More than 80 youth representatives from Pampanga joined some 260 others from all over the country in attending the 2011 World Camp in Korea from June 27 to July 16 under the helm of the International Youth Fellowship (IYF).
The IYF is a global organization established to develop leaders for the next generation. This was learned from Luningning Vergara, head of the Pampanga Public Employment Services Office (PESO), who, with PESO coordinator for youth affairs staff Jonathan Lintag joined the Kapampangan delegation in their Korean journey with the personal support of Governor Lilia G. Pineda.
The delegation, headed by Board Member Krizzanel Garbo, SK chair for Pampanga, is composed of participants aged 15 to 35 years old from the various youth groups in the province – in school, out-of-school, and the Sangguniang Kabataan organizations.
According to Vergara, the world youth camp is an annual event which seeks to strengthen leadership capabilities and change the mind set of the youth to healthier and more productive endeavors. This year’s event was reportedly attended by nearly 4,000 young people from over eighty countries where the IYF is established.
A leadership training was conducted from June 27 to July 3 while various camp activities were done from July 4 to 16.
The participants, Vergara related, claimed to have learned much from the experience despite the fatigue and lack of sleep due to the many activities they participated in.
They were given Korean language lessons, lectures on leadership and joined a mini Olympics and Korean traditional games and a tour of interesting spots in Busan and neighboring areas.
“We could learn much from Koreans in terms of discipline, infrastructure development and how the government takes care of their people, particularly the senior citizens,” Vergara observed.
She observed that people in their 50s or 60s are still gainfully employed as gardeners and cleaners in establishments and “it would be so good if we could do this in our own country”.
Vergara explained that the Pampanga PESO disseminated the information regarding the invitation to the IYF world camp to the municipal PESOs which, together with the local government units (LGUs), selected their participants to the world camp.
The delegation from Pampanga was composed mostly of youth from San Simon and Lubao whose LGUs supported their representatives’ travel financially, Angeles City , a few from the City of San Fernando and one from Floridablanca.
For the year 2011, world camp plans have been scheduled in various countries where IYF is established. In the Philippines, the world camp schedule on October 24 to 28 will be held in Metro Manila while the Pampanga chapter will hold its own camp tentatively in April 2012. (Pampanga PIO)
