On-campus engagement held between Youth IP Leaders and Development Studies undergraduates

The Loyola Schools is known for its social formation programs where students go outside the university to interact and work with members of marginalized communities and development organizations. But the COVID pandemic forced all of these interactions to go online.

As the pandemic eased up, the Office for Social Concern and Involvement has re-introduced onsite interactions as part of social formation programs. A few interactions are held off-campus on a purely voluntary basis. A few other interactions involve community partners interacting with undergraduates on campus.

One such onsite interaction was facilitated last October 21 by Team Bukás na Búkas, a group of 3rd Year AB Development Studies students currently taking their NSTP 12 Bigkis, DEV 106.1i (Community Development and Social Change), and SocSc 13 (The Economy, Society, and Sustainable Development) courses. Coming from different parts of the country, 20 indigenous youth partners and four staff members from the Non-Timber Forest Products - Exchange Programme Philippines (NTFP-EP Phils) joined the team for a workshop in Gonzaga Room 312. Comprising a network of non-government and community-based organizations, NTFP-EP empowers indigenous people (IP) to safeguard their livelihood and culture through community-based projects and is the team’s partner organization for NSTP 12 Bigkis. Also present were Dr. Mark Anthony E. Abenir, Dr. Lara Katrina Mendoza, and Floy Vergara-Soriano, the students’ course coaches for DEV 106.1i, SocSc13, and NSTP 12 respectively. 

Team Bukás na Búkas hoped that through this onsite engagement, they could get the IP youth’s insights on creating an indigenous youth network and foster a stronger bond with them beyond the online setting. Given this, they conducted icebreakers and workshop activities to build rapport with their partners and identify feasible projects addressing issues faced by the IP youth that will be implemented in the second semester. The main highlight of the session was the “Flower Framework Workshop,” which allowed the participants to visualize their chosen development intervention, and its objectives and details through a budding flower.

The Office for Social Concern and Involvement has detailed guidelines on these off-campus and on-campus interactions to ensure the safety of all participants. As the pandemic further eases up, it is hoped that more of these interactions can take place.

To learn more about NTFP-EP Philippines, please visit http://facebook.com/notbytimberalone or http://instagram.com/notbytimberalone.

Photos courtesy of NTFP-EP Philippines