Numerous community projects being led by EAI-PH’s Tech Camp alumni won seed-funding worth P25,000 at the recently concluded Angat Buhay Youth Peace Advocates Summit held last November 28 to December 2 in Manila.
Nur-hamid Batugan of the OURmindaNOW (OMN) Tech Camp 1 pitched “Peacelam (Peace in Islam),” an annual project that includes a 2-day workshop and training aiming to transform Morit (Islamic Students) as peacebuilders of the nation using Peace Education to embody the culture of peace as a medium to prevent and transform violent extremism with his organization, Batang Transformers Organization.
OMN Tech Camp 2 graduates Datu Raid Salik and Hussien Abo of the Alliance of Magnanimous Youth Leaders (AMYL) and Quizzie Buisan of Positive VIBES also won grants to start or scale-up their community projects.
The group of Salik and Abo pitched CAMPAYAPAAN, a project that aims to sustain the positive mindset and boost the personal confidence of 20 young people aged 18-22 years old from the SPMS (Salibu, Pagatin, Mamasapano and Shariff Aguak) Box through sessions on Preventing and Transforming Violent Extremism.
Meanwhile, Buisan’s Positive VIBES pitched The Healing heARTS (Healing hearts through ARTS), a 7-month art therapy project that aims to provide the young orphans of Markadz Al-Arfadz in Cotabato City with psychosocial interventions using the creative and healing arts to come to terms with their trauma of war.
Buisan said that if young orphans are not supported with this kind of intervention, they might “grow up with a different perspective in life and peace in general” affecting their brain growth, decision making skills, and IQ.
Alumni Mohammad Quium Abdulasis and Sitti Sakhira Dambong and their respective groups were also part of only 31 organizations who made it to the summit.
The Angat Buhay Youth Peace Advocates Summit is a five-day gathering of organizations led by the Office of the Vice-President Leni Robredo with a shared goal of deepening conversations on peacebuilding and peace education especially in Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). /Photos are from the Official Facebook Page of the OVP Leni Robredo.
“The summit was a great avenue for a Bangsamoro like me to learn and relearn our roots. Learning and understanding one’s history is very important so that we may be able to determine how to help solve the problems and struggles that our community have and where these problems and issues are coming from,” Buisan shared.
Meanwhile, two other outstanding alumni were recognized during the MPower Awards Night 2019 last November 30 at the Ateneo de Davao University, Davao City.
For their meritorious efforts in dedicating their passion and time to serving Moro and Mindanaoan communities, Up2Youth Tech Camp 1 Alumnus Dechelle Escamillan won in the Student Leader Category while OMN Tech Camp 2 Alumnus Mohammad Quium Abdulasis reigned in the Community Youth Leader Category.
As Student Adviser and former Vice President of the Student Action Force of Mindanao State University – Marawi, Escamillan said she had never imagined to serve the Bangsamoro community as she admits she once had a prejudice against them. But everything changed when she started being immersed and involved in said community.
She said: “Never have I ever thought that one day, I would be in love with the Bangsamoro people. But here I am today, with a grateful heart, receiving this plaque of honour as a student leader, as a volunteer with a loving concern to the Bangsamoro and to my nation.”
The MPower Awards aims to recognize the efforts, especially on the grassroots engagements, of empowered youth from different schools, communities, and organizations in the country.
Three program alumni also passed the licensure examination for teachers. France Ruzzel Donoso, Raydan Tangwayan, and Jan Rey Castillo, who are all active graduates of the Tech Camp programs, are now Licensed Professional Teachers. #
