norkhalia Mae Campong, BYLP Program Director, said in the same statement. (Mindanao Examiner)
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