The Ateneo de Naga University hosted the local immersion component of the Asia Pacific Youth Exchange (APYE) in Naga City, Philippines on 11 – 16 January 2019.

Earlier, on 8 – 10 January, the APYE delegates went through a leadership development training first to gain the necessary knowledge and tools useful for creating community-based sustainable development projects.

In Naga City, twenty-nine (29) students from nine countries stayed at Maogma Village (Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity) for two days to gain first-hand experience of the life in the community, and identify opportunities for improvement of existing solutions to contextual challenges.

After the community immersion, small groups, each responding to a particular Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), proposed development projects which would be presented to Maogma Village and then refined in further sessions in Manila. The chosen proposal shall be supported for implementation.

The APYE is a program of South Korea’s Hanyang University and Urban Youth Academy. It is a capacity-building program aimed at empowering the youth to drive the United Nation’s SGD into action through experiential learning platforms.

Naga City is only one of the four immersion sites of the APYE. The other delegates were assigned in the provinces of Bulacan, Quezon and San Fernando. A similar program also simultaneously runs in Thailand.

In 2017, ADNU served as partner and host to a similar program, the Social Venture Youth Exchange. Winning a financial grant in that program was Kainna, a food service run by Hanyang University and ADNU students at the school canteen. Since June 2018, Kainna has provided employment and training to mothers residing at Maogma Village.

Written by: Rodolfo SB. Virtus Jr.
Photos by: Allan Michael B. Balderas