WRITING LEAD. Three young writers from Xavier Ecoville present their output during the news lead-writing session of Project Titik, Feb 6. Supplied photo.
“I want to join Project Titik because I want to develop my writing skills and use these skills to influence other youths,” said Kim Adriano, a budding writer from Xavier Ecoville.
Adriano along with other participants joined the first session of Project Titik, a four-month-long news and feature writing workshop for the XE Youth Club members aged 15 to 23 years old. The sessions, 15 in total, are conducted every Saturday morning, for three hours, beginning February 6.
Apart from writing, the participants will also be taught basic photojournalism, proper attribution of sources, journalism ethics and effective PowerPoint presentation, among other topics.
“In the past years, Xavier Ecoville Project has conducted and implemented various capacity-building training sessions to its residents,” said Niña Bea Cadorna, XEP’s knowledge product development officer and Project Titik head.
“[However], these capacity-building trainings were usually geared towards income generation and leadership skills. Now that XEP will be exiting from the community this year, the question on who will engage with the future partners and visitors emerged,” she added.
HEADSTART. The Project Titik participants embark on a news lead-writing activity during the first session. Supplied photo.
A graduate of Development Communication major in Development Journalism at Xavier University, Cadorna saw the need to cultivate young writers who will share the stories of their special community.
“The Project Titik was initiated not only to enhance and develop their writing skills but also to encourage community participation through handling future partners,” Cadorna said. The partners’ management lessons will be tackled in the 11th and 12th sessions.
At the end of the workshop, the participants are expected to produce a newsletter, intended to be the 6th issue of TROMPA, XEP’s first official community paper.
“XEP wants to empower the youth. We want them to realize that even at a young age they can influence and be an inspiration to others,” Cadorna stated, adding, “One of the best ways to do that is through writing.”