GETTING TO KNOW CEBU
Belgian and Dutch youth leaders engage Cebuano youth
Building houses for the poor and interacting with farmers may not be one’s idea of a fun activity on a trip to a different country, but that certainly wasn’t the case for Cebu’s visitors recently.
For the past three weeks, Dutch and Belgian youth learned how to be farmers and how to build houses, and discovered more about Cebu in an exciting and interactive way.
Eighteen Dutch and Belgian youth delegates’ journey in the 4th run of the Multi-City Youth eXchange 2016 (MYX2016) in Cebu was a truly enriching experience, not only for them but also for the Cebuano youth that they interacted with.
Since the group arrived in Cebu last July 20, they have been busy with activities with Cebuano youth leaders, and government and civil society leaders.
MYX2016 is a three-week immersion program in Cebu for Dutch and Belgian youth, aimed at promoting knowledge sharing and cross-cultural understanding, people-to-people connection, and development service. Delegates got a taste of living in Cebu by living with foster families during their stay.
“It’s a very nice and a fun experience. It is always great to meet new people. The cultural differences make this journey really special. We’ve visited a lot of different projects and they were true eye-opener. I hope to have the chance to visit Cebu again. I’m gonna enjoy the couple of days left,” said Rick Cornelisse, a Dutch youth delegate.
Upon the delegates’ arrival, a dinner with their host families and Pinoy counterparts welcomed them at the Cebu City Hall. For 21 days, a number of activities were prepared for them to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the culture, history, and people of Cebu.
The delegates visited several institutions, such as the Casa Gorordo Museum, Sto. Niño Church, Magellan’s Cross, Fort San Pedro, and Museo Sugbu as part of their culture and heritage tour last July 21 with the help of the Culture and Heritage Unit of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) and the Department of Tourism 7.
With the theme “Poverty,” MYX2016 allowed participants to take part in the Cebu Urban Quest and Social Discovery Walk last July 23 facilitated by 2Xplore Outdoor Classroom and Young Minds Academy volunteers as an experiential and interactive way of introducing them to Cebu City. They walked through various areas of downtown and uptown Cebu City including Carbon Market, Pasil Fish Market, Taboan Market, Larsian Cebu City, and Calamba cemetery, riding Cebu’s public utility vehicles and a ‘tartanilla.’
They also explored and immersed with Cebu’s locals and different government and social welfare institutions, such as the Don Bosco Youth Center-Pasil, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology - Operation Second Chance, Missionaries of the Poor, Philippine Accessible Deaf Services, Lihok Pilipina Foundation Inc. and Hospicio de San Jose, among many others.
Last week, the MYX delegates were also at the 6.5-hectare relocation site in Barangay Paknaan in Mandaue City, helping build their community hall through the Habitat for Humanity. The delegates were hosted by residents in the area for four days.
“I think it’s a very good experience for us now
that we know the people who live here. We learned how to use what we have and to be contented of it. Now, I’m happy with the small things. People here are so happy. I’m very happy with them.” Said Judith Verplancke, a Belgian delegate.
The delegates also got to visit the Inayawan Dumpsite, Buhisan Dam, and Archival’s Eco House. An orphanage immersion at the Albert Schweitzer Familienwerk Foundation Philippines, Inc. was also held.
Delegates were set to return to their home countries over the weekend.
MYX is organized by the RAFI- Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center and its partners, the Vriendschapsband Haarlemmermeer Cebu (VHC) from Netherlands, the City of Kortrijk in Belgium, the City of Cebu, the Central Visayas Network of NGOs (CENVISNET), and Young Minds on eXplore 4 (YMX4).