Project Philippines 2010

When: August 18, 2010 – September 4, 2010

Location: Cebu City, Philippines

Executive Summary

One of the biggest problem currently facing Cebu, Philippines is the lack of waste management system. Cebu has neither an efficient trash collecting system nor a trash separation system. The lack of sanitation has detrimental effects on health, causing a high prevalence rate of gastrointestinal worms, dengue fever, and diarrheal diseases in many barangays.

By working with high school students from the University of the Philippines High School Cebu and Cebu City National Science High School, Project Philippines 2010 strives to improve solid waste sanitation through a community beautification campaign in Barangay Pasil, specifically developing a sanitation education program and implementing a trash collecting system. By bringing college, local high school students, and local NGOs together to tackle sanitation, we hope to improve the standard of living in Barangay Pasil and cultivate the future service leaders of the Philippines.

Community Challenge

Each year contaminated water and poor sanitation contribute toward the 5.4 billion cases of diarrhea worldwide per year and the 1.6 million deaths, mostly among children under the age of five. Gastrointestinal (GI) worms, which thrive in poor sanitary conditions and in the poorest communities of the developing world, have infected 2 billion people and, depending upon the severity of the infection, may lead to malnutrition, anemia or retarded growth, and subsequently diminished school performance.

PP07, PP08, and PP09 have all tackled the ~70% prevalence rate of GI worms at the Alaska elementary school in Cebu. According to the World Health Organization, Philippines’ health risks problem is directly tied to environment conditions, such as air pollution, water pollution, poor sanitation and unhygienic practices. In fact, these problems cause an estimated 22% of reported disease cases and nearly 6% of reported deaths, and costing Php 14.3 billion (US$ 287 million) per year in lost income and medical expenses. By focusing on poor sanitation and lack of knowledge about disease transmission for PP10, we will tackle the root cause of GI worms and other diseases such as diarrhea and dengue fever.

Objectives

Sustainability: To continue the fourth year of collaboration with UP Cebu High School students and encourage them to be a model for service leadership clubs at other high schools.

Expansion: To expand the community service initiative to CCNSHS and create a SEALNet Club, similar to that at UP Cebu High School. By having the UP Cebu HS students work with and run a mini leadership workshop, we hope that they will inspire the HS students at CCNSHS to start their own SEALNet Club.

Community Beautification Campaign:

  1. To develop a sanitation education campaign to educate Barangay Pasil about the root causes of how disease spread and importance of solid waste management.
  2. To create outreach materials (coloring book, comic book, pamphlets, etc) for the sanitation education campaign.
  3. To implement a trash collecting system in Pasil Elementary School.

Approaches

1. Leadership Workshop

Similar to several previous SEALNet projects, PP10 will run a leadership workshop with a group of 40 high school students from UP Cebu HS and CCNSHS.

  • The 10-12 day leadership workshop will be designed by the SEALNet team members, drawing on materials from past SEALNet leadership workshops.
  • The aim for leadership workshop is to improve the high school student’s communication skills, team-building, presentation skills, and taking initiative skills.
  • The workshops will equip high school students with the skills necessary for the sanitation education workshops.

2. Creating SEALNet Network between 3 schools

Using the SEALNet Club at UP Cebu HS as a model to inspire other students, we hope to:

a) Create SEALNet Club at CCNSHS

  • The experienced UP Cebu HS students will run leadership workshop activities for the high school students at CCNSHS who are interested in joining SEALNet.
  • The UP Cebu HS students will hopefully advise and inspire the students at CCNSHS to pioneer the community beautification campaign in the long run.

b) Create SEALNet Club at Pasil Elementary School

  • In order to make the trash collecting system sustainable at the elementary school, we hope to Student Government at Pasil Elementary School.

3. Sanitation Education Campaign at Barangay Pasil

  • The SEALNet mentors will help UP Cebu HS and CCNSHS students to create sanitation presentations that targets 5-6th graders at Pasil Elementary School.
  • The sanitation presentations will focus on the relationship between sanitation and health, specifically highlighting the importance of solid waste management.

4. Trash Collecting System

  • SEALNet mentors facilitate the creation of the simple trash collecting system with the UP Cebu HS and CCNSHS students.

Local Partners

  • Cebu City National Science High School (CCNSHS)

CCNSHS is a competitive high school committed to teaching math and science.

  • Feed the Children Philippines (FTCP)

FTCP started in 1984 and was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1989, accredited as an NGO and licensed to operate by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) since 1991 till the present. The vision of FTCP is “A future where Filipino children live healthy, safe, happy, and meaningful lives” and it is committed to “The survival, development, protection, and participation of children in partnership with their families & communities.”

  • Pasil Elementary School

Timeline

Week 1: Leadership workshop with the UP Cebu High School students in the SEALNet Club

Week 2: UP Cebu High School students run a one to three day leadership workshop for the students at CCNSHS, including how to start a SEALNet Club. UP HS and CCNSHS students will then develop the sanitation education presentations for the elementary students together.

Week 2.5: UP Cebu High School students + CCNSHS students teach elementary school students about the connection between sanitation and health and implement the trash collecting system.

After the program: UP Cebu High School students + CCNSHS students continue to work with Feed the Children and the elementary school to maintain the trash collecting system. We would also encourage them to continue their work by doing more activities and expanding to other areas

Team Member Responsibilities

Empowerment

  • Create service leadership/youth empowerment workshops for high school mentees
  • Develop a close relationship with high school mentees
  • Encourage collaboration between two high schools

Education

  • Develop sanitation outreach materials for parents and elementary school students (comic book, coloring book, videos, etc.)
  • Create outreach materials for creating a SEALNet Club at CCNSHS

Action

  • Devise a sustainable trash collecting system in Pasil Elementary School

Skills Required

  • Experience or a strong interest in environmental health, leadership education, and/or media arts
  • Previous work/volunteer experience with NGOs or community service groups
  • Demonstrated ability to work in teams
  • Excellent communication and organizational skills
  • Openness in a new culture (especially in areas with limited resources) and interest in the Philippines
  • Passion for mentoring youth
  • Commitment to long term sustainable solutions

Notes

Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwEjV7JDXjg to see the amazing the lifelong memories and friends we made during PP09! (Note that PP10 has a different focus, and is expanding to work with other other NGOs, communities, and high schools as well.)

Questions, comments, suggestions? We’d love to hear them! We welcome your ideas to make this the best project possible, or if you are confused about anything, shoot us an email!

Project Leaders:

  • Kelly Huang yanhuang ‘at’ mit.edu
  • Diana Wang ywang ‘at’ wellesley.edu

Core Team members:

  • Francis Plaza efcplaza ‘at’ mit.edu
  • Davina Huang lhuang2 ‘at’ wellesley.edu
  • Elle Wibisono awibison ‘at’ wellesley.edu