Wednesday, August 01, 2007 Pinoy, Dutch youth build GK homes
FILIPINO and Dutch youth built five houses for the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Village in Bogo and visited Batang Pinangga in Carmen, Cebu recently.
The house build and the immersion to the orphanage were part of the activities in the Pinoy-Dutch Xplore II Program, which facilitates understanding and educational exchange about the Filipino and Dutch culture.
The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi) and its employees donated the five houses that were turned-over to the recipient-families. Five more houses will be donated by Rafi to the GK village in Bogo.
In the post-activity evaluation done by Rafi, Dutch participants involved in the GK build observed the “unbelievable hospitality of the people living in GK.” They also learned that working together improves the results and the process.
The Dutch participants, who visited Batang Pinangga and assisted in the work of the organization, said that their immersion meant a lot to the children.
Pinoy-Dutch Xplore II, which is within the framework of the sister-city relationship between Cebu City and Haar-lemmermeer, Netherlands, is a joint undertaking between the Cebu City Government, Meerlanden Youth-Cebu, Rafi— the overall coordinator—and other organizations in Cebu.
The program started in 2006 and this year’s second run involved 33 Dutch youth who are joined in by Filipino counterparts from two Rafi youth programs—Timawa Adventure Leadership Inc. and Young Minds Academy.
Exposure
Youth members of Justice, Peace and Integrity and Commission (JPIC) on Youth also participated in the activities, like the environmental exposure in selected marine sanctuaries in Mactan and Olango islands, among others.
Another upcoming activity lined up for Xplore 2007 is the tree planting at the watershed area in Pung-ol Sibugay.
The participants will also visit the Don Bosco Boys Town in Liloan, the college farm of Cebu State College of Science and Technology, JPIC communities in Lapu-Lapu City, Forge, Share-A-Child, Kapai, SOS Children’s Village, St. Arnold Janssen Community Learning Center, Sapak Foundation, Cebu Micro-Enterprise Development Foundation Inc. and Cebu City Medical Center.
