To formally terminate the Ateneo Student Exposure Program (ASEP) and the Inductee Exposure Program (IndEx), as well as the first phase of the Ateneo de Davao University’s (ADDU’s) post-Pablo rehabilitation and reconstruction projects which the Arrupe Office of Social Formation all implemented in Baganga, Davao Oriental, between March-April 2013 and June-July 2013 respectively, the latter conducted a Stakeholder’s Evaluation Meeting in the Sacred Heart Parish in Lambajon, Baganga, on Wednesday, 31st July 2013.
Attended by Arrupe’s different partner communities and institutions (Fr. Darwey P. Clark, DCM, parish priest of Sacred Heart of Lambajon; representatives of Barangay Upper Mikit, Barangay Campawan, Sitio Magtunod of Barangay Mikit; members of the Talipapa Vendor’s Association of Barangay Lambajon; some student volunteers and faculty who participated in the ASEP and IndEx, respectively, as well as the personnel and staff of the Arrupe), the evaluation session not only covered the two exposure programs designed for both students and faculty, but also Arrupe’s implementation of the three ADDU-funded infrastructure projects in Baganga.
The local stakeholders held positive assessments of these Arrupe-led programs/projects, and wholeheartedly expressed their appreciation of the impact that these programs/projects have had in the life of the different communities which served as Arrupe’s partners in the course of the implementation. There was also a strong clamour to continue and sustain the partnership through more programs/projects of similar nature. Other proposed activities for sustainability, especially those in connection with the formal opening of the wet-and-dry market in Lambajon, also included livelihood programs and basic skills training for those who want to venture into small-scale entrepreneurship. Another concern reiterated by one community is the possible use of one of ADDU’s solar panels for cellphone charging purposes. It may be remembered that ADDU retrieved all its solar panels installed in key areas in Davao Oriental and the Compostela Valley Province in the later part of April 2013. Though electricity is now restored in the poblacionof Baganga, these far-flung areas are not yet re-energized.
The receptacle communities of the two exposure programs of ASEP and IndEx expressed their great appreciation not only of the presence of student and faculty immersees in their communities, but also the latter’s contribution in fostering a strong sense of solidarity and participation in the lives of these communities through the different forms of service performed in the course of the immersion period.
It may be remembered the thirteen (13) student leaders and volunteers, in the company of four (4) faculty companions, immersed in the different barangays in Baganga, for a period of nine (9) days between March and April. In the first week of June, eleven (11) faculty inductees, together with one (1) faculty companion, immersed in these same areas for a period of three (3) days. Simultaneous with the implementation of the ASEP and IndEx, two daycare centers and one wet-and-dry market underwent reconstruction as part of ADDU’s post-Pablo rehabilitation projects.
The evaluation was facilitated by members of the Arrupe program coordinators headed M. Isabel S. Actub, Mr. Noriel R. Rogon, Mr. Karl Anthony Ebol, and Ms. Gina Villagonzalo. Five (5) student leaders and volunteers took part in the session, namely Robin Tongcua, Leendolph Te, Marie Claire Ruyeras, Jannabelle Moya, and Sarah Joy Reyes. (By M. Isabel S. Actub, Arrupe Communications & Advocacy)