Youth camp in Mindanao (updated)

The Ayala Foundation, Inc. endeavors to form young Mindanaoans into leaders committed to building peace, uplifting their families and communities and to serving our country. Through the support of the United States Embassy, we invite students and youth leaders to participate in a 5-day youth camp for peace and understanding to be held from May 25 to 29, 2009 at The Farm, Brgy. Carpenter Hill, Koronadal City, South Cotabato and June 1 to 5, 2009 at the Nuestra Senora La Virgen del Pilar Formation Center, Mercedes, Zamboanga City.

The Ayala Foundation, Inc. endeavors to form young Mindanaoans into leaders committed to building peace, uplifting their families and communities and to serving our country. Through the support of the United States Embassy, we invite students and youth leaders to participate in a 5-day youth camp for peace and understanding to be held from May 25 to 29, 2009 at The Farm, Brgy. Carpenter Hill, Koronadal City, South Cotabato and June 1 to 5, 2009 at the Nuestra Senora La Virgen del Pilar Formation Center, Mercedes, Zamboanga City.

The camp hopes to form lasting bonds of trust and respect among its participants who represent various faiths and backgrounds—Christian, Muslim, and Indigenous tribes/people. The camp also aims to develop values, attitudes, and skills that will enable and empower them to demonstrate peace in their communities. By the end of the camp, we expect participants to become better agents of unity and understanding and to influence others to do the same.

Participants will experience a variety of fun and meaningful activities that will challenge them and highlight important values such as trust, respect, and teamwork to help them become more effective leaders and advocates of peace. This opportunity will provide them with a clearer and more concrete perception of their visions, goals, and aspirations for their selves and their communities. In the end, we hope that our participants will be inspired to play an active role in building peace.

We will be screening and selecting only 100 young leaders who will participate in the camp. No fees are needed to apply or participate in this activity. Participants must meet the following qualifications:

    16 to 19 years old (out-of-school youth may be a little over than the cut-off age)
    In-school or out-of-school
    Endorsed by the local/barangay youth group, school or school organization, religious community, or Ayala Foundation’s partner NGOs
    Displays leadership in their respective communities, whether formal or informal positions
    Model of integrity and discipline and possesses excellent moral character
    Ability to communicate well in Filipino and/or English

We are providing you with 5 sets of application forms, which you can immediately distribute to interested youth leaders. You may reproduce the form if you need more copies to distribute. Kindly enclose all the completed application forms in a sealed short brown envelop and forward them to the camp secretariat at:

Selected participants will be notified a week after deadline regarding their participation in the camp. Transportation expenses and board and lodging cost of all participants during the camp will be shouldered by the camp organizers. No other expenses will be reimbursed.  Should you have any questions about the camp, contact our project coordinators MR Andrada at 0915-4092613 or Cash Maghirang at 0916-7807273 (Zamboanga) and Enrico Yee at 0916-7270810 or Joseph Navarro at 0928-4145787 (Koronadal).

Joseph Anthony M. Quesada is the Manager of the Ayala Foundation Inc.