Cathay Pacific flies 4 students, Young Star writer to South Africa

For the sixth consecutive year, Cathay Pacific Airways is sponsoring four students from the Philippines to take part in the Cathay Pacific International Wilderness Experience Program in South Africa. Ana Marika Francisco (Assumption Antipolo), Erika Rae Rosario (Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial-Regional Science High School), Nicole de Castro (University of the Philippines-Diliman) and Rodelyn Miso (Ateneo de Manila University) are this year’s winners, besting over a hundred candidates in this environment contest.

Once again, the airline has invited Young Star to provide exclusive coverage of the two-week program and this year YS writer Monique Buensalido has been selected to join the delegates. Young Star writers who have been on the program are Ginggay Joven, Kap Aguila, Scott Garceau, Paulo Subido and, most recently, Luis Carlo San Juan.

Fifty-two students from Hong Kong, Mainland China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Singapore and South Africa are now on an ecological course in Entabeni Game Reserve, a 10,000-hectare game reserve that contains a wide variety of wild and plant life.

Rather than attending lectures, the students are guided by a team of highly qualified educational officers and experience nature through hikes, camping trips and wildlife observation. They also share each other’s cultural heritage through wedding role-play, group discussion, as well as traditional songs and dances.

To help prepare for the trip, delegates attended a briefing by the Philippine Animal Welfare Bureau. This was followed by lunch at the Lush Life Garden Restaurant inside the Orchidarium.

The Wilderness Experience contest is held annually by the airline. To join, applicants aged 15-18 years old have to submit an environmental essay and undergo interviews conducted by panelists Adrian Harley, Cathay Pacific country manager; Doris Nuyda, environmental columnist; Imelda Sarmiento, Clean and Green Foundation executive director; and Philippine STAR lifestyle editor Millet Mananquil represented this year by Kathy Moran, STAR sub-editor.

Cathay Pacific is committed to developing youth potential through innovative educational projects. Over the past nine years, more than 300 students have taken part in the Cathay Pacific International Wilderness Experience Program.