Mudpack spirit at SDC

Following the mudpack festival organized every year in June in Mambukal, an hour away from Bacolod City, the children recreated the spirit of this celebration within the SDC !
On June 26th, the young people, staff members and volunteers from Virlanie-Bacolod took the opportunity to paint themselves and wear some eco-friendly outfits, made of cardboard and other recyclable materials. The activity topic of the day was the making of cameras from cardboard with the help of Amélie, one of the volunteers. The children learnt how to make the camera from scratch, cutting and assembling the different pieces, and incorporating a silver film within each small boxes. Upon the finalization of these home-made cameras, the children spent the whole afternoon posing in their outfits and make-up. This was actually a very special experiment from the children as they had to stay still for at least 10 seconds in order to avoid blurred and fuzzy pictures... which was not so easy to do! Here are the results of this fun and educational activity...

Updates on People-Private-Public-Partnership program in Bacolod City

PPPP workshop with Bacolod City Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus A. Sayson.

On June 11th, two representatives from DELGOSEA (Partnership for Democratic Local Governance in Southeast Asia) came to Bacolod to assess the implementation progress of the People-Private-Public-Partnership program conducted by the City with the support from Virlanie Foundation. Bacolod City was indeed elected in 2010 to become a pilot city for the implementation of the PPPP concept. This model of best practices, originating from Cambodian example, is aiming at enhancing the cooperation between the public and private sectors and the participation of the civil society in local governance.

The DELGOSEA national representative and the consultant deployed in South East Asia, take advantage of this visit to meet with the City's team, as well as Virlanie Foundation's volunteers. Significant topics related to the sound management of the program were addressed over this one-day seminar.

The first workshop was dedicated to specific issues related to the implementation of the Youth Home project (rehabilitation center for children in conflict with the law aged 15 to 18 years old): budget planning, operational specifications, financial tools, etc. The official launching of the construction of the rehabilitation center is expected to start in September and Virlanie-Bacolod team is currenlty calling for potential partners and donors. Bacolod City Mayor has already committed to partly fund the construction and operational costs. The remaining expenses are to be covered by private partners approached by Virlanie Foundation (corporate foundations, local non-profit organizations, professional groups, NGOs, institutional funding, etc.).

Following a working lunch, the participants visited the Social Development Center (SDC) and the construction site of the future Youth Home. The seminar ended with a friendly dinner dedicated to highlight the achievements and congratulate all stakeholders involved in the management of Bacolod City Community Development program, including Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus A. Sayson, and Hon. Counselor Em L. Ang.

Involvement of Bacolod City Livelihood Department at SDC

Virlanie-Bacolod has been working in collaboration with the City of Bacolod to support the vulnerable children within the Social Development Center (SDC). It was then justified to contact some of the city departments to suggest their involvement for the benefit of the children at risk. It is indeed the strategy to call for every type of partner, private and public ones, as well as the civil society, to be committed to rehabilitate and train the children and youth, for a successful community integration and empowerment.

The City Cooperation and Livelihood Department Office has decided to join this intervention and proposed to organize training sessions at the SDC. In May, the children were offered to learn how to make jewelry (earings, necklaces, bracelets and rings) thanks to the city employees from this department.
The training has a double objective: providing them with skills and knowledge, which could be used in their adult life, and also empowering the children to increase their self-esteem and personal confidence. This is a critical asset to be considered in terms of individual development and life accomplishment.