Meaningful Partnerships: USAID Philippines Awards BCPD Another Grant for Female OSY

Cebu City --- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded another grant to the Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD) last February 16, 2023, Thursday, to train 110  more marginalized youth and to prepare them for new jobs, businesses, or higher-level education. BCPD, a project of the Foundation for Professional Training, Inc. (FPTI), is a technical-vocational school committed to women-in-development programs and has been a partner of the USAID in furthering education and work opportunities for the poor and marginalized in Cebu City for two years now. Shown in the photo above are Mrs. Beth Lopez, BCPD School Director (middle), Mr. Ryan Washburn (right), Mission Director of USAID Philippines, and Dr. Maria Theresa C. Mokamad (left), Deputy Chief of Party for Technical Programs, USAID Opportunity 2.0. 

On their first year of partnership, BCPD had a hundred scholars, all female out-of-school youths (OSY) who reside in Cebu City. The school is happy to note that everyone is gainfully employed now in different restaurants, cafes, and hotels in the city after receiving ample training in cookery, bread and pasrty production, and food and beverage service.

This year, the USAID will be giving another set of 110 female  in Cebu City an opportunity to improve their economic condition through the Grant for Work Readiness and Continuing Education Training Program for Out-of-School Youth under the USAID Opportunity 2.0 Program.

USAID, a leading international development agency, has awarded grants to enable youth-serving organizations, higher education institutions, and training service providers across the Philippines to serve OSY in their communities better.

BCPD Graduates its First Batch of Badjao Women Scholars

Cebu City --- The Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD), a technical-vocational school for girls  committed to helping the poor in the region through free education, recently graduated a unique group of students, the Badjao tribe, one of our country's indigenous peoples (IP), whose culture and livelihood are tied to the sea. This highlights BCPD's commitment to serve women from all walks of life.

Through the training provided by AusAid Reledev Australia, twenty-five (25) Badjao women, mostly married, came in their colorful traditional garb to attend their simple yet special graduation ceremony held inside BCPD's building in the afternoon of January 11, 2023, Wednesday. Gracing the event were the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary led by Sr. Victoria Embata, the director of the Badjao Integrated Development Progam, Ms. Edwina Martel Quialquial, their program coordinator, and Ms. Angelina Paghubasan of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII. BCPD's IP graduates are program beneficiaries of the Presentation Sisters who help the Badjao get educational scholarships such as the one they received from BCPD.

The Badjao graduates' training in Baking and Bread and Pastry Production ran from September 20 to December 3, 2022. Their skills assessment was scheduled in two batches, i.e., December 11 and 18, 2022,  which they all passed satisfactorily. 

Aida, one of the Badjao women-graduates, recounted in her gratitude speech that she never thought they will still be given the opportunity to study again. She said that after high school and after getting married, she thought her life would only revolve around raising children and taking care of her family. But, thanks to schools like BCPD, they were led to see that they can still do more, happily discovering that there's still so much potential in them. Aida acknowledged the Nano Nagle Child Care and Learning Center, Inc. based in Ireland, and the AusAid Reledev Australia for their generous and invaluable support.

The highlight of the graduation was the cultural dance performance of the graduates as a testimony of their joy and gratitude to the school and to all their benefactors. Wearing their beautiful and colorful clothes, often made by hand from the traditional dastar fabric, the graduates delighted everyone with their gracious movements, as they encouraged the management and school staff to dance with them. This first batch of Badjao graduates will be helped by Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. to set up their own bakery located in Mambaling, Cebu City.

BCPD, a project of the Foundation for Professional Training, Inc. (FPTI), is set to accept its second batch of Badjao women scholars this school year 2023-2024. BCPD is a social project for underprivileged women inspired by the pastoral visit of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo to Cebu City in January 1987. Blessed Alvaro was the first successor of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. 

The Day We Ran for Fun: The KALFIT Race to Fitness in Cebu

Cebu City --- We had a memorable experience organizing the KALFIT Race to Fitness Fun Run in Cebu last December 4, 2022, Sunday. It was a journey we will always be grateful to look back on.

KALFIT was a fundraiser launched by the Kalinangan Youth Foundation, Inc. (KALFI) in mid-June of 2022, with the idea of supporting its project centers around the country which included our study center, Banilad, the only KALFI center in the Visayas. It sought to promote the value of physical fitness and advocate a healthy lifestyle. Six months out, with December 4 set as our race day, the fun run was a good way to celebrate our 40th year. It would allow us to reach out to all those who have passed through the center over the years, to thank them, and to reignite connections. Besides, KALFIT is more than just a fundraiser, it is also a "friendraiser." With that thought neatly tied together, we set out to form the KALFIT Cebu working committee.

Jeanne Haosen (seated in the middle, as shown in right photo), one of the ladies supporting our study center, headed the fun run committee and brought in her friends, Nerie (rightmost, as shown in the photo) and Ivy (seated at Jeanne's left). Back in 2018, Jeanne was among those who organized a mini-fun run for some 25-30 kiddie clubbers held at the city's sports center with an oval track, and so, had an experience with how this kind of activity works. But by the time we had our second KALFIT Cebu meeting in July, the fun run preparation landscape changed. The venue of the race would be inside Cebu Business Park, a busy private property home to several buildings, and not an oval track. What is more, we were led to look at 3,000 runners to join the fun run, and not just 25-30.   

With the help of Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund and Nerie Estreba, optimistic friends of our center who are also sports enthusiasts, we embarked on a daring move to say yes to the challenge of embracing the fun run as our special project for the year. We looked at KALFIT to help us get a van for the needs of the center, especially when we have to move around for outreach work. Our center has organized service projects not just in Cebu's mountain barangays, but in nearby islands and neighboring provinces like Bohol, Dumaguete in Negros Oriental, Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon in Mindanao.

The technical aspect of KALFIT was taken care of by Mr. Joel Juarez, a friend of the Estrebas. He met with our team and gave a picture of how the event will look like on race day. KALFIT will run on 4 race routes within the Cebu Business Park, covering 10km, 5km, 3km, and 1km, this last distance being the route for our special category, the Family Run. Registration was only P500 across all race categories. On race day, there will be water stations. Mr. Juarez will provide us with 40 marshals, race clocks, sirens, and ambulance vans, and will facilitate securing all needed permits from the city concerning road closures. His main concern would be everything technical that will lie within the identified race routes. Whatever happens outside will be our responsibility: event marketing and promotion, sponsorships, registration, prizes, and program proper. With this last detail, looking at our resources by mid-September, we knew we needed more support. Overwhelming as it looked, we continued what we have begun.

Beth, our project manager

As we realized early on, KALFIT was our chance to reignite connections and renew friendships. And so, in early October, we sought the help of one of Banilad's long-time friends, Beth Santos, to join the KALFIT Cebu team as our project manager. Through her, we got the collaboration of more of Banilad's friends, Therese Sabarre and June Rabin. Therese became our online registration head, while June became our emcee for the KALFIT presscon and race day program. Therese also helped us soft launch KALFIT through a talk on nature's remarkable machine, the human body. Our team of ladies from Project Sampaguita, our fundraising arm in Cebu pre-pandemic, Cathy Cheung and Au-Au Qui, also lent us support by connecting us with big sponsors for the fun run. 

All of us in the working committee went full blast with marketing and the search for sponsorships as early as August. We racked our brains for names of companies to approach, to ask freebies and prizes from, just to make   the fun run "fun." By October, we gained ground somehow when we received the endorsement of KALFIT as a city-sponsored event from the city mayor. After the KALFIT press conference in mid-November, graced by KALFI President Monet Pablo (seated in the middle, as shown in right photo) with 15 media professionals helping us amplify the event through social media, the number of registrants grew. We were feeling the pressure because our goal was to get 3,000 runners, and we were not even hitting 500 in early November. 

Note: Also shown in the photo with Monet are Tilda (left), Banilad's director, and Kaye (right), a KALFI Lead alumna.

We rallied for runners as we had the fun run shirts made, along with the race bibs and medals. We continued looking for sponsors for prizes, even as we were nearing race day. 

We were receiving in-kind donations little by little, as well as monetary donations that came in trickles. In marketing parlance, it seemed that KALFIT was a slow-moving product to sell. Despite the efforts that we have put into its promotion, we weren't still getting our "3,000."

Note: Photo on the left shows fun run volunteers at Banilad's booth.

When we were feeling the punch of all the preps, especially when faced
with marketing challenges, we had a pep talk in one of our meetings. One of our friends said that we have always promoted spiritual development. But if we are amiss in promoting activities that give value to the body, to advocate its wellness, then there would be a great disconnect to everything we have been doing. It all went down to either believing the good that physical activity (the fun run) brings --- especially since almost everyone was just cooped up at home during the pandemic, perhaps close to doing nothing ---or not believing in our event at all. So, if we want to get that van, we must work harder, unfazed by the challenges that come our way. And so, we never stopped. We were meeting twice a week in November, and met daily come December. We only had 3 days to meet when December came, because the fun run was set to happen on the 4th.

The highlights of the fun run include the assembly line of sorts which we set up in the center, putting in the race bibs, and the donated skipping ropes inside the transparent plastic bags together with the fun run shirt. The distribution or release of race kits also happened in our center.

We had the chance to ask several registrants how they got to know about KALFIT and why they would like to join it. Open to men, women, and children, one registrant said he saw the advertisement posted on a Facebook page dedicated to fun runs in Cebu. Cebu is fast becoming a hub for fun runs, with several sites conducive to marathons or simple running events like ours. A dad, who's a retired policeman said he joined because the fun run is a good way to bond with his son because they can talk while they run. We invited groups of young professionals to join, students, teachers, children with their parents, all enthusing them to run for physical fitness. Our project manager, Beth, invited 2 platoons from the Philippine Army, those stationed in nearby central command headquarters at Camp Lapu-Lapu, to support and join KALFIT. It was a good way for us to recognize our soldiers, both men and women, and to see them as our co-advocates for physical fitness.

December 4 finally came, and with or without sleep, we all showed up at the entrance of Banilad Study Center at call time. It was 1:30 am. The afternoon before it, Beth told us, "This is it, ladies. Rain or shine, KALFIT will happen. The people who will show up tomorrow will count on your energy." So, excited as we all were, we know we have been warned. If the energy will come from each one of us, then to be a sleepyhead means to be out of place on fun run day. We have all been waiting for this, and we know we must give it our all.

Thanks to our sponsors, the start/finish race arch was put up along with the booths that made the fun run site festive. There were tents and booths for coffee and juices, and a sports shop sold items at a discounted price. KALFI and Banilad had their respective booths which had our promotional materials. There was a photo booth with the KALFIT tarp, and an area for the prizes which were in-kind donations from generous sponsors. The stage, LED wall, lights, and sound system, courtesy of our friends from our barangay, Barangay Luz, were set up well around midnight. Everything was ready.

People started arriving as early as 3:00 am, with June prepping up the people together with one of our KALFI Leaders, Therese Napuli, who worked as an assistant program emcee.

There was Zumba before and after the run, with the girls who come to our center lending energy with the warm-up and cool-down dance. We continued receiving registrants and sold fun run shirts. 

Gun Start for 10km was at 5:00 am, 5km at 5:15, and 3km at 5:25, and 1km (Family Run Category) at 5:35. In between, the Philippine Army ran and did their drills, doing the 5km route. All the race finishers had hot taho (silken tofu with sago pearls and brown sugar syrup) waiting for them, courtesy of our food sponsors. We were happy to see everyone having fun!

A PAREF Springdale dad  with his 2 young sons won the 1km family run category, and a teacher from CITE won our special award, the Highest Friendraiser, because he invited many of his students to join KALFIT. Several schools sent in their students and teachers to participate, sponsored by big-hearted donors: technical-vocational schools like the Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD), CITE, and SKILLS. Our sponsors also sent their employees to run for fitness.  

We are grateful to have the support of our KALFI Vice-President, Mimie Huang, and KALFI member of the board of trustees, Mags Valdez, who joined us on race day and helped in the awarding of prizes. Some 3 weeks earlier, KALFI President, Monet Pablo, also flew from Manila to support us during the KALFIT press conference.

We are grateful to the following sponsors of KALFIT: 8990 Housing Development Corporation, Cebu City Government, MILO, Cebu Landmasters, Inc., J. Nitton Development Corporation, AB Soberano Holdings Corp., SKYGO, TMAX Construkt, Inc., Archiglobal, Inc., Cebu Business Park, Giyapay, Contempo Property Holdings, Paramount Life and General Insurance Corporation, AXA, Anjo World, Nature's Spring, King's Quality Foods, BELO, Ford Talisay Cebu, Runnr, Ayala Center Cebu, ECYY, Figaro, MR Events and Twinbee Print Ads, Napintas Logistics and Distribution Corp., Nestle, Nutribar, RDAK Motors, Vicsal Foundation, IPI, Cebu Parklane International Hotel, Cebu Premiere Real Estate and Development, Inc., Largata Travel and Tours, Harley Davidson, Lucky Tableware, Cebu Oversea Trading, and a lot more. We are likewise very grateful to all the individuals and companies who sponsored groups of runners for the fun run.  

We saw over a thousand run for the KALFIT Race to Fitness Fun Run last December 4, a far cry from our 3,000, but a good enough number that brightened the atmosphere and gave a warm, family vibe to the area we occupied at the Cebu Business Park. Light rain gave us a scare when we left the center early that morning, but we were blessed with clear skies throughout the fun run. As to the van, we are grateful that we managed to raise a sizeable amount that will serve as our first batch of savings to hopefully purchase one soon. What was consoling was to see the value of in-kind donations we received given such a short period --- it exceeded all our expectations. We cannot ask for more.

There are more colorful stories left to tell about our KALFIT experience. None of us from the working committee ran on race day because we were all in our respective stations, even if we were curious to try the racecourse. But just the same, we all ran our way to the finish line by jumping over the hurdles that tried to knock us off the path.

It has been more than two months now after KALFIT. We are left with the challenge of reaching out in the future to more than a thousand registrants. Until the next fun run, we don't know how many more sponsors we will discover, groups of people to enthuse, and friendships we hope to strike or revive through a fun run. One thing seems clear, KALFIT is one worthwhile activity that has sought to bring out the best in each one of us.

You may watch the KALFIT Cebu video here.