Foundation U and IYSPeace

DUMAGUETE CITY – Prior to last Thursday’s trip to Dumaguete City, I had been to this capital of Negros Oriental several times but the more memorable ones were my last two visits, the first in 1997, when I was still chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), and the second, shortly after I stepped down as PSC chair in 1998.

My most recent visit prior to last Thursday’s journey was sometime in 1998. I visited Dumaguete at the invitation of Congressman Mike Romero. He brought my party dolphin watching and to the town of Tanjay where it is Christmas whole year round since Christmas décor stays in the public plaza, streets, lamp posts and other public places 365 days a year. It was Christmas everyday in Tanjay.

The practice had become an international and domestic tourist attraction until the new leadership of the town and politics got rid of the Christmas decor. The practice vanished and with it a distinctive way of expressing one’s joy in the Nativity and a quaint and imaginative tourist attraction.

This time around, I’m in Dumaguete to write a business teaching case on an innovative physical education program, at the request of a United Nations (UN) body. I chose the planned Institute of Youth Sports for Peace (IYSPeace) that is being put together by Foundation University (FU) under the leadership of its president, Dr. Mira Sinco and FU physical education Dean, Dr. Perry Mequi, also former chairman of the PSC and Asian Games bronze medalist in athletics.

FU is probably one of the most progressive institutions of higher learning in the Visayas. Adherence to its vision-mission shows very clearly in its taking bold steps in various fields like business education and physical education despite the paucity of resources. Like most universities in the country, FU is almost totally dependent on tuition and fees for both daily and medium term needs. What the administrators have done is to work within the meager resources at their disposal and to leverage the resources the country is abundant in: people.

In the past several years, FU has chosen to get the community involved in its people-centered projects. Last week, FU launched "Digital Dumaguete: Greyhound Expo 07," which essentially allows the school and the IT community to keep in touch with each other. Personalities in IT and companies like TeleTech, People 2 Outsource, eTelecare and Yeha Call Center made presentations before large groups of students. The whole expo showed one can move forward in an exciting field like IT despite limited resources.

In the area of sports and physical fitness, FU, through Mequi, has been organizing weekly marathons and fitness activities designed to promote life long and community involvement in sports. The response of the Dumagueteños has been overwhelming with people looking forward to these fun activities that emphasize participation and fellowship rather than competition.

The latest FU initiative is the establishment of the IYSPeace. The IYSPeace draws its strength and rationale from the Convention on the Rights of the Child of Dec. 12, 1989. Article 31 of the Convention states that member countries recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. The Convention guarantees the Right to Play or RTP.

The United Nations (UN) has also provided for the planned IYSPeace a rationale on which the Institute anchors itself.

In February 2002, then UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, invited his Special Adviser Mr. Adolf Ogi and Ms. Carol Bellamy, executive director of the UNICEF, to co-chair a UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport Development and Peace. The Task Force was constituted in November 2002 and handed its report to the Secretary General at the end of March 2003.

In January 2004, the Executive Office of the Secretary General asked the UN Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) to assume new responsibilities on Sport for Development and Peace.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 2005 to be the International Year for Sport and Physical Education through its resolution 58/5 on "Sports as a means to promote education, health, development and peace."