Thursday, May 12, 2011
Achitects of Change: YMA Scholars
ARCHITECTS OF CHANGE: YMA Scholars

Poverty still remains the biggest problem the nation is facing. Statistics show that poverty incidence in the Philippines stood at 26.5 percent in 2009, with hundreds of families below poverty line. The hopes of this issue brighten up a bit as a group of 83 teenagers step in and join the fight against poverty; we are the Young Minds Academy Season Five Scholars.

The Young Minds Academy is a youth leadership and citizenship development program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated, through the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center, aimed at shaping young emerging leaders of tomorrow. It is a scholarship program in which the scholars will be educated using experiential education and problem-based learning approaches.

Since our covenant signing last February 12, a handful of activities have been thrown our way as a part of the eight-month program.  Our very first activity was the S-Leadership by Ms. Selene Yu of the Potter’s Leadership Academy last March 19-20. We were taught on what true leadership was, wherein it does not come from position, but from both integrity of heart and our leadership skills must be anchored in God-centeredness.


From a spiritual activity came the physical one; Kool Adventure Camp, a three-day youth leadership formation program held at the Boy Scouts’ Camp from March 27-30. The camp aimed to teach us lessons on ourselves and how we think about others through experiential adventure-based education. We had various activities that encouraged us to think outside the box, understanding the logic that had to be unveiled. We were given challenges on the second day that taught us to conquer our dragons (also known as our FEARS) as our ropes-course challenge took place. We had to climb a wall, a post and a high-Y that instilled in our hearts not only the courage, but the trust that we build with our teammates as they belay us to the top. We ended the Kool Adventure Camp as Camp 228 and 229, but more than that we ended it as better people.

Our minds were put to the test just weeks later as we had our YMA Think Quest last April 14-15 with our Headmistress: Mrs. Evelyn Nacario-Castro. We were to unleash the Genius within by using both sides of our brain; that a rich logic is nothing without colorful imagination. Various mind-teasers and activities were given to us while we discovered a deeper sense of our responsibility to our community.

Lastly, to wrap up the Season’s first quarter, was our Social Discovery Walk. This activity gave us the opportunity to walk all over uptown and downtown Cebu, stopping at strategic checkpoints and performing tasks that would not only show us the true state of the poor, but would also make us become one of them. We repacked charcoal in the Tabo-an Market, helped out the flower vendors in Freedom Park, revisited Estero Parian in its glory days, visited the street children in Parian Drop-In Center, educated ourselves on the Pagtambayayong Foundation, listed down the historical markers down Colon Street, and finally, had punko-punko in the Redemptorist Parish parking lot. Since our theme was “Poverty and Social Welfare”, YMA already had something up their sleeve as to our sleeping accommodations. One of the five groups slept outside a coffee shop in tarpaulin, the other two inside the Fuente Osmena Circle in carton and finally, our group slept on the Department of Health sidewalk in Jones, complete with a surprise visit from the S.P.E.E.D. of the City Government. Although we were an unusual set of poor people since we had our facilitators, a RAFI emergency van, and police escorts (who we owe our gratitude to) with us, it was still a challenge we would never forget.

It may still be the end of the first quarter, but we have already learned more than we could in years, or even never, if not for the opportunity of a lifetime that was given to us by YMA. We still have 6 more months left in the race, but we know that when we finish it, we become Architects of Change: ready to face the world head on.

-          Shari Julla Gonzalez
Generation B Team Daughters of Charity
Written at 4:36 AM by young minds academy.
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