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    • 11th EDSOR Youth Peace Conference: A Reflection

      By Maxine G. Garingan, III-A |

      I feel privileged to have been chosen to take part in the 11th EDSOR Youth Peace Conference entitled “Bayanihan sa Bayan ni Juan: Bayang may Integridad, Handa sa Pagbabago” focusing on the value of Integrity, last January 21-22, 2011 held at my own school, Saint Pedro Poveda College. During registration, as I looked at the schedule behind my ID, I saw that registration was at 7:30 am. Prior to the program itself, I already observed how well thought-out all the plans were laid out.  The students came as scheduled, most especially the ICAns & Povedans. Therefore, the opening ceremony started on time.

      The introductions, led by our entertaining emcees, the assembly line of flags from the 4 EDSOR schools & the prayer interpreted by ballerina, Misha Bernas, were indeed very awe-inspiring.  As I witnessed the grand opening, I became more grateful for being chosen as one of the student delegates representing my school.  Hearing highly respected school officials, like Dr. Emma T. Melgarejo (President of St. Pedro Poveda College) and Mr. Ramelle Javier (Grade School Principal of La Salle Green Hills), speak about the origin and inspiration which made this annual event possible, brought me to a deeper understanding of my purpose to spread peace as part of the youth.  The inspirational talk Atty. Alex Lacson gave opened our eyes to the little things that matter and make a difference in the development of our country.
       
      “Hamon kay Juan” was the first activity held on the first day.  From my observation, I personally believe that the set of challenges we faced brought out the best in everyone in the barangay.  Pressed for time as it was a race, my teammates and I still managed to be patient towards one another, while performing our best all throughout the period of accomplishing our tasks.  I was pleased to see that regardless of school, gender or age, we were able to achieve our main goal because of that singular purpose.  After “Hamon kay Juan,” our teachers gave us enough time to reflect with one another.  Everyone from the group was able to share his/her own insights. One of my teammates, Arrielle from ICA, mentioned that it was important for one to step out of his/her comfort zone in order to reach out to others in need. She also put emphasis on the value of sensitivity. She shared, “You have to be sensitive towards others as this is the only way for them to be heard.”  Meanwhile, Gian from Xavier pointed out the significance of service.  As one team, we were able to summarize all that we learned in one sentence:  “With leadership comes service.”   Soon after, the “Panatang Kabataan” was created as our pledge to uphold value of Integrity.  During the activity “Nagkakaisang Himig ni Juan,” we were each given different instruments and were expected to create a melody instantly. Realizing we were 200 student delegates present, I almost thought it was impossible. But with patience I learned “where there is chaos, there is peace.”  For this to happen, each of us had to be sensitive enough towards the sounds we heard in order to blend with the entire melody.
       
      “Dalumatan Para kay Juan” was the first activity on the second day. For this activity, speakers from different fields were invited to talk about how they applied integrity in their everyday lives.  Respected personalities and alumni of the EDSOR schools who have shown integrity in their respective fields were invited to share their journey and vision – Ms. Karen Davila (media), Chief Justice Reynato Puno (govt.), Pepe Diokno (youth/film), and Mr. Illac Diaz (business).  My team was fortunate to listen to a very successful businessman, Mr. Illac Diaz.  We were informed about the fact that our country receives the highest rate of donations and yet ironically, on-going poverty in the Philippines has already reached an alarming rate.  Mr. Illac Diaz brought us to the realization that donating should not come all at once or through a crash-burn system. Instead, we should be able to find ways to help people constantly and, at the same time, have our beneficiary able to run independently in the long term.  He also emphasized on having the courage to explore the unexplored. He said, “One day your crazy ideas might be the one that changes the world.” Based on his own experience, one out of his 5 crazy ideas worked. The perseverance he maintained all throughout, even in the midst of failure, was what inspired me the most. Lastly, Mr. Illac Diaz shared with us an adage coming from a man he worked for in his first job. This man is currently the 44th President of the United States of America. Mr. Barack Obama once told him, “If one person believes in you, it is possible for another person to believe in you. If 2 people believe in you, then it is possible for a whole crowd to believe in you. If a whole crowd believes in you, then it is possible for a whole community to believe in you, then possibly the entire country and eventually the whole world.”
       

      The second activity on the second day was the “Campaigns of the Four EDSOR Schools” spearheaded by the student councils of each school.  This made us all recognize the power of the youth to slowly bring positive change to this country. The third activity on the second day was “Tugon ni Juan sa Tawag ng Bayan (Production)” which made me believe in the creative potential of every individual. We ended the conference with a Mass which gave us the guidance we needed in accomplishing the main objective of the 11th EDSOR Peace Conference, which was to revive the hope of change for this country.

       

      To whoever may be reading this right now, I suppose that you can see how much of a success this event has been for others, especially for me. I pray that the following batches of student delegates go beyond what is expected of them. Instead of EDSOR only touching their lives, hopefully they will be moved to touch the lives of others, as well. To sum up everything I learned in those 2 unforgettable days, I can say that now I believe it is possible to be the change you want to see in the world. Although more often than not, many of us forget that one cannot create peace in this country in a span of a day. Creating peace takes more than one person alone; peace is an understanding of a whole nation. Creating peace takes more than just a short-term spark of revolution; peace is continuous. Lastly, to create peace does not mean having conflicting values. Instead, peace leads to one sole purpose; to simply be stewards of God’s creation. As a part of the youth, the future of this country is in our hands. I left the auditorium leaving only memoirs but taking with me a mission. This mission is to spread PEACE among my countrymen starting with my little acts of integrity.

       



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