The 22nd batch of Year Of Service (YOS) volunteers composed of 24 young individuals from diverse backgrounds have been sent off to various areas in Mindanao to work with different organizations for ten months, promoting peace and sustainable development in their assigned areas.
From teaching in Madaris schools in Maguindanao to engaging with the vocational technology school in Gingoog, the YOS volunteers will nurture a new breed of passion for service and a stronger thrust for sustainable human development, invigorating the foundations of societal change.
To prepare them for their area work and widen their orientation in social development work, the volunteers underwent a 15-day workshop and seminar.
“Do the right thing for the right reason,” imparted XU president Fr Roberto C Yap SJ during the send-off mass for the YOS volunteers at the University Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
YOS is a volunteer program that provides fresh graduates and young professionals the opportunity to share in the work to improve the social conditions of underserved communities in the rural areas they are assigned to by partner organizations.
YOS is managed by the Research and Social Outreach office of Xavier University. Since its inception in the late eighties and early nineties under the Xavier Science Foundation, YOS has trained more than 300 volunteers assigned to various places in Mindanao. It was awarded Most Outstanding Volunteer Service Organization (Not-for-Profit category) in the Search for Most Outstanding Volunteers 2010 awards.