RAFI launches latest batch for Young Minds Academy

CEBU - One-hundred four young minds are being prepared today to be the source of hope of the nation as they get the training for future leadership and mission to be agents of change for the betterment of the community.

Recently, these youths from Cebu signed their covenant with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. Young Minds Academy which formalized their enrollment to the eight-month long program YMA offers aiming to develop young emerging leaders through experiential learning.

These 104 scholars, aged 12 to 30 years old from different schools and organizations, are already the third batch of young minds who will undergo intensive training with the YMA just as the previous two batches have. Here, they will be taught to become responsible and pro-active citizens that are ready to serve the public and its interests.

The YMA will promote to them the virtues of peace, pluralism, respect and multi-cultural understanding and the values of responsibility, citizenship, caring leadership, God-centeredness, trustworthiness, humility, fairness and integrity. This shall be done through key strategies of awareness, education, immersion and open discourse.

This year’s theme of the YMA course is on education with different approaches such as an adventure education, learning visits and youth exchange, capability building, immersion, research and proposal development, critiquing and mentoring and conference.

RAFI Chief Operating Officer Dominica Chua said the youth today comes from a generation that is very conscious of fashion trends but very idealistic and strong-willed. They are serious and with critical minds and usually with passion and commitment to create a transformed society.

Chua said that the purpose of the academy is to find ways to develop the potentials of the young people to lead and acquire relevant information to formulate solutions for issues confronting the community today or the whole society for that purpose.

RAFI President Roberto Aboitiz, on the other hand, told students that their involvement with the YMA will be life-changing because YMA is going to change towards optimism, the way they view things.

“As you go on, your conviction and character will develop that you will want to be agents of change and not just wait for the change be given to you,” Aboitiz said. — Jessica Ann R. Pareja/BRP (THE FREEMAN)