| Article Index |
|---|
| Young Pinay Wins Gold at the United Nations for Her Green Projects |
| Page 2 |
| All Pages |
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.
Through their youth empowerment fund, they developed Green Patrol, where they would invite speakers from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to talk about global warming, climate change and other pressing issues.
It was because of this green initiative why she won the UN gold.
“This trip changed my life for the better. When I go back to the Philippines, I will share everything that I learned including the best practices of the other countries and I will make sure that our projects there continue,” Villanueva said.
Children International
She also credited Children International’s youth leadership training for her success, “I realized that I can also do things that I thought only boys should be doing. In our culture, boys are considered as the stronger sex but I learned that I can also perform lead roles either in my family or community.”
Jim Cook, Children International President and CEO said, “I am proud of our youth. They worked very hard to make a difference in their communities, and they richly deserve this special recognition.”
Children International nominated Villanueva and Jiyaul Piyada from India for their significant efforts in leading campaigns in their respective hometowns to either reforest or clean up their communities.
Established in 1936, Children International is a nonprofit organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International’s programs benefit over 300,000 poor children and their families in 11 countries around the world, including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Zambia and the United States.
In the Philippines, Children International has offices in Manila, Quezon City, Legazpi City and Tabaco, Albay, where Villanueva is from.
The annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations, now in its fifth year, is a gathering of hundreds of young people from around the world who seek practical ways to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Assembly has grown to include nearly 1,000 young people, as well as specialized keynote speakers and workshop leaders.
Each year, it provides avenues for students and young professionals, 18-26 years old, to learn about and become involved with programs that address global and local issues related to the MDGs, network among the large international delegation in attendance, and become engaged and empowered to take leadership roles in their home communities throughout the world.
(Published August 16, 2008 p.A7 LAWKND)
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
| Comments |
|
|
|||||||||||
galing mo kabayan keep it up3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
