XU FINALISTS. Unilab Philippines' 6th Ideas Positive national finalists from Xavier University are KKP-SVFC volunteers Jechr Bug-os, Ana Karla Cabrera, Monte Carlo Dal, Jim Akut II (team mentor), Gimar Reyes and Francisco Martin Bade III. Supplied photo.
By Gimar A Reyes
A team from Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan is one of the national finalists in Unilab Philippines' Ideas Positive competition for their innovative toilet facility and ornamental vertical greening project that seeks to address the skyrocketing cases of ascariasis in the Zayas Landfill community.
Team BulateGo!’s project “Ascaris Alis, Sugpuin ng Mabilis: Planting Seeds of Hope,” took home the seed money of Php100,000 at Unilab’s Ideas Positive Boot Camp. Their project is directed to minimize the cases of ascariasis among the children in the community at Zayas, Carmen, which has a high incidence of roundworm infection attributed to the proximity of the community to a landfill, and their poor sanitary practices. The team will introduce an innovative mobile toilet facility called the Urine Diversion Dehydration Toilet (UDDT), educational campaigns on the disease, community deworming, and propagation of ornamental plants through vertical gardening.
Among 142 project proposals, the team’s entry was part of the Top 41 that underwent a rigorous live screening process to be part of the top 15 national finalists. Team BulateGo! is also the first team from Cagayan de Oro to make it to the final round of the competition.
Unilab Philippines’ Ideas Positive is a national competition that aims to empower youth, and students to make a difference in their community by transforming their innovative and sustainable ideas related to health and wellness into reality. Now on its 6th year, it continues to harness the brightest civic-minded youth to solve grassroots health problems of the country, one community at a time. The positive outcome of the teams’ projects will determine who will win the championship award.
As part of the Top 15 teams, BulateGo! was invited to a 3-day Boot camp at the Bayanihan Center, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila on February 14-18 to help the members in their project implementation. Among the speakers were social marketers, entrepreneurs, journalist, community developers, doctors and experts such as Raphael Mijeno of Sustainable Alternative Lighting Technology, Maria Ressa of Rappler, Brigadier General Restituto Padilla of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Professor Mel Bandalaria of University of the Philippines - Open University, and Rhodora Palomar-Fresnedi, executive director of Unilab Philippines, among others.
From February to August, the team will hold the comprehensive implementation of their project.
“It is not about how much time we make to participate, but how much time we sacrifice to engage. To go to the peripheries, and see the bigger picture of life. More than the project, it is all about the community, and the lives of the people that we can affect positively,” Francisco Martin Bade III, project team leader, said.
The BulateGo! project shows XU’s commitment to form students that embody Ignatian values and principles in the service of and with others.