DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/07 May) – The 2nd GSIS Summer Youth Training Workshop ended Monday night with a presentation of the students’ outputs at the GSIS Homeowners Association Office and the distribution of their certificates of participation.
Students of Basic Reporting presented their eight-page laboratory newsletter, The Village Voice; students of Basic Photography mounted an exhibit of their best photographs; students of Digital Story-telling presented two digital stories and a storyboard and students of Basic Modern Dancing performed at the closing program of the two-hour daily workshop from April 28 to May 2.
The summer workshop was initiated in 2006 by the Mindanao News and Information Cooperative Center (MNICC), the media cooperative that runs the Mindanao-focused daily news service, MindaNews, and the daily online publication mindanews.com, in line with its vision and mission of helping empower communities, including the youth, in reporting their own issues.
Since MindaNews’ office is based in GSIS Heights, it organized the workshop in coordination with the GSIS Homeowners’ Association under Alejandro de Vera. Sessions were held in the GSIS Homeowners Association office along Venus St., just a block and a half away from MindaNews.
This year’s workshop had 29 students.
The media cooperative has also been training grassroots communities in Mindanao on basic documentation and reporting.
There was no summer workshop last year because of the synchronized national and local elections but the workshop resumed this year with the same organizers and with the help of the following sponsors who are GSIS homeowners themselves: the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) which owns the Larry Ilagan Peace Center; Wendel Avisado and family (Atty. Avisado is also the City Administrator); Estrella O. Arguillas and Dr. Marilyn O. Arguillas; and Councilor Mabel Sunga-Acosta. The councilor grew up in GSIS.
Basic Reporting was taught by Walter Balane, MindaNews reporter and Central Mindanao Newswatch editor in Malaybalay, who also served as the Training Coordinator; Basic Photography was taught by Skippy R. Lumawag; Glory Pearl A. Dy, taught Digital Story-telling and served as Assistant Training Coordinator while her twin sister, Glory Rose, taught Basic Modern Dancing.
Copies of The Village Voice, the laboratory newsletter of the Basic Reporting class were distributed on Sunday, outside the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, during the 7th Parochial Fiesta and on Monday at the closing program.
After the closing program, the children and their parents/guardians had a potluck party.
Below are among the students’ outputs.