MARK JAY OPALEC BSPT 1-5

September 1, 2011

NSTP101- Ms. Ellen Joy Pacudan

REFLECTION PAPER
My midterm experience with my NSTP class is now getting more exciting. It seems step by step we are preparing for our long awaited community exposure or immersion. For this term around we have first made our preparation at literacy by a teaching demonstration. This preparation for literacy will also serve as a stepping stone for us in educating the illiterate people in the community. I can reflect this midterm about NGOs since we are near to their group that also advocates sustainable help and development for the depressed areas. Before my idea with NGOs was their job is so easy and sometimes they can have the take parts of the budget for their own expense. But now I empathize with them and I was so amazed that we were like little NGOs and now I think NGOs was much having difficulties. I could definitely say their hardship, compassion, patience, benevolence with each project is extraordinary. In my part I know what it feels to sustain and developed a community and from now own my perception with this NGOs are now positive. I also had been thinking if we have difficulties with fund raising how much more these NGOs, their benevolence and charity to benefit for all is so astonishing. All I can say with this organization Now money can even repay their service rendered to the people but the joy and happiness they have given was remarkable. After the demo teaching process we have. It came to my mind the true essence of teachers nowadays. Not only have these people teach, also they were the ones to mold a us in school to become good and productive citizen. Teachers in our country especially in public schools are not well compensated. It came to my mind that students nowadays are not appropriate with their level of education when it comes with their ages. Sometimes if their family cannot sustain them they were forced to labor. This I can root with problems of education here in our country, therefore teachers should be prioritize. I ponder what the former secretary Jesli Lapus of Department of Education and said Education is the Solution that only implies that education is important and not only builds a brighter future for our children but also help us restore the community we depend with. From this term around we also discussed about the process of PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION. We follow certain process with this project implementation, step by step there will be a proposal until it will be approved by our committees. I can relate this case with the barangay official in our community they were having difficulties in terms of their proposed projects sometimes it seems useless in the community. Maybe they are lacking the process at the same time it also follows an ACTION PLAN, a vital factor for successful project since it follows certain plan at the same time will serve as a guide given for example the time frame. It will help us to budget our time allocation for each projects so that it will not result with conflicts. Our process that we have been through before going to the community is hard at first. Little by

little we started to realize we can be like NGOs also. Upholding the lives of people who are in need and sustaining them for long term development. We had also our committees made by our professor. In total we have 6 committees: Literacy, Finance, Nutrition, Environment, Documentation and Environment. Each committee has its own responsibilities. Let start with Literacy, its aim is to provide education for all since I belong with this committee we are to teach them the basic math, writing and reading that eventually they will be using as they run their lives. I feel this was the right committee for me since I am compassionate with teaching others. Finance committee serve as the auditing and planner of budget in each project we will be having. Nutrition Committee acts for making possible feeding programs and nutritional value scaling of food to be served. Environment Committee is responsible for the cleanup drive and community service for rehabilitating the community. First aid Committee will run if there will be cases of accidents and other emergency needed of first aid. Documentation Committee is responsible for documenting the happenings during immersion and community visits. Likewise they also consolidate data from conducted surveys. I can say its hard in our part but reflecting again with NGOs they can make it possible. So in our part we can likewise make it a success this cooperation to produce a successful project. As we go near for our immersion with the community, I felt emotions like scared, excited, whole spirit of volunteerism since I am to help people who are in need. First thing I want to see as we go further with our immersion is a sustainable development. Day comes we have our first community visit and we were assigned at Sitio Mangahan, Zone 1, Dasmarias City. It seems the community we had visited totally needs a long term and sustainable development. I assessed the place in my own perspective that even though many programs were implemented there still the community looks inadequate for them. We had conducted a survey about the people who lived there. The community is situated beside an Ilat and my partner at the same time is Andre when we both interviewed two household. I am so very luck to interview the Tumlos Family which the mother is the president of their community. Based on our conducted survey she cited that lack of jobs and livelihood for her fellow neighbor still a major factor causing poverty. I reflect that still our country is progressing as they say but as we go further to the lower class the development is not visible. That is why there are still people suffering from poverty and NSTP program made it possible for the alleviation from their current state. As I assessed the place I was thinking of their lifestyle for me it is not a habitable place but for them it is so. Week pass by we came by our first immersion program with the community. Each of us worked hard that day but I was so happy since children and even adults are delighted with us. Even though we had just prepared a simple feeding program for them it is a worthwhile experience. I see the smile of children that implies their simplicity and innocence at the same time they are witnessing the essence of poverty sometimes I was thinking Thank God for I am very lucky to have a sustained living. That I reflect during prelim period that I will be using such skills I have in immersion. Now I will just continue to uphold them at least from their state and as our immersion goes by I wish we could brought a sustainable and long term development for them.