PEPPY @ Kalookan

For our CWTS this second semester, we were assigned to PRRM or the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement for the topic of Gender Sensitivity. Our group (Jose Marie Espino, Clarice Ng, Van Guno, Olivia Solomon and I) was assigned to Project PEPPY or the Peer Education and Public-Private Partnership towards improved Reproductive Health Information and Services of Out-of-School Youth. The main objective of the said project is to raise awareness about reproductive health to the youth via the youth themselves. It will be the people who have experienced what they are teaching and who are from the same age group who will educate as PRRM feels that this will be the best way to teach the youth.

Starting November of last year, we’ve been going to PRRM every Monday. Since then we’ve attended a seminar on Sustainable Development, prepared Socio-Economic profiles of provinces and others. We’ve also been briefed several times on our field work for Project PEPPY. We had several choices for where we want to go for our field work and we chose Kalookan. Last week, Jan. 20, we finally went and I can say that it was truly an unforgettable experience.

We went to PRRM at around 12 because we were due to be in Kalookan at 2 pm. Kuya Mickey picked us up from the PRRM offices and at around 12:30, we left for Kalookan. We took an FX, a jeepney and a tricycle, taking around less than 2 hours, to get to Phase 8 in Bagong Silang, Kalookan.

When we got there, the session was already starting. There were around 10 youth residents who were gathered in a small house that PRRM rented from Gawad Kalinga. The facilitators were Kuya Jeff, Kuya Adan, and Kuya Edwin. They were discussing the different aspects of love and infatuation and how the youth of today tend to mix the two up. This misconception eventually leads to the youth of today to get into sexual relationships. The session eventually got to proper family planning and the use of contraceptives. There was also a portion wherein the facilitators taught the participants how to properly use a condom that can protect them from unwanted STIs

.

It was really interesting to see how the residents were participating in the activities prepared by the facilitators. The activities were meant to make the participants appreciate and love themselves more. I can also tell that they were having fun at what they were doing.

After the session, we got a chance to talk to the participants and facilitators. The facilitators were happy with what they were doing because they knew that they could help others. One of them was also from Bagong Silang and he said that this was somehow his way to give back to the community that he came from. When we talked to some of the participants, it was interesting to know that they came of their own free will. They said that they were invited by their friends and they really came because they wanted to learn on how to make their lives better.

After we’ve finished talking to everyone, we all said our goodbyes and went our way. We will be doing case studies on the participants and the facilitators, as well as a script for a video presentation about PEPPY. I would say that it was a really nice experience. It was great to be able to interact with other people who face different life circumstances. I learned a lot not only from the session but also from the people I was able to meet and talk to and I wouldn’t mind coming back again to see more of Project PEPPY in action.

– Samantha Joy U. Cinco; 2012-10478