The Four-eyed Journal » Youth

Glad to see that SERVE is in good hands

jhay — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 04:07:17 +0000

When I took a leave of absence for the 1st semester, one of the greatest concerns for my self and my fellow volunteers were who would lead SERVE? Despite the worries, I took faith in my fellow senior volunteers and trusted in their skills, talents and above-all, dedication and commitment to the organization. For it’s my belief that no matter how much you possess of the former, what’s really important is the latter.

SERVE volunteers - alumni, residents and new recruits

Last Saturday, during the Initial Common Experience (aka General Assembly) for new SERVE volunteers, I saw plenty of commitment and dedication from the senior volunteers now in charge of the organization.

It was the very first time that they managed a major activity all on their own, with completely no directions or intervention from me. It wasn’t the best but it was a great success. They took the activity as their own as they introduced team-building activities that were new to the group, yet effective and fun. Though there were a few rough edges, it’s forgivable since this was the first time they were completely on their own.

There were 14 new volunteers present. Most were silent yet cooperative, which is only natural because they are new recruits and they’ve met each other only then. But in each one, I know that they have enjoyed themselves and I’m confident that they’d stay long in the organization. That in itself is a great victory for the senior volunteers.

Now I look forward to the upcoming Self-Awareness Seminar and Advanced Leadership Training this August. The lessons the seniors learned in conducting a training activity would certainly make the upcoming activity exciting and fun. Hopefully, I’d be able to join them along with the other alumni.

Congratulations to the seniors!

PhotoHunt: Fast

jhay — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:26:35 +0000

It’s been a long while since I last joined PhotoHunt. How I missed doing this every weekend. Well, here’s my contribution for this week’s theme: Fast.

It’s the human piggyback race we held as part of the team-building exercises of the 2008 Self-Awareness Seminar & Advanced Leadership Training for the SERVE Volunteers of DLSUD.

It was a fun-filled and learning three days wherein the student-volunteers were molded into a single body of Lasallian volunteers. Check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.

PhotoHunt

Celebrating National Volunteers’s Month in DLSU-D

jhay — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:28:16 +0000

Designated as the National Volunteers’ Month by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 55, December is a big month for us Lasallian volunteers, not only because it’s Christmas season but more importantly, it’s during this month that nation officially celebrates the spirit of volunteerism & service. This if further strengthened by the Volunteer Act of 2007 or R.A. 9418 which promotes the participation of various sectors of the public and the government in doing volunteer work and fostering the spirit of volunteerism.

That’s why at DLSU-D, the various student-volunteer organizations will gather today to celebrate the spirit of volunteerism, of the Lasallian kind. Volunteers from SERVE, LS Verde, Campus Peer Ministers, ROTC Officers, University Peer Counsellors’ Group, ULFO Volunteers, and the Friends of the Library will kick off the celebrations by offering a Holy Mass today at the University Chapel. This would be followed with a silent march in protest of the Maguindanao Massacre and to express our demands of justice for the victims.

To highlight our message, the Advocacy program of SERVE has put together a simple yet powerful slideshow about the gruesome tragedy;

After our silent march on campus grounds, we will all proceed to the Severino De Las Alas Hall for the program proper where all the volunteer organizations could get to know one another much better, share the best practices we have and plan for future joint activities to further our goals and missions, and to show the community that spirit of volunteerism is very much alive and is at work for their development.

Watch for photos and stories of the event.

Mabuhay ang mga Lasalyanong Boluntir! Mabuhay ang diwa ng bolunterismo!

5th Asian Youth Day Opening on March 14

jhay — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:05:55 +0000

Just won my battle with tonsillitis and so it’s back to blogging. I’d break this long hiatus by making this announcement.

The 5th Asian Youth Day which will be hosted this year by the Diocese of Imus for the Philippines will have an opening program this coming Saturday, March 14, 2009. The opening program will be hosted by my home parish of Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, Silang, Cavite from 1pm to 3pm.

Plus, the organizers have just announced through the AYD mailing list that the dress code for the opening program would be Filipiniana. So do your best to come in your Filipino dresses or at least something that carries the spirit of being a Filipino.

I’m a bit excited already because I’ll be covering the event as part of the AYD5′s Press Relations committee. Also, I’d get to meet again the other volunteers who signed up to make the coming AYD a big success.

More so, the 5th Asian Youth Day would finally kick off and all the other youths of from all over Asia would come over to celebrate faith and the possibilites that young of Asia could do.

See you all this Saturday!

Photos: 1st Volunteers’ Meeting for the Asian Youth Day 2009

jhay — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:16:17 +0000

This photo post is long overdue, but what the heck, here it is finally!

Last January 31, 2008 me and a couple of SERVE volunteers attended the first volunteers’ meeting for the up coming Asian Youth Day of which the Philippines will be hosting it on November 23-27, 2009.

I saw a lot of familiar faces during the meeting which was held at the Girls’ Town in Silang, Cavite. The youthful and energetic Bishop of the Diocese of Imus, Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle, DD, STD, was the keynote speaker in which he announced that the Diocese of Imus would be the particular host in the Philippines for the 5th Asian Youth Day.

An awesome and humbling task indeed for all the faithful youth in this corner of Cavite. However, the daunting task that lies ahead simply added more to the volunteers’ excitement and passion to make the up coming 5th Asian Youth Day a smashing success.

Committees were formed in order to make this possible, to spread the load and maximize the potentials, energy and creativity of the volunteers. I joined the Press Relations Committee which will be in-charge of providing media services and documentation to the event, and I’m excited to start working already because with me are really talented and creative photographers, graphics designers, journalists, web gurus and the like. It will be fun, plus I will get to learn a lot from my fellow committee members which will help me in improving my photography skills. The ultimate goal though, is to put all this creative potentials to the service of God, and of our fellow Asian Youth.

With the theme, “YASIA Fiesta – Young Asians: Come together, Share the Word, Live the Eucharist” which is the organizers’ spin on this year’s theme of “Celebrating the Eucharist“, the 5th Asian Youth Day will be exciting and an event to remember.

Watch out for more updates and stories as November gets closer and the 5th Asian Youth Day itself unfolds in the backyard of the Diocese of Imus.