Today’s youths, the so called Edsa babies belong to the generation of Filipinos who were either born, grew up or came of age during and between the two Edsa people power uprisings. Born into freedom, Edsa babies are often described as techno and social media savvy; they are multitaskers but have a tendency to be detached to social issues. But when they are driven with a sense of social mission, they are movers and shakers that played pivotal roles in both Edsa Dos and the people’s campaign that installed P-Noy to the presidency.

As a productive workforce, Edsa babies have powered the global success country’s BPO industry and continue to infuse young blood into the ranks of OFWs – the new heroes of the Philippine economy. As change agents, they are at the forefront of innovative and diverse programs benefitting underprivileged Filipinos and facilitating much needed institutional reforms.

Aware of the youth’s historical role in social transformation, YesPinoy has anchored its programs in channeling Edsa babies’ commitment, creativity and power in carrying forward these flagship programs:

1. Para Paaralan: Going the distance in providing Better Access to Education

Para Paaralan is a roving bus caravan equipped with 28 units of networked computer tablets with wireless internet connection, DVD-CD writers, printers, multi-media equipment and sound system, and serves as a classroom where marginalized youths learn specially-designed alternative education modules through the medium of digital technologies and performing/visual arts.

Para Paaralan is more than just a roving bus but YPF’s main vehicle in reaching the marginalized youths and strengthening learning communities that will sustain local initiatives in bridging education resource gaps. Through Para Paaralan, YPF goes the distance in providing better access to education to marginalized Edsa babies.

In the main, Para Paaralan seeks to attain two objectives:

A. Strengthen Learning Communities

YPF strategy in strengthening the learning community is anchored on Para Paaralan’s innovative module. In contrast to existing alternative learning programs and mobile ICT seminars, Para Paaralan three-day core module revolves around the following subjects, namely:

The target audience of Para Paaralan’s core module consists of the following:

The Para Paaralan core module is customized according to the nature, conditions, needs, issues and challenges faced by its target audience. There is a Para Paaralan for youths, Para Paaralan for teachers and Para Paaralan for parents.

B. Bridge Resource Gaps in the Public School

Para Paaralan is also a high profile campaign to bridge identified education resource gaps in the town, city, district or province where it is rolled out. Towards this end, it carries out the following key tasks:

• Identify and link up with stakeholders inside and outside the target community.
• Determinespecific resource gaps and their corresponding key result areas (KRAs).
• Stage a high-profile event to solicit pledges from or build partnerships with stakeholders to address specific resource gaps.
• In partnership with partners in leading academic institutions, YPF will develop and provide the tools for measuring and monitoring KRAs to the community. The guiding principles behind these tools are plain and simple: user-friendly, easily accessible, scientific and verifiable.

2. Scholarships

While continuing its pledge to provide full college scholarship programs to sons and daughters of fallen Marine soldiers, YPF has broadened the reach of its scholarship program to include marginalized but deserving youths from poorest of the poor. These new YPF scholars will be selected in every Para Paaralan sortie across the country. Essentially, the selection of new scholars is based on the following criteria:

• the beneficiaries are marginalized youths as defined by Education for All standards;
• the beneficiaries belong to a poorest of the poor families without or with limited capacity to support the youths education (families under the DSWD 4Ps program are prime examples);
• the beneficiaries have displayed great interest in learning new knowledge and skills and have pledged to serve their community either as Para Paaralan facilitators or change agents in the course of the Para Paaralan training.

Funding the scholarships of these marginalized but deserving students will be done through partnerships and counter-parting mechanisms between YPF and sponsors. Thus, the burden of providing for the education of these scholars will not be solely shouldered by YPF but by all concerned stakeholders.

3. YesPinoy Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Advocates and Responders 

According to the Brussels-based Center for Research and Epidemiology Disasters (CRED), the Philippines ranked first worldwide in the most number of disasters that hit a country with a total 25 major disasters last 2010. There is no doubt that Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world because of its geography and location within the Pacific Ring of Fire and Typhoon Belt.  Moreover, the country is a climate hotspot, vulnerable to some of the worst impacts of climate change. From 1990 to 2009, the Philippines suffered $4.813 billion in direct damage, or an average of $240.7 million per year, due to weather and climate-related disasters.

Disaster response is too serious a concern to be left alone to government. The people themselves, including the youth, must be actively involved as planners, implementers and beneficiaries of DRR programs. If there is one important lesson that Ondoy and Pepeng have taught YPF, it is the urgent need to build the resiliency of communities and sectors to disasters and climate change.

Edsa babies can play an important role in DRR and respond to challenges and threats posed by climate change. They can act as advocates and facilitators in public information and education campaigns; they can be mobilized to become junior first responders in times of distress ad calamities; they can become sparks that could trigger a dynamic grassroots movement for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

YPF holds Youth Camps in selected campuses and communities located in disaster-prone and high risk areas. During the YPF Youth Camp, experienced and well-trained facilitators teach youths the ABCs of DRR, emergency response and climate change. As advocates, youths learn to design community billboards and other pop-ed materials on disaster preparedness. As junior responders, they conduct workshops and simulation exercises on first aid, fire suppression, flood rescue, earthquake and fire drills.

4. YesPinoy Campus Organizations

YPF organizes and shepherds a network of campus organizations in the country’s leading academic institutions such as UA&P and UP. Academic institutions remain a haven of young university and graduate students with loving minds and intelligent hearts. They can be mobilized as YPF volunteers for nation-building through research, Para Paaralan and internship in other YPF programs.

By touching base and working with the young intelligentsia,YPF ensures that it is continuously infused with young blood and energized by new perspectives put forward by the best and the brightest of today’s young generation.