“Kumusta, Bata?” receives 2024 ASCEND Excellence Award for Senior Project

This year’s recipient of the ASCEND Excellence Award for Senior Project was an extraordinary group of 4th year BS Health Sciences students consisting of Lia Marie M. Beloy, Jadyne Isabelle T. de Jesus, Cai Gabrielle Nika Ysabel B. Lim, Bea Francine C. Luna, Ira Laurentine D. Martin, Janna Mikaela S. Sanchez, Chiana Ivy S. Santilices, and Jaime James Gabriel Titong, for their project entitled “Kumusta, Bata?”.

Dr. Norman Dennis Marquez, concurrently serving as the University Physician and also Assistant Vice President for Health, Care and Well-Being, was the group’s faculty adviser from the Health Sciences Program.

These remarkable senior students were given proper recognition at the annual awarding ceremony known as “PAGHAHANDOG 2024: Pinuno ng Misyon”, held last 10 June 2024 at the Leong Hall Auditorium, for their awe-inspiring endeavor.

Their group sought to engage with children in street situations and contextualize their specific mental health understanding and needs, improve awareness and critical health literacy regarding mental health among these children, and provide concrete avenues for them to nurture their mental health.

With these objectives in mind, their group partnered with ChildHope Philippines Foundation, Inc., a non-government organization working to promote the welfare of street children in the Philippines. Their project involved three phases.

Phase 1 was conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment, which identified the pressing need for modules on emotional health and well-being.

Phase 2 was the Health Module-Making Session, done in collaboration with other Ateneo students, which involved creating module activities that would help children in street situations identify and manage their emotions properly.

Phase 3, the Community Engagement Session was the project’s culmination wherein the collated modules were used by the participating children. Afterwards, copies of the modules were provided to ChildHope Philippines for the future use and benefit of the children in street situations under their care.

Every year, the Ateneo Socio-Civic Engagement for National Development (ASCEND) Awards honors undergraduate, senior, and graduate students for projects and research work that demonstrate mastery of subject matter while engaging communities and institutions outside the Ateneo in contributing to national development. Projects are development interventions that have been implemented with observable impact while research work contributes to knowledge creation with the potential for social impact.

The ASCEND Excellence award is given to a particular project or research work that is the most outstanding at the undergraduate, senior, or graduate level and manifests in an extraordinary manner, all three of the following criteria:

1. Extraordinary mastery of subject matter and application of synthetic thinking.
2. Deep and extensive engagement with partner communities and institutions.
3. Addresses a national development concern in a strongly strategic and creative manner with very significant short-term impact on target beneficiaries and/or the potential for significant longer term impact in promoting the well-being of the greatest number.

It is through ASCEND that the Ateneo continuously nurtures and motivates its students to be compassionate leaders and effective change-makers, keeping the spirit of "persons for and with others" alive and fostering a culture of service and leadership in the realm of national development.

Photos courtesy of the following:

• Monica Isabel Jose from The Guidon
• The recipients of the 2024 ASCEND Excellence Award for Senior Project