Puerto Princesa City, Palawan— Community Volunteers of DSWD Kalahi CIDSS MIMAROPA from the Palawan cluster gathered in Puerto Princesa City last August 29-31, 2017 for the 2017 Kalahi CIDSS Community Volunteers’ Congress. The event with the theme, “Kaagapay ng Komunidad sa Kaularan: Hamon sa mga Bagong Bayani” provided an avenue for the volunteers to have peer-to-peer exchange of knowledge with the other community volunteers from other municipalities in Palawan as well as deepen the volunteers’ understanding of CDd.

“Marami akong nakuhang kaalaman sa tatlong araw na pakikisalamuha ko sa ibang mga volunteer.” Said Mr. Sawid from the municipality of Balabac. It also strengthened the camaraderie among the volunteers as they share their experiences and challenges volunteering for Kalahi CIDSS. “Meron na akong mga bagong kaibigan na mapag tatanungan ko ng mga strategy sa implementation.” Said Mr. Rainer from the municipality of Narra.

More so, the Community Volunteers were enlightened on the track they should follow as they see the current program status of Kalahi CIDSS in Palawan as well as the volunteers’ directions for the next years before the program ended. Sub-Regional Program Coordinator Claire Panganiban presented the current program status of Kalahi in Palawan and she emphasized the importance of the community volunteers’ active participation towards the achievement of the Key Performance Indicators of the program. “ Kayo pong mga volunteers ang dahilan ng patuloy nap ag yabong ng programa, kayo po ang nagbibigay lakas sa programa kaya kailangan ang aktibo ninyong partisipasyon upang ma-empower pa ang ibang mga miyembro ng inyo pong mga pamayanan.” Said SRPC Panganiban in her presentation speech. It was also enlightening to the volunteers to learn from their co-volunteer from Mindoro, Mr. Jordan Fajardo. Mr. Fajardo shared techniques on how the volunteers can entice the community to continue supporting the Kalahi CIDS program. He mentioned in his talk that it is important to show the volunteers and the community the value of what they are doing “ Ipakita nyo sakanila na may ginagawa silang bagay na mas Malaki sakanila at makakatulong sa pamayanan sa pang matagalan.” Said Fajardo. He also shared how he managed the O and M group of their sub-project which later turned into a cooperative that sells banana chips. According to Fajardo, it is important that the O and M group find meaning in what they do and one way is through income generation. Fajardo mentioned, “Yung O and M group naming ngayon, marami na ang sumasali dahil kumikita na sila nakakatulong pa sila na panatilihin yung proyekto sa pagbibigay ng kita ng grupo sap ag maintain ng project.”

The Community Volunteers were also shone the spotlight to highlight their talents and skills by participating in the different contests such as art/poster making, poetry writing, essay writing, song writing, and extemporaneous speaking, and cultural presentation. Consequently, to pledge their unselfish service to their community, the community volunteers gathered in a circle, held a lit candle and recited the oath of Community Volunteers—Panata ng Lider Kalahi CIDSS.

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