by Victoria de Guzman, Online Volunteer

26 May 2005

Bonn, Germany: When UN Volunteer Manu Longo of Italy first came to the Philippines in 2003, she quickly realized how ‘young’ the country was: one-third of the Philippine population is between the age of 15 and 30 years old. And while she was amazed at the number of youth organizations active in the country, she was equally surprised when she discovered that, according to a survey conducted by the National Youth Council, only two out of every five youth volunteer.

To encourage youth engagement in volunteerism, Manu contacted youth networks a number of youth groups in the country and eventually teamed up with the Students’ Action’s Vital to the Environment and Mother Earth Movement (SAVE ME Movement). a group of volunteers committed to empowering youth and increasing their social, civil and environmental awareness and responsibility. Manu and five volunteers from SAVE ME wrote a proposal for an outdoor youth camp aimed at providing participants with the skills to be active in the community – a key instrument in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They submitted the proposal to the Millennium Volunteer Contest, an initiative launched by UNV headquarters in 2004 to encourage UN Volunteers to engage in innovative volunteering initiatives for the MDGs.

The youth camp, entitled Recreational Outdoor And Educational Training Seminar (ROAETS): “Setting Up a Youth Led Social Enterprise for Promotion of UN Millennium Development Goals,” was held from October 20 to 25, 2004 in Camiguin Island, the Philippines. It aimed to mobilize the youth as advocates for important issues like protecting the environment and achieving the MDG objectives. The camp was also designed to make youth aware of job creation possibilities and how to develop social services for local communities.

Fifty high school and college student leaders participated. Along with eco-tours and outdoor activities, the camp provided lecture-workshops on the management, economic and networking aspects of implementing alternative livelihood and business activities that students can do outside of school. Then the participants drafted and presented a project proposal related to local and social development.

One of the most important features of the camp was the trainers´ training approach, where participants were trained to become the trainers for succeeding sessions. To support this approach, Manu delivered a session dedicated entirely to the MDG campaign and Volunteerism. In her lecture on Heroism 21st Century, she emphasized that the “youth are not just leaders of the future, but they must take a lead for a sustainable planet today, because young people are the biggest stakeholder for a sustainable and developed world”.

Manu and her team faced many challenges in mounting the activity, but their ardent efforts enabled them to tap into the volunteer spirit of local organizations that provided them with a venue. They also contacted high schools, universities and youth organizations willing to send in and shoulder the expenses of some of their youths for the camp.

The camp received very positive feedback from the participants. And by judging the participant’s enthusiasm to network with different people from different localities and to propose and develop project initiatives, the camp stirred the interest of the youth to be more involved in community work.