What future leaders are doing today

Why would cyclists be cleaning up seashores, or newly-hired bank tellers be teaching composting? Why would jobless physical therapists be offering free clinics, or engineering students be tutoring math and English? Because they’re young, that’s why. Because they’re idealistic and energetic. Most of all, because they’re preparing a future that they soon will inherit.

But when judges in the recent search for Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) asked them why they’re into such noble activities, the finalists didn’t perorate on lofty dreams. "Wala lang" was the usual unassuming reply, to which they’d laugh at themselves. "Wala kaming magawa kung tag-ulan," giggled Earl Sison of the Hundred Islands Cycling Club. "We couldn’t bike, so we thought of mobilizing other youths in west Pangasinan to plant mangrove trees and sweep the coasts and caves." Yet they’ve been at it for three years, spending time and own money to keep the islands and hiking trails clean and ready for the annual influx of tourists.

Ariel Salamanes of Cagayan de Oro, too, chuckled that he and fellow-employees at the Bank of PI weren’t much for drinking or bowling after work. To have something to do, they formed the Save Mother Earth Club and lectured public school pupils on trash segregation and recycling. They took them on a "basura tour" of the city dump, then taught them how to fashion handbags out of discarded juice packs. The kids in turn taught their parents the craft. Pretty soon it became a major livelihood in three lower-class barangays that also learned how to compost kitchen leavings. The club is now in demand for similar lectures in nearby towns.

Eight other groups of 15- to 30-year-olds showed what tomorrow’s leaders are doing today. Aside from the Pangasinan and Cagayan de Oro clubs, three other awardees are into environment work. It’s but natural; the youth instinctively wouldn’t want to inherit a barren wasteland. They won’t say it in those terms, though; they just need something to do – for the good of all, in their own big-little way.

My Zoo Volunteer Group was formed in Makati in 2000 to teach tots about sharing the planet with other creatures. Members brought their pet turtles, snakes, birds and small mammals to schools in Metro Manila and Southern Luzon for lectures on conservation. The impact on children was such that they started organizing their own pet shows and photo exhibits on Philippine wildlife.

San Mateo, Rizal’s SAVE ME (Students’ Action Vital to Environment and Mother Earth) also focused on school tots, whom it led in tree-planting and community cleanups. The difference: the children were from the big city, brought to the countryside for eye-opening interactions with rural youths. The sure-fire ice-breakers were book donations.

Muntinlupa’s Peacemaker Club is a tough act to follow. Members noticed that garbage trucks refused to enter the slums of the city. Garbage was piling up right beside shanties. So they went from one blighted purok to another, teaching the poor folk composting and recycling. Eventually they transformed the slums into sanitation-conscious and environment-friendly zones. The Rotaract of Muntinlupa tied up with them to replicate the success stories in other communities.

Three of the ten TAYO awardees in the search held by the National Youth Commission, the Philippine Jaycees and the Office of Sen. Francis Pangilinan focused on community health.

Davao City’s Kaakbay (Kapansanan Akibat sa Kaunlaran ng Bayan gives free treatment to indigents who suffer stroke. Composed of physical therapists and PT undergrads, Kaakbay borrowed a room at the parish church which it converted into a clinic two years ago. Members have since given 2,500 free sessions. Michael Velilla said some of them used to dream of a thriving practice abroad, but later realized their calling is to serve at home. Many of them don’t have steady jobs. But their work has so inspired city colleges to affiliate their PT students with the club.

The Rodeo Club at Benguet State University in La Trinidad started with lectures on rabies and free shots for dogs whose owners can’t afford it. As word spread of its work, donations flowed in. It raised enough funds to give away cattle to poor Igorot communities. The cattle multiplied, so the club found itself holding rodeos for deworming, dehorning, branding and training in animal handling.

The Kabataang Gabay sa Positibong Pamumuhay took on a big job in Iloilo City: teaching HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. It targetted youths under 18 who spend most of their time in the streets: corner-store gangs, tricycle drivers, out-of-school children. Using the peer approach in which fellow-youths talk to the audience, it was able to wean young sex workers from the flesh trade. It also provided counselling and referred youths to the proper government agencies for help.

Two awardees are into education. The University of the Philippines-Industrial Engineering Club noted the hefty fees charged by review classes for high school grads who are to take college entrance axams. It launched its own science, math and English review courses – for free – in 16 Quezon City public schools. Plus mock exams, tips, counselling on degree options, and information on scholarship opportunities. All the participants in last year’s Saturday classes passed their entrance tests; a third went to U.P.

The Ateneo Debate Society is probably running out of college teams to beat. But then, members are so fired up with the idea of critical thinking that they decided to train students in a dozen Metro Manila high schools the art of debating. They sponsor inter-school competitions to instill issue-awareness and analytical argumentation.

Too bad the TAYO awards were limited to only ten clubs, which won P50,000 each from Mirant Philippines. Ten others that made it to the finals were equally inspiring. Perhaps, they’ll get it next year.

Mirant, incidentally, operates in Sual, Pangasinan, one of the cleanest coal-fired electricity generating plants in Asia. It, too, is involved in community education and sanitation. But that’s another story altogether.

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