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By Nora O. Gamolo Senior Desk
Editor
Known for producing social
volunteers, the University of the Philippines has come up with a
novel but structured social-service program to harness the social
commitment, excellent training and unique skills and experience of
its diverse constituents.
Called the UP Ugnayan ng
Pahinungod (literally meaning a linkage of those who serve and offer
themselves), the program was established in 1994 both as a service
delivery and values education program. Recruited from students,
faculty, personnel and alumni, Pahinungod members join programs
linking local governments, non-government organizations (NGOs), and
community groups working with basic sectors and communities.
Formerly UP System-wide, “the
program has already been already devolved to the different
constituent universities in 2005,” said Dr. Ma. Crisanta Nelmida-Flores,
head of the Office of Extension Coordination of UP Diliman, where
the program was based for 11 years.
One of the program’s
standard-bearers was the Grupong Pahinungod Program, primarily
implemented by the UP College of Education. Based in Diliman, the
college inked an agreement in 1998 with the Department of Education
to deploy volunteers to various schools. The volunteers are mostly
graduate students who are provided training by the college and then
fielded as teachers for a year in high schools that lack teachers.
UP gave them an allowance.
“Some of them decided to
continue with their volunteer work, after their debriefing after one
year in the community. Of course, they take on other jobs also,
aside from teaching,” Flores said.
The College of Education’s
memorandum of agreement with the Education department expired in
January, and UP Diliman is now doing an impact study on the Grupong
Pahinungod Program, putting it in a state of transition.
By now, however, the general
Pahinungod program has already been devolved, and the other
constituent universities have also developed their own volunteer
programs in response to the specific needs of the localities where
they deploy volunteers.
To date, the program is managed
through different offices in all units of the UP System: Diliman,
Manila, Los Baños, Baguio, Cebu, Iloilo City, Miag-ao (Iloilo),
Pampanga and Tacloban.
The projects where volunteers are
deployed are reflective of the different skills and expertise
produced by the different UP units.
Outside the classroom
Besides deploying volunteer
teachers through the Grupong Pahinungod Program, volunteers from UP
Diliman have helped form community theater groups, organize workers
and communities, and helped facilitate voters education together
with the Commission on Elections.
UP Los Baños deploys volunteers
to train farmers on sustainable agriculture practices like
integrated farming, livestock management, integrated pest
management, and in developing post-harvest facilities, among others.
UP Manila, which trains future
doctors, nurses, health workers and paramedics, is into conducting
medical and health extension missions. UP Cebu-based volunteers,
meanwhile, are into teacher training.
In the case of UP Visayas, where
the university’s fisheries-related programs are based, volunteers
help fishermen develop fish sanctuaries and fisheries and coastal
resource management programs and projects.
Since 1994, Pahinungod volunteers
have answered requests to deploy volunteer development workers from
underserved communities from Itbayat, Batanes to Manok Mangkaw in
Tawi-Tawi. It has already served more than 100,000 individuals and
deployed more than 6,000 volunteers.
Other partners
Aside from the Department of
Education, among the government agencies that have already received
Pahinungod volunteers, called UP’s program partners, were the
Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency, Civil
Service Commission, Senate, and House of Representatives.
Local governments like those of
the municipalities of Kibungan and Sagada, provincial governments
like those of Abra, Apayao and Bohol have received volunteers.
Professional groups like the
Philippine Nurses Association; media groups like the Philippine
Daily Inquirer, ABS-CBN and GMA 7; and religious groups like the
Mayknoll Sisters, Missionaries of Charity, and Camillian Sisters
have their respective programs enriched by Pahinungod volunteers.
Not always welcome
Flores admits that the program
has encountered several problems. For one, anybody from UP is
already branded as radical. Many Pahinungod volunteers have endured
being on the watch list of soldiers and police in some heavily
militarized communities, particularly in the Cordilleras.
Some women volunteers have also
been the subject of attention by menfolk in some communities and
were subjected to sexual harassment.
Many of these problems were
resolved by having an official dialogue with both the concerned
parties and community representatives. Most times, the problems were
deemed resolved and the volunteers go back to their communities to
resume work.
Infectious volunteerism
The spirit of service that
permeates the UP System extends to the different NGOs based at the
university, among those Pahinungod and non-Pahinungod volunteers are
in contact with.
Political scientist Evita Jimenez
said, “UP students have a strong spirit of service, regardless of
their class origins and political affiliations.” Herself a UP
graduate, Jimenez is executive director of the UP-based NGO, Center
for Political Empowerment in Governance or CENPEG.
For Jimenez and her group, this
spirit of service came in the form of free research that some UP
Manila students undertook to finish the novel glossary Corruptionary.
A compilation of several hundreds of words associated with
corruption in the country, the project was a hit, and almost all
printed copies are now sold out. Sales will go to funding
community-oriented projects CENPEG is sponsoring for leaders of
several barangay units and community organizations and its various
fora intended to explore different political issues and innovations
in governance.
Whether they work directly with
basic sectors and communities, UP volunteers blaze a trail in social
service.
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