Young Professionals Orientation and Training Program

THE YP WORKSHOP FOR THIS YEAR was officially launched with a roundtable discussion with the academe. Heads and representatives of architecture, engineering and planning colleges in Metro Manila were invited to a roundtable discussion on July 22, 2011 at Max’s Restaurant in Quezon City Circle.

The event was attended by Dean Ted Inocencio of PUP-CAFA; Dean Victor Macam of UE(Caloocan)-CE; Dr. Phares Parayno of Miriam College-DE; EnP. Carmeli Chaves of UP-SURP; Engr. Ariel Morales of UE(Manila)-CE; Arch. Antonio De Vera of FEU-IARFA; and Engr. Aquilino Rolusta of CCP-CE. Representatives of student organizations were also present — Mharren Castro of UP-Task Force Arki; Gerome Hipolito of UP-GE Club; Aldo Mayoralgo UP-Asaphil; and Melanie Ramis of UE ACES-PICE.

TAO’s Education and Training Program team gave presentations to brief the guests on the program and application requirements for the 2011 YP Workshop on Social Housing. Arch. Geraldine Matabang presented an overview of TAO’s organizational profile and selected projects while Engr. Rosalyn Veneracion discussed the YP Workshop objectives, theme, and program. Argean Guiaya presented the socio-economic profiles of community areas where participants to the YP Workshop will immerse in. These included communities in Tanza and Tangos in Navotas City, Talayan in Quezon City, and Kasiglahan Village I in Rodriguez, Rizal.

An open forum followed the presentations. Guests sought some clarifications on the workshop program and articulated their concerns such as the sponsorship consideration and the safety and security of workshop participants especially during immersion activities. The threats of eviction and possibility of relocation of the community immersion areas, many of which are informal settlements, were also discussed. Community leader-organizers of Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), Ms. Luz Domingo of Talayan and Ms. Vangie Serrano of KV1, were also on hand to provide some information on their area’s peace and order situation, coordination with the barangay authorities, and the readiness of host families with whom the workshop participants will stay with during the immersion period.

At the end of the discussion, video presentations of previous YP workshops were shown and application forms and posters were distributed. TAO Executive Director Arlene Lusterio gave the closing remarks to conclude the event.

The YP 2011 Workshop has been rescheduled to October 19-25. All previous deadlines have been reset. The following dates are the deadline for application:

August 31 – Deadline for sponsored participants

September 16 – Deadline for non-sponsored participants

This year’s workshop theme is about Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in Community Planning and Development. It is open to all young professionals, 21 to 40 years old, and practicing Architecture, Engineering (Civil, Geodetic, Sanitary, Mechanical, Electrical), or Environmental Planning; and 3rd-5th year undergrad students and graduate students (in disciplines mentioned above).

Workshop registration fee is PhP 7,500. It covers training materials, food and accommodation during the training, and group transportation for community visits. Participants will be responsible for their other personal expenses.

A limited number of applicants (especially students) will be considered for sponsorship covering workshop registration fees. In exchange for participation in the 7-day training program without payment of fees, each sponsored participant is required to render 160 hours of volunteer work or OJT work (without allowance) for TAO projects within the period November 2011 to May 2012.

Applications are available for download at this link. Filled-up application form can be submitted at yp.taopilipinas@gmail.com. For more information about the workshop, download the workshop brief here or contact Rosalyn-Frances Veneracion or Geraldine Matabang at 441-0998.

Reflection by Gloryrose Dy

Reflection by Jan Michael Lumbang

Reflection by Cherry May Mateo

Reflection by Gloryrose Dy

TAO-Pilipinas was timely for me. The day after I was hired to be a staff of the Human Settlements and Environment Program under TAO-Pilipinas was the day Typhoon Ondoy struck our nation killing almost a hundred and leaving thousands of our countrymen homeless. It seems as if a supreme being was telling me that I am in the right place which to help the urban poor in Metro Manila.

I had a fairytale concept on what my job would be because it seemed to be a very heroic occupation. I imagined being like Angelina Jolie helping the poor in Kenya or Oprah Winfrey talking to a marginalized citizen in the US. I looked at helping the urban poor as sort of a fancy thing like saving a damsel-in-distress Indian princess drowning because of Captain Hook.

The YP workshop made me more excited to do my job. I thought that finally I could save the urban poor for real since I have already been stuck in the office for quite long. So I had a well organized bag with a lot of shirts and pants ready for the whole event.

The first two days of the workshop was quite technical. Having a technical background helped a lot. Although, I had to tap my intelligent persona which I wanted to leave behind after I graduated college so that I could understand the seminar. While sitting on the chair listening to the soporific talk of the lecturer, I daydreamed about the next day where we will have to go to the site for real.

But when we went to the site for the first day, I suddenly lost all the excitement I saved when I was still preparing for the event. As I saw the real situation of the community, I felt so hopeless for the Philippines. I knew that if only we had an incorrupt government, we could have easily made their lives wonderful.

I saw the real poorest of the poor in the Philippines. It was inevitable to compare it to the rural poor areas where they could still see a large amount of land beside their houses. But then, I also realized that the community was so skeptical at times with the help that they are getting. Maybe it was because of the thousands of broken promises they encountered in their life. I could not blame them but I could not also blame myself for feeling less stimulated.

There are times during the workshop when I felt so uninspired as if Bic Runga’s song was playing “My head is battling with my heart, my logic has been torn apart…” This was the moment when I tried to ask myself, “Is this really this difficult or was I just so naïve in thinking that helping the poor was as easy as helping save the Indian princess in Neverland?”

Indeed it is. It is difficult to help the poor. It is not a fancy thing. It is not the same as we see them in the movies. Helping the poor is just like marrying yourself to the poor people themselves and sometimes it is like marrying a person when you know that the end is still a divorce.

But as I looked at the eyes of the TAO-Pilipinas facilitators of the workshop; the eyes of the people that I am going to work with for years, I saw that they had hope in it. I saw their eagerness and enthusiasm to woo help whatever it takes.

TAO-Pilipinas was indeed timely for me. It made me realize the complexities of life during the point when I thought life was fancy. It also made me realize that life is full of synchronicities. If I choose to help the poor, the poor will choose to help themselves. It is that simple but then again that difficult.

Gloryrose Dy, 23 years old, is a BS Architecture graduate from University of the Philippines – Mindanao. Lotlot graduated in 2009 with the Best Thesis Award for Architecture in UP Mindanao and was also given the Red Point National Best Architectural Thesis Award in the Philippines by Cirdia Foundation. Lotlot is a member of the UP Mindanao Dance Ensemble. She recently joined TAO-Pilipinas as a staff in its Human Settlement and Environment Program.
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Sustainable development, social housing, and water and sanitation issues tackled in lecture sessions
The lecture sessions of the YP Workshop introduced participants to a comprehensive background on social housing and the different topics that are associated with it, from the broad context of sustainable human settlements development to the discussion of issues that urban poor communities face in their struggle for shelter security. Lecture topics were grouped into three sessions on the first day of the workshop: Design Professionals and Sustainable Human Settlements Development; Tools and Approaches to Social Housing; and Young Professionals and Communities as Collaborative Partners in Building Sustainable Communities.

Dr. Laura David provided a keynote presentation on “Climate, The Environment, and Our Future” while Architect Ning Encarnacion-Tan gave a lecture on “Sustainable Design and Sustainable Communities.” The staff of TAO-Pilipinas served as resource persons for the various topics on social housing, including standards in social housing provision and design; participatory design approaches; and alternative building materials and technologies.

On the second day of lecture sessions, participants were exposed to different levels of discussion about Water and Sanitation (WATSAN), from a global perspective to the implementation of local projects for poor communities. Four sessions on WATSAN were held with various resource persons from government and non-government agencies. Session topics were categorized into: The Water and Sanitation Challenge for Young Professionals; Water Supply Availability, Management and Sustainability; Urban Sanitation Systems; and Water and Sanitation Options for Urban Poor Communities. Among the speakers who gave presentations were: Dr. Maria Antonia Tanchuling of UP-Diliman; Mr. Dave Robbins of Philippine Sanitation Alliance; Engr. Sonabel Anarna of DOH; Ms. Cherubim Ocampo of Maynilad Water Services; Dr. Gulliermo Tabios III of National Hydraulic Research Center; Ms. Lyn Capistrano of the Philippine Center for Water and Sanitation; and Mr. Leo De Castro of the Center for Advanced Philippine Studies.
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Young professionals and students from local and international academic institutions and representatives from urban poor community associations took part in the 2009 Young Professionals Workshop on Social Housing on October 22 to 27, 2009. The workshop is an annual project of TAO-Pilipinas’ YP Program which aims to orient young design professionals and students on social housing through training activities that will enable better appreciation of the concerns/issues affecting the urban poor. This year’s workshop is already the fourth organized by TAO-Pilipinas

The workshop was participated by local delegates from architecture and engineering departments of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP), and the University of the Philippines (UP), as well as foreign delegates from Harvard University, Politecnico de Torino in Italy, and Lund University in Sweden. They were joined by representatives from people’s organizations in communities assisted by TAO-Pilipinas Inc. in Navotas and Quezon City. Community organizers from TAO-Pilipinas’ partner organization, DAMPA (Damayan ng Maralitang Pilipinong Api, Inc.) also participated in the workshop. A total of 26 participants were gathered to undergo 6 days of programmed activities.

The 2009 YP Workshop focused on the theme, “WATSAN in Social Housing: Improving Access to Water Supply and Sanitation for Urban Poor Communities.” The workshop program was divided into two parts spread over six days. The first part of the workshop comprised of lecture sessions which were held on Days 1 to 2 at the Villa Cristina Hotel & Resort in Antipolo City. The lectures were divided into seven sessions with several small group activities conducted in between.
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