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UNITED NATIONS – Lara Villanueva, a soft-spoken 17-year old barrio lass from the sleepy town of Bacacay in Albay, Philippines still can’t believe her luck.
On Wednesday, August 13, she received her Youth Achievement Award at the United Nations for her humanitarian efforts working with Children International in her hometown.
Villanueva, now a freshman nursing student at Bicol University, is one of 12 youth leaders honored by the UN/Youth Assembly this year. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she’d be flying thousands of miles away to New York just to receive the award.
In between sobs, Villanueva said that coming from a middle-class family in the Philippines did not deter her to dream big. In fact, she overcame poverty’s hurdles and developed environmental projects in her area.
“Hindi pa din ako makapaniwala. This is more than a privilege for me and I thank God for this wonderful opportunity. Up to now, I still could not believe that I am here,” Villanueva told the Asian Journal during an interview at the UN cafeteria while she was waiting for more official events.
Villanueva went through a rigorous selection process and she felt that her competitors were all equally qualified and deserving that’s why she was quite surprised yet relieved when she found out that she won.
The award means so much to her and she is thankful that her entire family is supportive to her causes. Villanueva’s father is a farmer and her mother is a teacher and while they may not be earning much, they are able to provide for her and her siblings.
“I will never forget this experience habang ako ay nabubuhay. The award gave me more confidence in dealing with my peers, the community and the government officials,” she added.
Despite the struggles, she succeeded in trying to balance her studies and her humanitarian work.
For the last couple of years, their local organization has received grants but instead of using the funds that would benefit them, they decided to use them for their projects.
“Lara could have used the grant as scholarships for them or for projects that will benefit them but they chose to develop projects for their community. The region where Lara is from is typhoon-prone and during the last few typhoons, their neighborhoods’ coastal areas were inundated with garbage when it flooded. Now the youth group is educating the community about how to take care of the environment,” Eleanor Pena, Children International’s regional program coordinator in the Philippines.
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