Text by Jarvi Fuentes
Photos by Anthony Jacob C Karagdag
The Valuing Ecosystem Services Together (VEST) team of Xavier University spearheaded the gathering and distribution of school supplies and water tumblers to the schoolchildren in Miarayon, Talakag, Bukidnon in two separate occasions for the first semester.
The VEST team, together with the representatives from the Kristohanong Katilingban sa Pagpakabana – Social Involvement Office (KKP-SIO), First Year Formation Program (FFP) and Development Communication Society, embarked on a trip to the highland to deliver the tumblers and school materials donated by various groups and individuals from Cagayan de Oro City and its neighboring areas.
The "Jug and Supplies for Education" project was aimed at inspiring the schoolchildren to finish their education and pave a brighter future for their community.
Nearly a thousand water tumblers and over 400 packs of school supplies were allotted to the pupils of Miarayon Elementary School and Day Care Center, and St Therese High School of Miarayon students.
“We encouraged the XU community—from the grade school to college, faculty and staff— and the partners of VEST to take part in this project through donating tumblers, notebooks, pens and other essential materials to promote the importance of education among the children of Miarayon,” said Evans Yonson, VEST social marketing supervisor.
“These children are the hope of this lumad community.”
VEST is the offshoot campaign of the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) project of XU through its Research and Social Outreach (RSO) cluster and McKeough Marine Center (MMC), and Xavier Science Foundation (XSF) as the fund manager.
In Northern Mindanao, the project has been piloted within the ancestral domain of the Miarayon-Lapok-Lirongan-Tinaytayan Tribal Association (MILALITTRA), one of the 12 lumad communities in the protected area of Talakag, Bukidnon where Mt Kalatungan stands.
The distribution of tumblers and school materials formed part of this green endeavor in mainstreaming the principles of PES through a slew of activities to encourage Kagay-anons to participate in the fund drive to reforest Mt Kalatungan and reward the efforts of the indigenous people community as the forest managers.
In addition, after their immersion in Miarayon earlier this semester, the junior DevCom students of XU will showcase their photos and original song compositions in an advocacy concert at Centrio –Ayala Mall for the ninth installment of “Lansad” from September 21 to 24.
Lansad Nueve will exhibit photographs and stories of the rich culture of the people of Miarayon, the environmental and economic issues engulfing the area, and its high prospect for eco-tourism.