Last November 20, the Local Kapintig Learning Network-Empowerment of Youth and Children Cluster (LKLN-EYC) organized its first face-to-face gathering for the alumni of its Exposure Study Program (ESP) since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Gathering was held in the St. Camillus Center for Humanization in Health in Quezon, City Philippines. A total of 27 youth coming from ESP batches 2015 to 2023 and from different partner organizations in Luzon and Visayas have participated in the said event.
LKLN-EYC is a network that consists of several organizations in the Philippines with different advocacies. Under this network is the Exposure Study Program (ESP) where selected youth leaders of each partner organization are gathered to undergo a 2-week immersion in rural and urban areas, do some knowledge and best practices sharing, group reflections and create action plans which they are expected to bring and implement in their organization and community. The program aims to develop future servant leaders and young pastoral development workers who will continue the works and advocacies of each organization.
The program also provides continued learning education to its alumni to keep them updated and active on the different pressing issues in the society particularly in the Philippines. Every year, graduates of the program are gathering to have annual action planning, sharing and discussions on different relevant topics such as human rights, social media literacy, children’s right, climate justice and etc. And for this year, the focused of the discussion was about Synodality and Integral Ecology.
The Alumni Gathering was facilitated by Jebson Longa and Helen Grace Udtuhan, alumni of the LKLN-ESP who participated in the recently held Asian Youth Academy-Asia Theology Forum (AYA-ATF) program of Asian Lay Leaders Forum (ALL Forum) in Bali, Indonesia last August. The topic of the discussion in the program was also designed as a follow-up activity of the AYA-ATF with the objective of sharing their learnings from the program with the other alumni.
A group dynamic, group sharing and reflections were done before proceeding to the main discussion wherein the alumni shared their experiences and learnings during their participation in the program. And since this is the first face-to-face gathering for the ESP youth since the pandemic, the alumni were also given time to reflect on the different events and challenges that they have faced as youth leaders during the pandemic period.
After all the group dynamics, Ms. Felicia Dian Ravenska Parera, Program Coordinator of the Asian Lay Leaders Forum (ALL), through a pre-recorded presentation, shared about Synodality and Ecological Crisis. In her presentation, she explained what a Synodality is and why it is relevant to understand it when talking and dealing about social justice issues, particularly on climate justice. In addition, she also briefly shared some parts of the Querida Amazonia and Laudato Si in order to give the participants an introduction and better understanding of Synodality and Integral Ecology before moving on to the main discussion.
Following this presentation, was the sharing about Integral Ecology with a title “Towards an Integral Ecology: The Children and Youth Leadership in Caring for our Common Home” which was facilitated by Jebson and Helen. The presentation has 4 main key points: 1. What is happening now to the world?; 2. What has been done by the global leaders?; 3. What has been done by the church; and 4. What can young leaders do in combating climate change?
A workshop on news reporting about the environment or what we called “Balitang Kalikasan” was conducted at the beginning of the sharing. Wherein, the participants were divided into five groups and were asked to search for local, national and international news about the environment. The workshop aims to determine the level of awareness of the participants in the current global climate crisis.
This workshop was followed by the input sharing about the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and the Conference of the Parties (COP 27 and the COP28) where they also tried to explain the pros and cons of these international treaties set by the global leaders.
Following this topic was the discussion on Laudato Si, with the focus on the concept of Integral Ecology. This part of the sharing not only emphasized the importance of looking at the interconnectedness of all the social and ecological issues but also encouraged the alumni to rethink their lifestyle and view towards other creatures and encouraged them to take actions now.
Also, during the discussion, the participants were also given the freedom to share their insights and reflections on climate crisis and integral ecology. One of the most striking reflections shared was from Br. Niño Navarez Rosal, OFM, one of the Alumni of the Exposure Study Program from batch 2017. He mentioned that “A crucial step in improving our environment is to challenge the view that humans are the only significant creatures on the face of the earth. We need to embrace a new perspective that takes into account everyone’s equality. Our purpose in existence is to defend other creations. The time for change is now! We need to move quickly because every second matters. The knowledge that we obtained shouldn’t stop in our heads and hearts; instead, it should inspire us to take real, actionable steps. No matter how massive or tiny by any means every action matters, and your intentions are important.”
This reflection of him reminds us of our role as human and a call to regain our sense of shared humanity and care for our common home. And most importantly, it reminds us to take this matter seriously and create immediate actions.
And then, after this sharing, the alumni were divided again into groups per organizations and were asked to create their plan of action and commitment. And finally, the program was ended, leaving them with a question of “What can we do as young leaders?”, not to challenge them but to let them reflect and rethink of their next steps to make this world a better place for the current generation and the generations to come.