Boracay Island and Bali, both being admittedly a premier tourist destination in the world, are in the hearts of an Italian based international NGO called the TDM 2000 International with its advocacy “aim to promote personal and professional development, encourage youth mobility, and making citizens more active in their local communities, stimulating the exchange of opinions and points of view.”
The youth of these places are most vulnerable, with so many reasons behind including the lack of opportunities. To provide solution although not absolute, NGO’s and other civic organizations play an important role in youth development. One of them is this story.
In March 2015, while in the Philippine Red Cross Boracay-Malay Chapter office, a proposal to join “EuroAsi – From Europe to Asia: Capitalizing Experience in Youth Work” reached me thru the Red Cross Youth Focal Person Ms. Rona Liza Inocencio. As an advocate for youth development, there was no hesitation to join the said program. Later we learned thru the TDM 2000 International representative, Mr. Federico Gaviano, that the said program is to share the best practices of European youth initiatives to Asia (Indonesia and the Philippines). It is co-funded by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission, under the KA2 Action “Capacity Building” of the Erasmus plus programme. A series of workshops were attended by the youth workers and youth volunteers including myself. Topics ranged from these five modules NGO (Non-Government Organization) Management, Project Management, Human Resources Management, Financial Management and Communication, Visibility and Dissemination. I have been working with the PRC for several years and the topics were very much useful to me and the Red Cross Youth. One of the most important topic discussed were that of financial management, as it is always a challenge to operate an NGO with funds being generated and not readily available.
There were several participants to the workshops including the Partner Organization One Media Boracay, the members of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Boracay, Rotary Club of Boracay, the Philippine Red Cross Boracay-Malay Chapter, Boracay Foundation Inc., Boracay Informer and Boracay Yuppies. The project is also supported by the Local Government Unit of Malay. These participants were given an opportunity to experience Europe’s best practices thru the Jobshadowing and European Voluntary Service. I didn’t think I was going to be part of any European program as I was officer-in-charge of an office, where it is always difficult to leave an important job of supervising day-to-day operations of a premier humanitarian organization. In my mind, I was going to send delegates rather than myself.
Over the period of time, from March 2015 on to the last quarter of the year my work shifted from being the Officer-in-charge of the Philippine Red Cross Boracay-Malay Chapter to becoming part of the Local Government Unit of Malay (once again) as the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer. This proved to be a challenge between the commitment I have with work in government and my work in the NGO.
When the opportunity presented itself, of going to an International Midterm Evaluation Meeting in Malta, I took it and it was one of the most unlikely meetings I have attended in my entire 30 years. From Boracay Island to Manila, Manila to Bangkok, Bangkok to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Malta – and the formidable Malta is such a valuable experience. Taking into account that going back home will entail the travel from Malta to Zurich, Zurich to Singapore, Singapore to Manila and then Manila to my home was unbearable with the time zones and sleep patterns. But like I said, it was a valuable experience.
The Midterm Meeting of EuroAsi: From Europe to Asia: Capitalizing Experience in Youth Work at this stage proves to be a successful pioneering project of the TDM 2000 International. The meeting also discussed the challenges around the project and the possible solutions. There will be 11 youth workers and youth volunteers from both Indonesia and the Philippines who will experience and yes – embody the best practices of Europe. Until I realized that I was drafted to join the experience and the idea of going back to Europe got me excited, I will not hesitate to do so. Thanks to EuroAsi and the team behind its success.
Marlo Schoenenberger, Philippines