It’s great to know that face-to-face Service-Learning activities in institutions of higher learning in Negros are back in full swing after they had been limited to online engagement during the pandemic.
S-L is a teaching methodology that integrates community service with academics to provide a more holistic learning experience to students.
Silliman University, which has one of the most, if not the most, dynamic Service-Learning programs in the country recently hosted two groups of overseas students, a testament to the international respect the SU community engagement endeavor has gained through the years.
A press material from the university said Silliman accommodated two student groups, each with 16 members, from the International Christian University in Tokyo (from June 26 to July 25) and the George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia (August 9-15).
Both foreign universities, as partner institutions of Silliman, have been sending student groups for summer immersion activities since 2008.
Together with SU students, the summer visitors were engaged in activities in a number of community organizations and agencies affiliated with the SU Office of Community Engagement and Service-Learning.
The summer exposure provided the young visitors with opportunities for cultural appreciation and understanding as well as fostering their sense of global citizenship.
The Silliman S-L program was initiated in 2001 through the pilot efforts of Dr. Enrique Oracion, now the director of the SU Research and Innovation Office, after he attended a training sponsored by the New York-based United Board for Christian Higher Education, which popularized the pedagogy in the Asia-Pacific region.
The training was held at the Trinity University of Asia, which is acknowledged as the S-L frontrunner in the country.
On its part, Silliman has strengthened its position as the premier S-L institution in the country by, among others, offering a masteral program focused on Service-Learning and also accommodating familiarization groups from other institutions.
The university also hosted the 8th Asia-Pacific Regional Service-Learning Conference, which was held virtually due to the pandemic. Silliman is the first University in the country to have hosted an international S-L conference of that magnitude.
I am confident that the Silliman S-L program will continue to hold on to its premier position, especially with the recent appointment for another term of its president, Dr. Betty Cernol-McCann, who, prior to her Silliman top leadership, was a UBCHEAsia executive whose functions included overseeing S-L programs in the Asia-Pacific region.
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I am also glad to know from my former Lasallian colleague, Dexter Ian Tabujara, that the Christian S-L Program at the University of St. La Salle has been actively sustained even during the pandemic days.
If S-L is of great interest to me as I had been its disciple for at least two decades. I had been part in sowing the S-L seeds at USLS after I attended a UBCHEA-sponsored conference in Payap University in Chiangmai, Thailand in 2002. Upon my return, I proposed the establishment of the program to then President Br. Gus Boquer, who implemented it in 2004, which was highlighted by the university hosting a national S-L conference.
Our pilot S-L program in the Mass Communication Department included a literacy and peace-building program for the Muslim community in the city and various educational, environmental, entrepreneurship and other communication advocacies in the city and province.
The La Salle CSP was rejuvenated in the mid-2010 years by then Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Ma. Therese Jochico, with USLS hosting another national conference for S-L academicians.
After my retirement from USLS, I introduced the program to St. John’s Institute, where I was invited to teach Media Literacy in its Senior High School Department for three years until 2021.
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The 9th APRCSL, was held in July at Christ University in Bangalore, Karnataka in India. I received an invitation to the conference and to the gathering of the Service Learning Asia Network, which is an offspring organization of the APRCSL.
The invitation included the call for research paper presentations, something which I had done at least five times in past conference editions in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia.
All of the papers I presented showed the high marks students placed on their service experience in their course application, cultural understanding, civic awareness, citizenship and personal growth.
Much as I wanted to be in fellowship with like-minded professionals, my health concerns, however, prevented me from attending the Bangalore gathering.
Service-Learning will remain an important mission in life for many of us, S-L disciples as we become first-hand witnesses and influencers in the shaping of young people’s lifetime habits, attitudes and perspectives.
It also brings into further fruition the vision, mission and goals, especially of Christian institutions, like Silliman and La Salle, in their commitment to serve God, country and the Filipino people.
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The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40) – NWI
