Communities all over the Philippines will be empowered by youth-led solutions.
With the aim of empowering the youth to be leaders for healthier communities, Ideas Positive is kicking off 2019 with forty-two young people who are eager to implement their positive ideas.
Ideas Positive (IP), Unilab Foundation’s youth engagement program, opened its ninth run with the question “Advanced ka bang mag-isip?” Solutions, ideas, and hugot-driven passions were abundant when the program called out for innovative ideas from youth age 18 to 30 years old in November 2018. Finally, after a rigorous screening process, fourteen teams, each composed of three youth leaders, were selected to proceed to the next stage of the program as they build healthier communities.
Meet the Ideas Positive Run 9 Finalist Teams
These youth teams from all over the Philippines will have the chance to implement their community projects from February to August 2019. Read on to learn more about what projects to watch out for next year!
The “Go Bike Project” is proposed by a team from Pangasinan. Their aim is to improve the emergency response in Bugallon, Pangasinan, by means of a customized bicycle equipped with first aid kits and medicine.
Team Pablo of Tuguegarao came up with “Project Highway”. Their focus is on reducing the number of road accidents in Tuguegarao City, by establishing helmet stations, regular programs for drivers and school-based road safety campaigns.
“Project EnginHEAR: A Mental Health Advocacy Project” is proposed by a team from Bulacan. This project applies a holistic approach in addressing the mental health issues of engineering students from Bulacan State University.
Team K4Health (Kabataan Kabalikat ng Komunidad Para sa Kalusugan), from Oriental Mindoro, proposes Project “K4baras (Kalinga, Karunungan, Kalinisan, at Kaligtasan Para sa Baras, Baco”. This project is a response to the inaccessibility of health care in Brgy. Baras, a far-flung community in Oriental Mindoro by establishing a local health facility that will cater to tuberculosis (TB DOTS) patients.
TRIBE Pilipinas Initiative is a project proposed by Team Boholano Youth Ambassadors T.R.I.B.E. Builders. This project is a municipal-wide attempt to decrease the cases of tuberculosis by promoting awareness and breaking the stigma against TB patients, starting from Talibon, Bohol.
“Operation LuBAG (Luminate a Bag of Hope)”, proposed by a team from Capiz, aims to debunk a century old notion of “aswang” in Capiz. This is a three-fold project that addresses the needs of X-linked dystonia parkinsonism (XDP) patients, and promote awareness and understanding among family members and the community.
Team AltaPEERsyon of Capiz proposes “Project HYPERsherman”. They are focusing on addressing the high cases of hypertension among fishermen in Barangay Lonoy, Capiz.
Team Sungkip of Southern Leyte proposes the “Project iLimpYou”. This aims to introduce proper use of latrines and improve the hygiene and sanitation of the Mamanwa tribe from San Francisco, Southern Leyte.
Team KKK of Tawi-Tawi proposes “Kahapan Baran Project (Malinis na Pangangatawan). This aims to reduce the cases of malnutrition, promote proper hygiene and sanitation in a Badjao Village in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, through proper solid waste management.
Team BYLF Tandubas of Tawi-Tawi proposes the project “Boheh Ma Paropdop”. It is focused on decreasing the high cases of water-borne diseases by creating a pipeline system that supplies potable water to Paropdop Island in Tawi-Tawi city.
“Kabanatan (Resilience): Youth for Community Care”, proposed by a team from Maguindanao, aims to address the mental health needs of orphans studying in Maguindanao Elementary School by equipping the teachers with psychosocial response skills.
Team MagandaNOW proposes project “Kadtiwalay: Envisioning an Empowered and Holistic Family Living”. This is a reproductive health and contraceptive use awareness campaign focusing on the male population from Datu Blah Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
Team OneBangsa of Basilan proposes project “Plastic for Paper-Pencil and Health Information and Education Campaign”. This aims to promote health and solid waste management by creating a system which enables residents to exchange plastic trash with school supplies.
Project Green Rubber ShoeBox for children, proposed by a team from Davao, aims to maximize the potential of Persons with Disability by capacitating them to create slippers out of rubber tires.
Next steps
Before the teams implement their projects, they will undergo an intensive three-day Boot Camp this February. Here the teams will come together to be inspired, and to learn the basics of project management. The Boot Camp will include a series of leadership enhancement sessions, team-building activities, and inspirational talks from renowned individuals in the mentioned fields.
At the end of the Boot Camp, participating teams are expected to possess the skills, motivation, and inspiration to confidently implement their projects in their chosen communities.
Through community visits, Ideas Positive will confirm and assess the impact of the teams’ projects. After a six-month implementation period, the teams will present their project outcomes at the Grand Finals during the Ideas Positive Youth Forum on Public Health (IPYFPH).
A tradition of positive ideas
The previous run saw 16 impactful youth-led solutions being implemented all over the country. This year, a new set of youth will emerge as leaders for healthier communities.
Unilab Foundation believes that the youth are key to building healthier communities, by creating local health solutions that have global impact. Through Ideas Positive, youth teams are given the knowledge, tools and resources to create innovative solutions for public health issues.
To date, Ideas Positive has engaged over 50,000 youth, helping them transform more than 200 communities, and touching the lives of more than 2.2 million Filipinos nationwide.
Ideas Positive Run 9 is endorsed by the National Youth Commission and Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and is supported by UNICEF and the Ideas Positive Alumni Community (IPAC).
To learn more about Ideas Positive, you may visit www.ideaspositive.org