#YouthHour2021 pushes limits of youth engagement amidst the pandemic

Masyadong ginalingan!

As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses and with the new threat from Delta variant causing a sense of uncertainty in the country, the Positive Youth Development Network (PYDN) with its partners launched the second installment of the Youth Hour, a celebration of the contribution of young people’s contribution to nation-building.

The campaign started with some criticisms, but the premier organization answered these with a solid call to action: get vaccinated, go register and vote, and help build safe spaces for children and the youth.

Unlike last year’s Youth Hour, this time, PYDN focused its efforts in building the one of the largest coalitions of youth organizations in Western Visayas known as the One Western Visayas Youth Coalition. One Western Visayas Youth Coalition is a region-wide youth-led coalition that aims to support the government in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and to strengthen youth programming in Region 6. Its ultimate vision is Western Visayas working together towards regional development.

PYDN shifted its technique from focusing on online reach to having actual movement and action from the ground. We agree, now that we are entering the second year of lockdown, young people are now tired to be in the online platform. Online platforms now are becoming ineffective in providing services for children and the youth. A reality programmers should take not before its too late.

Youth Hour is initiated by Positive Youth Development Network (PYDN) and Ideas Positive Alumni Community (IPAC), supported by the Council for the Welfare of Children, UNICEF Philippines and ING, Unilab Foundation, Ideas Positive, and Heads Up PH.

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With the pandemic progressing, youth groups look for Ideas Positive to hold their hands

With over 1.6 million cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines plus the spiraling need for additional beds in major hospitals in the country, the power of the youth to help curb the spread of infection is vital as proven in the past. In terms of youth engagement towards public health, there is only one name in the house — Ideas Positive.

Ideas Positive, running for over 10 years now, is hailed as the country’s premier youth engagement program that empowers the youth to be leaders in building healthier communities. In support to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, Ideas Positive continuously engages the youth to create local solutions with global impact to high need and high neglect health gaps in their communities.

From solving diarrhea to providing water access to curbing malnutrition and even promote polio vaccination, the program is well-respected because of its legacy and strong base of support not only coming from its over 100 partner communities but also from international and national organizations.

The program also is known for launching the largest gathering of youth leaders for health since 2018 known as the Ideas Positive Youth Forum on Public Health.

Many of its alumni now and even its partners are asking where Ideas Positive is. In this darkest of times, young people need a leader to hold their hands. They are not expecting for another Forum or another set of funding, they are expecting that the flagship program will show its compassionate presence because the real genius of Ideas Positive is not its funding but the message of hope that it provides for the youth.

Personally, I can still remember the time and the feeling how Ideas Positive in 2013 touched my life. The program saved me, and it can still save lives now.

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Youth Hour 2021 punches back, releases phenomenal toolkit

Due to increasing public pressure, Positive Youth Development Network’s (PYDN) Youth Hour 2021 released its toolkit, a quick guide for everyone on how to participate and support the Youth Hour Celebration on August 12, 2021, 12:00NN to 01:00PM.

First readers confirmed that the toolkit is beautiful and easy to read. Though according to them, it lacks the spirit of inclusion in the design especially putting some special considerations for Persons with Disability, the most vulnerable sectors of the society including children and the marginalized population, and it failed to emphasize the rich culture of the Philippines.

However, I believe that they can still remedy this in their remaining days of social media campaign. It is crucial for the team to be inclusive as possible since this is a national advocacy. You can access and download the toolkit from this link: bit.ly/YouthHourToolkit2021.

This simply shows that Youth Hour 2021 is not backing up and is ready to face the challenges ahead. This is a good answer to criticisms that this year’s campaign is unorganized. For the coming days, we are yet to expect some surprises from the PYDN’s Youth Hour 2021.

Earlier today, Youth Forward, a contender of PYDN backed out in Dagupan. The release of the toolkit could be considered a blow, sending the budding rival to its grave before it can walk.

For now, readers are encouraged to share the toolkit.

Youth Hour Youth Hour is a dedicated time for Filipinos to come together and celebrate young people’s contributions and sacrifices for nation-building. Youth Hour is envisioned to be the Earth Hour of youth engagement. The latter asks us to switch off our lights to symbolize our support for environmental conservation, while the former asks us to ignite the fire of passion for the youth, and their indispensable role in nation-building.

Youth leaders jump to PYDN, leave #YouthForward

SK leaders and head of youth organizations from various regions of the country will leave Youth Forward and will support Positive Youth Development Network’s International Youth Day 2021 celebration next week. This is after the news that Youth Forward will not push through in Dagupan on August 11-12, 2021 due to health risks posed by COVID-19 delta variant which is now infesting the National Capital Region.

Meanwhile, IATF resolution No. 130-A released July 29, 2021 classified Dagupan City under Modified General Community Quarantine, one of the lowest classification in Luzon together with La Union and Pampanga.

Youth leaders who were energized with the prospect of seeing Youth Forward for the first time jettisoned the program and moved to organize the largest coalition to support PYDN in Visayas which despite the ECQ classification, continues to innovate to serve the youth through blended program designs and flexible platforms.

According to them, the word “premier” means courage and it must be awarded to organizations and programs that exhibited courage and compassion even in darkest of times.

Here are the calendar of events as per PYDN: https://www.facebook.com/PYDNOfficial

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Youth groups to PYDN: Bat’ parang downgraded ang #YouthHour2021?

I can’t help but notice that a lot of youth organizations are puzzled why PYDN’s Youth Hour event this year lacks social media presence and audience recall. I reviewed last year’s campaign and compared to the present execution, I noted that there is a 50% decline on the number of social media postings, while the campaign message is beautifully crafted, it failed to get substantial traction to defeat the noise of the pandemic, and some of best the practices last time were not incorporated to build this year’s celebration (I think). Last year, you can hear the youth hour in every media outlet especially in Visayas, now, it seems that there’s some sort of radio silence?

Many youth organizations are currently looking for benchmark and direction on how to celebrate their Linggo ng Kabataan next week. Last year, these proactive youth organizations adopted Youth Hour activities into their respective barangays and municipalities. Now, thousands of them are looking for the same direction.

I believe, if PYDN won’t be able to meet the same level of execution, they might lose the wins achieved from last year’s successful launch. It could also mean lost hopes and confidence to the same program. This is a serious challenge to the Philippines’ premier youth organization. But I have faith in them, this organization is built through years of experience.

I will keep you updated about this year’s International Youth Celebration.

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PYDN’s #BagongSK reigns tonight, gets 11.55 points

Short of 2 points to break the national record of 13.00 points, PYDN’s activity still reigns tonight. The highest review so far is being held by the Ideas Positive Youth Forum on Public Health 2018 held in Iloilo City organized by Positive Youth Development Network and the Ideas Positive Alumni Community.

I was expecting an extravagant announcement, but the Positive Youth Development Network (PYDN) wittingly defined new standards for announcement of Grand Finalist qualifiers. Last time I checked the standard has always been to broadcast zoom meetings to Facebook to attract viewers.

This time, the Positive Youth Development Network respected the feelings of National Finalists by giving them the safe space through an intimate and crisp announcement ceremony peppered by screams and clapping of hands due to extreme pleasure.

I was reviewing the entire execution, and it seems that they upgraded their game. They have background music which by the way was properly timed and synchronized. The music was brilliantly picked, there was no disturbing sounds, or bothersome images.

The Opening message merits a high score because it highlights sense of working together and bringing together young people. The tone was optimistic. The words used were straightforward, I admire the non-use of rhetoric this time, very timely display of analogy, the narratives used by Alfred were well-thought of and the entire speech lasted for 5 minutes including pause.

Moving on, I like the vividness of the emotions of the participants. There was a point in the announcement that I want to cry. The tears were visible falling from their eyes after their SK council was called. This is a feeling that is most of the time absent in any online activity and awarding ceremony. I understand that in order to invoke this feeling, it would usually take months of phenomenal relationship building. This is a difficult technique to muster especially in online set-up.

In terms of social media, a deduction of 1 point was given in the execution part because they failed to hype the public. It is very important especially that they gained a 500,000 reach during the Online Expo. I could have given a higher point in the difficulty part if they were able to request the participants to set the logo of their SK councils as their profile picture in Zoom.

In terms of dress and physical presentation, I like the polo choice of John Carlo Borja it matched with the gray pantone of Alfred. But I could have given a higher score if the two wore their PYDN jackets or a pantone that is brighter like blue or green, just to emphasize the celebratory feels of the activity. I like how John Carlo as the host, connect with the message of Alfred. I love the message of “kung lahat tayo ay magaling, panalo ang Kabataan, panalo ang bansa”. This I think summed up the core message of this Search.

Lastly, it is wise that Jefferson Hilario was assigned as technical director of the program. I sensed the confidence and the trust between John Carlo and Jefferson.

For the scores:

Execution (Max of 5 pts.)	3.70
Difficulty (Max of 5 pts)	3.75
Content (Max of 5 pts.)	4.10
Total	11.55

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2nd National Search for Outstanding SK Awards Grand finalists to be announced today

According to a reliable source from The Positive Youth Development Network (PYDN), the names of the National Grand Finalists will be released today.  From over 70 SK council aspirants, the judges picked a handful of finalists who exemplified the spirit of #BagongSK.

Grand Finalists according to SK Councils:

1. SK San Mateo (Dasamarinas, Cavite)
2. SK Sapao (Dumangas, Iloilo)
3. SK Villa Gonzaga (Santiago City Isabela)
4. SK Balabag (Pavia, Iloilo)
5. SK Visayan Village (Tagum City, Davao Del Norte)
6. SK Cabantian (Davao City, Davao Del Sur)
7. SK Payatas (Quezon City, Metro Manila)
8. SK Dila (Bay, Laguna)
9. SK Gilas San Nicolas 1 (Magalang Pampanga)
10. SK Badas (Mati City, Davao Oriental)
11. SK Calao West (Santiago City, Isabela)
12. SK District 3 (Tumauini, Isabela)
13. SK Ilocanos Sur (San Fernando City, La Union)
14. SK Gilas San Nicolas 1 (Magalang, Pampanga)

Congratulations!

You can access their full project description here: https://www.facebook.com/PYDNOfficial

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Youth Forward is PYDN’s new contender?

Earlier I went to Mandaluyong City to observe for eight hours how the Youth Engagement Team prepare for the Youth Forward Launch in Dagupan set on August 11-13, 2021. The day started with the team lead, Jeannie Anne Maguad RMT or popularly known as the “Iron Lady” of youth programming in the Philippines, facilitating the online meeting. She was supported by Engr. Nico Chiong doing the operations briefing. (They failed to print the technical script though). 😊

By the looks of it, they were planning to have activities like: (a) Points of Me, (b) Happiness Journey, a form of mental health support for SK leaders in Dagupan, (c) Focused-group discussions, (d) creation of a formal document to set the youth program agenda, and my favorite part (e) a dinner party – this I admit, I will be watching closely because of the pandemic restrictions.

As a reviewer of youth programs and activities, I can sense the difficulty and the challenge especially on how to maintain the minimum acceptable standard of protection from COVID-19. I am happy that despite the risks, they were able to plan out some controls like:

1. Prior testing before going to Dagupan
2. Testing in Dagupan
3. Double masks and face shields
4. Vitamin boosters for facilitators
5. Disinfectants
6. Full vaccination

This is something that excites me because a lot of youth programs now are being delivered online. I believe that Youth Forward is making a great leap of faith just to deliver something of value. The risks will always be there but I’m sure the benefits outweigh the cons.

There is also a promise if this activity succeeds. This could raise the bar and set standards especially on how NGOs implement their youth programs during pandemic. The virus will always be there, who knows for how long, but youth programs, will be measured by their courage and tenacity to push for something that could make the country better and stronger amidst the limitations.

By the way, I reviewed their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/youthforwardph. The about page says: Youth Forward PH champions responsive youth engagement through a series of targeted face-to-face activity designed for youth leaders that will provide a better understanding on the evolving needs of the youth.

One thought though, the pictures or images used lack diversity or adequate representation. I’m confident they could include this in their future materials because representation is key in moving forward.  

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Mutya PH reviews events and programs about the youth in the Philippines with the goal of holding them accountable to their mission and promises.

Cuyos bares new ‘Youth Hour’ expectations

Immediate-past President of Ideas Positive Alumni Community, Jerome Cuyos, CPA expects more new youth organizations to join Youth Hour 2022 launch on August 12, 2021. According to the youth leader, it is time for Positive Youth Development Network (PYDN) to show its might by attracting more youth organizations to the fold towards its mission of building a better Philippines.

Cuyos, during his term as President expanded IPAC’s base of network support to unimaginable level over his five-year stint. He learned that real change should stir conversation not only within existing and familiar youth organizations but must and should expand and include those in far-flung communities, where change matters most.

Recently, The Mutya PH, reviewer of youth engagement programs and events rated Youth Hour launch yesterday 8.30 out of 15.0.

Youth Hour is akin to Earth Hour of the Philippines first launched on 2020 in Iloilo City.

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PYDN records 8.30 points for Youth Hour Opening – The Mutya

The Positive Youth Development Network Inc, the pioneering youth engagement NGO in the Philippines conducts its Youth Hour opening program via Zoom earlier. This is the second time the organization will be celebrating the International Youth Day with its banner campaign dubbed as Youth Hour through online platform because of the pandemic.

I scored the program using my rubrics developed from almost a decade of conducting and designing activities for the youth. Three areas were given attention: Execution, Difficulty, and Content. Each area has a maximum score of 5 points with a grand total of 15 points.

In terms of execution, PYDN’s Executive Director, Alfred O. Dicto is well-known for his inspiring speeches that alone is an expected advantage for PYDN. They also utilized games in the beginning to break the ice, (surely young people love this!), and I love how the organizers interacted with the audience in the chat box. Though the Committee has decided to give some deductions because of some technical glitch, they also failed to wear their Youth Hour Uniform (by the way they did this last time), and some background noise was heard amounting to a total deduction score of 1.2.

In terms of Difficulty, it is so refreshing to see new faces as event hosts, I like that. The use of mentimeter is also a plus point as a tool to assess audience thoughts and insights. I like how they solicited the idea of a better Philippines utilizing the said application. I understand that it was difficult to maintain a stable internet connection, but I am still giving the organization half a point deduction for that (just to be fair with other events I reviewed). I could have given a higher score if they were able to create a new video or a presentation of sorts, or a background music in that effect, or a longer campaign period in their social media accounts. But we are in the middle of the pandemic, we can give it to PYDN. Still a good difficulty score of 1.5 points.

Lastly, in terms of Content, this is the strength of PYDN, I gave a score of 4 points because of the presentation of different programs, (more programs for the youth) the manner they were presented, and the best part I believe was the closing remarks of John Carlo Borja. I must admit, it was phenomenal, the tone is hopeful enough, the tempo/speed was a big WOW, and the bullet points were sharp enough to pierce an iron curtain. No deductions were given.

In total, PYDN’s score for the opening of the Youth Hour 2021 is 8.3 out of 15.0 points. This is above average. I am hopeful they can improve on their execution and difficulty areas on their next activities. Last year, they had 10.0 during the actual Grand launch of youth hour 2020.

I will be reviewing next the Youth Forward in Dagupan.

Till’ next time!