IN ONE of my previous articles, I mentioned being elected as one of the special advocacy representatives for the Oro Youth Development Council (OYDC). Just to give you a bit more context, the OYDC is an organization comprised of elected representatives from the community-based, school-based, out of school, faith-based, cultural-based, and special advocacy-based youth and youth-serving organizations as well as the SK Federation's Chair and Vice-Chair of the city of Cagayan de Oro. (Wow! That's a mouthful!) The council was formed at the Oro Youth Convergence last July 2018.
The Oro Youth Ideation Camp was a three-day long event from Aug. 3 to 5 at the Mass Specc Hostel located at Tiano-Yacapin Sts., Cag. De Oro City. The ideation camp is a think tank of representatives from the different sectors to develop our leadership skills and coming up with the city's youth agenda for the next three years.
Day 1 began with lunch which was a relatively good omen for me. The program opened with food. Food. Food is good, right?
A couple of representatives started mingling with each other. Mostly, they come from their own sectors. I started talking with Kring Gebe from Kuya Fish Campaign, Inc. She's also my co-representative from the Special Advocacy Sector. We were wondering how the camp would go but felt pretty positive about the results after it.
Seeing the diversity of the council reflective of CdeO's demography, it also got me thinking that we were kind of like the Galactic Senate from Star Wars. Each representative brought with them the hopes, aspirations, and concerns they have from their respective organizations. Of course, I'd like to believe I'm Queen Amidala – big hair, weird eyebrows, and a woman representing a country (or in my case, an organization). With the way the sessions went, our organization's hopes, aspirations, and concerns weren't going to fall on deaf ears (unlike the Galactic Senate).
A series of sessions on self-awareness, personality traits, and leadership styles were conducted and facilitated by Lord Saver Centina the whole day. I got to be mindful of my own strengths and weaknesses as a person and got an idea why I lean towards certain styles of leadership.
In the evening, Atty. Ernesto "Ton" Neri gave us a talk on politics and governance. He was very bubbly even at 8 in the evening. His passion towards good governance was apparent. He started explaining the importance of power, authority, and legitimacy, and how these factors make up the effectiveness and impact of a person in power of a society.
I was enlightened at how he presented what it's like to be a citizen of this country. We can't just complain and leave everything to the government. We need to engage as citizens. We need to co-own the problems and co-share solutions between the public and private sector. It made me realize the responsibility as a youth representative and a citizen of CdeO.
At the end of the first day of camp, it also got me thinking that being a leader ultimately starts from the self. The more you know yourself, the more use your talents and skills not just for your own self gain but eventually for the good of others. We're like trees growing inward; stretching our roots underground, and gradually raising our branches towards the sun and bear fruit.
