Ateneo de Davao University

Social Sciences Cluster

Political Science and History Department

GE 1213: Life and Works of Rizal

(Tuesday and Thursday 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM)

Community Service Plan

PAGTAGBO: Educational Tutorial for Young People in Garcia Heights, Davao City

Community Service Plan

Submitted to:

LEAH APSAY

Professor of Life and Works and Rizal

Submitted by:

Reiner Roi Dela Cruz

October 2022
Introduction

Jose Rizal was born on June 19, 1861, on this day. Although his real name was Jose Protasio

Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, he is best recognized as "Jose Rizal”. Calamba Laguna was

his hometown. Because of his family's affluence, he was able to enroll in a number of esteemed

institutions around the nation, including the University of Santo Tomas and the Ateneo de

Manila. Rizal excelled academically and developed fluency in several languages, as well as in a

number of sports and, most notably, literature. He went to Spain and attended the Universidad

Central de Madrid to obtain a Licentiate in Medicine. He also studied philosophy and literature

there. Rizal continued his education in medicine and chose to specialize in ophthalmology. His

desire to treat his mother's developing cataract-related eyesight is the reason he chose this as his

area of expertise. His mother, Dona Teodora, who was renowned for being great in the field of

literature and of which Rizal is the ideal reflection, served as Rizal's first instructor. Rizal

understood the value of knowledge because his brother had given him the chance to study in

famous institutions and even travel overseas. While visiting other countries, he observed their

educational systems and had aspirations to introduce them to his motherland, Philippines.

Because of dedication to his nation and countrymen, Rizal established a school and gave free

education to young people to help them mold for their future aspirations in life. Rizal wanted to

help them through his acquired knowledge from his travels, learnings, and experiences

throughout his lifetime. He wanted to mold these young children because he believes that they

are the future for the betterment of the Philippines. I get my project's inspiration from this

entitled PAGTAGBO: Educational Tutorial for Young People in Garcia Heights, Davao City. By
providing free tutoring sessions, my community project aims to assist my fellow students,

particularly the neighborhood's elementary pupils who struggle with modular classrooms during

this time of pandemic.

Community Service Plan Discussion

I'm a resident of an urban area in Garcia Heights, Davao City and I am blessed with the

opportunity to experience the lives of people who are living in the communities like this--- their

routine activities, such as waking up early, working till their faces start to perspire while they are

outside in the heat, and then returning home in the late afternoon. On the other side, I saw several

kids who belonged to and were affected by various gangs and fraternities. Perhaps this is due in

part to their ignorance and the fact that they require more care and love from their parents. I had

no concept that so many children and teenagers are unable to obtain even a basic education

because I have the privilege of going to school to receive a proper education. Because everyone

should have access to free education, and it is their right to do so. Youth English literacy is lower

than expected; some are unable to read and comprehend simple grammar, and others are unable

to form basic sentences. In a similar situation of Filipinos before, some of them are being

discriminated verbally because of their lack of knowledge. They are being looked down and are

regarded as a lower class people. Because of this, I came up with the concept of incorporating

brief sessions of transmitting some of my expertise, such as teaching them to read, write, and

speak English, which I believed would tremendously enable them to look up and interact to other

people with confidence. On the other side, some young people feel inferior about their English

proficiency and are ashamed to communicate to others in the language. I want students to know

that they can do it and that all it takes is practice, time, effort, and dedication to develop and
learn, so that they feel confident and empowered while speaking. I want to have an impact on

and support them throughout their journey in life. The student will experience the old-fashioned

classroom setup of a teacher instructing and a pupil learning through the free tutorial session.

More significantly, with the parent of the child's permission, proper health measures such

donning a face mask, frequently disinfecting hands, and maintaining social distance while

performing the tutorials should be observed.

The Local Barangay Leader will assist in the establishment of this project, which will also

benefit from collaborations and approval from the students' parents.

Since my second semester of my first year of online studies is coming to a conclusion, I will

have plenty of time to devote to the execution of this project.

The Proposed Solution

Community Service Plan Discussion
 To put this advocacy into action, I will talk to and negotiate with the young advocates of

the Philippines, specifically the Youth Advocates for the Philippines, a non-profit volunteer

group established just last year to allow young people to get involved in a variety of outreach

initiatives. By collaborating with them, we can make the plan that they will use to assist us in

carrying out this type of community service run more smoothly. We will then be each other's

leaning shoulders as we assist and reach out to the street children or out-of-school youth living in

the barrios of our neighborhood.

To put this type of community service plan into action, we'll first create a volunteer club

where other individuals can help out by instructing the youngsters. The more volunteers we have,

the more youth we can help. To reach them, we shall travel to every barangay, barrio, and remote

location in our neighborhood. The youth will receive the fundamental English language

education they require through this type of community service. It is also an avenue for them to

build their own dream and the capability of having hope to search their future. The advocacy is

called the 3T’s meaning Teach, Talk, and Thrive; Teach represents the sense of unity and the

readiness of lending a helping hand that other people are creating by assisting those who are in

need of education, Talk--- aims to give confidence to the youth of their own skills and

capabilities in English language, and lastly the Thrive--- which means that this advocacy will

help children to have a better insight of their own future. It is vital that out-of-school youth will

continue to receive education/literacy services because it has inspired them to have a positive

outlook on life and to accept and challenge themselves regarding the situation and circumstances

they are in due to financial difficulties. They will gain knowledge and learn something that they

will be able to apply in the real world. Their understanding, reading comprehension, and

vocabulary will expand and improve. Simply put, young people need to be inspired and
influenced by proper and good individuals who have the capacity to lead, show them how to

dream, and then they will. As Efren Penaflorida said, “You are the change that you dream, as I

am the change that I dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.”

Additionally, this community service plan involves the counseling sessions for the youth

and integrating activities to help young people to build their self-esteem as well as their

confidence. Since one of the causes of these problems is the lack of support from their family,

we will also conduct a parent-child activities and consultations focusing on positive parenting.

Also, a lot of young people are subjected to peer pressure. They are being pressured by other

people and the biggest pressure they would carry is the expectation of their family members.

This heavy pressure might affect the mental health and lower their self-esteem and the self-

confidence of the youngsters such that some of them might seek bad behaviors and bad practices

as a temporary solution to forget the problems hunching on their back. Some seek the love and

acceptance they are longing to a gang or fraternity groups. Some would settle to drinking liquor,

smoking or the usage of drugs to forget these pressures and demands from certain family

members. The platform of having a one-on-one counselling by certified guidance counsellor

would help them ease their mind and gradually recover from this trauma. Other activities such as

interacting and building positive relationships with other people as well as learning how to say

no at times would help in recovering. The lack of learning materials is also one factor which

affects the growth of every individual. Due to their circumstances where young people with their

family are living on the slams and dumpster, we will provide learning materials that we will

accumulate from the donations from generous people. In addition, the profit we gained in

integrating a fundraising activity will be used in buying several materials that will benefit the

young people who are willing to learn. Every weekend there are short teaching sessions wherein
we can actually teach them in person and will do the readings and writings such that these small

help from ourselves would be able to light the small street wherein it will be the starting line for

them to search their own insights and the courage to start building their own dreams.

Conclusion

Teach, Talk, and Thrive advocates for the value of education. As Rizal insisted,

education is a tool for advancing society. Youth who are not in school have the freedom and the

right to receive an accessible education. In conclusion, the Community Service Plan's relation to

the idea and goal of Rizal's nation-building can be seen in its inclusion of Basic English literacy

for all out-of-school adolescents. To address this, the idea of nation-building focuses on teaching

Filipinos to be proud and dignified, as well as the importance of having high moral character.

Additionally, it makes the case for the importance of youth education, which is the major goal of

the planned program because young people are seen as the nation's future. However, developing

a nation is not just about each Filipino working together to develop their sense of wit, dignity,
pride, and behavior. We and other groups that identify as non-profit organizations are willing to

donate our time and knowledge to help the citizens of the country, and this demonstrates our

willingness to make sacrifices for the country and its citizens.

It doesn't matter if we refer to it as team building or country building; what matters most

is that our hearts are motivated enough to give up their time in order to assist the citizen. Team

building illustrates how many organizations work together to design and carry out the

determined strategy that has to do with the nation and its citizens. While nation-building is being

depicted by the planners, participants, or beneficiaries in such a way that it implies that doing our

part and working hard will lead to the survival of the nation in regard to the community service

program, it is important for out-of-school adolescents to push themselves to internalize and

demonstrate the lessons and counsel of the leaders and organizations providing the best support,

care, and services to youth in order for the country to survive.

In order to provide our fellow students an opportunity to develop and have a brighter future, we,

as volunteers, establish Unity and make sacrifices on their behalf. In addition, we, the

organizations defining the community service plan, should take it seriously such that the nation-

building effort is accompanied by challenges and pain that may occur along the way to try our

resolve as we face and move forward toward the predetermined target or goal. With that, we can

draw the conclusion that a successful nation-building endeavor requires the cooperation of two

groups.
Reference List:

Diongon, J. (2012, November 20). Rizal Role in Nation Building and Education.

Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/JeanpotDiongon/rizal-role-in-nation-

building-and-education

Efren Penaflorida. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://myhero.com/Efren_Penaflorida_2009

Global Youth Advocates Network. (2021, April 24). Who We Are. Retrieved from

https://gyanadvocates.org/who-we are/#:%7E:text=Our%20History,ASEAN)

%20University%20Student%20Council%20Union.