Mark, Vergel and Hannah are just three of the more than 20 students from CCP, University of the East, Holy Name Academy, Early Christian High School and Sacred Heart Academy who joined the Trainers’ Training course ofthe YDS. The training was meant to prepare these young people to lead other youths in the first Youth Day Summit in March 2002.
The YDS is a non-stock, non-profit organization that seeks to develop the personal, social and spiritual awareness of Filipino youths, at the same time instilling in them a greater appreciation of family and home and improving their ability to face challenges in a rapidly changing world.
YDS was founded by Nel Buenaventura, who felt the need for a local youth program. "We have the World Youth Canada and Youth for Understanding, but these are international. We wanted to form an organization that aims to help the Filipino youth in particular, and in a well-rounded way," Buenaventura said. He explained that the summit is open to all youths aged 13 to 19. For its first year, the organization will sponsor around 1,000 participants from all over the country.
After a long period of planning and waiting, the vision finally became a reality through the generosity of CCP president Atty. Crispino Reyes, who agreed to sponsor thefirst YDS next year.
"We are very optimistic that other schools and students will also see how important this is enough to get involved in the YDS in the coming years." Buenaventura said.