NSTP 2
NSTP 2
Introduction
The Civic Welfare Training Service Program (CWTSP) is a program component of the
National Service Training Program (NSTP) under the Republic Act 9163 known as the National
Service Training Program Act of 2001 which refers to "programs of activities contributory to the
general welfare and betterment of life for the members of the community or the enhancement of
its facilities, especially those devoted to improving health, education, environment,
entrepreneurship, safety, recreation and moral of the citizenry (Section 3, d)."
The Civic Welfare Training Service Program II (CWTSP II) is a second semester course
which consists of projects and activities designed to encourage the students to contribute in the
improvement of the general welfare and the quality of life for the local community and its
various institutional components, more particularly in terms of "improving health, education,
environment, entrepreneurship, safety, recreation and moral of the citizenry (Section 3, d.)." It
includes lectures, community immersions/exposures and civic community project/s
implementation. The students are given the opportunity to do actual civic/community service
under the supervision of the teacher- facilitator. Through the different projects planned,
implemented and evaluated by the students themselves, they are expected to become
civic/community minded and socially responsible.
Colegio de San Juan de Letran recognizes a fertile ground and a greater manpower for
civic/community service involvement in the CWTSP. It is therefore the goal of Letran through
the CWTSP to form the students to become civic/community conscious, responsive and be
involved in civic welfare activities in the light of the Dominican spirituality towards the
concretization and actualization of Letran's thrust of forming the students to become "builders
and leaders of communities."
MODULE 1
The Ministry of Service
Introduction
Letran’s CWS Program is viewed as a continuation of Christ’s ministry to the poor. It
finds its model in the ministry of Christ of bringing the Good News to the people. It is
embracing discipleship with Christ whose teachings are founded on the love of God and the love
of neighbor.
That is, in the essence, organizing the people for a common purpose/goal.
According to the Philippines Business for Social Progress (PBSP), “CO is a systematic,
Planned and liberating change process of transforming a complacent, deprived malfunctioning
community into conscious, empowered, self-reliant and just humane entity and institution”. This
means, the community as a social unit, needs to learn so that they become empowered to address
problems confronting them.
CO is a process forged along people’s empowerment and the eventual formation of a self-reliant
organization that will facilitate development in a sustainable manner. Apart from the above
definitions, I would like to re-visit the concern that has been expressed for sometime now on the
misuse and abuse of the concept of CO.
Topic Discussion
As a process, CO is a series of interrelated activities with the aim of unifying the people into an
organization process, characterized by people’s participation in all aspect or stages of the
organizing process. CO is a complex process that goes beyond the mere setting up of a formal
organization. It is a process which ultimately influences the patterns of relationships in the
community through the development and maintenance of a normative system. Such norms are
expected to affect the values, belief, attitudes and aspiration of the people in the community.
As a result of the organizing process, CO refers to the resulting entity, which is the legitimate
and real organization of the people. It becomes the real manifestations of the people’s collective
wills to be able to participate, voice out and be heard and also to act and decide as unified body
(group). The resulting organization mirrors the people’s interests, sentiments and aspiration.
There is, without a flaw, the perennial question about the ethical considerations of the irreverent
attitude and the unconventional methods that effective COs have employed in their practice. But
Alinsky resorted thus:
Conscience is the virtue of observations and not of agent of action; in action, one does not
always enjoy the luxury of a decision that is consistent both with one’s individual conscience
and good of mankind; action is for mass salvation and not for individual’s personal salvation –
particularly in the midst of society’s innate hypocrisy, its contradictions and apparent failure of
almost every facet of our social and political life.
2. Of Power
By giving power to the people we bring about “the future secured in the people’s hands”. Power
is the basic element in the community organizing process. People’s power in CO is not based on
material wealth in status in society. A powerful people’s organization (PO) is, therefore, an
important means to find redress for their grievances and act against those conditions that appear
and dehumanize them.
People’s empowerment is making the people more assertive and advocative to face and fight
human rights violations and exploitations. It is a process involving the recognizing and building
upon innate capacity. It is not a program or activity but a process of enabling people, especially
the weak, the poor, the unorganized, the illiterate, the oppressed to learn to surmount their
powerlessness and to try to develop their God-given capacity to reach their in-born potential.
Becoming vocal, they may be guaranteed basic freedom, opportunities and self-governance at the
grassroots level.
Change is part of human life and conflict (or friction) indispensable in social change. To live is
to change. Change and conflict are fraternal twins in societal change. One functional aspect of
conflict is that it leads to a search for solutions. It is an instrumental for innovative change. It
also helps to release the latent socio-psychological frustration.
By a praxis here, it means that theory and practice o0f community organizing. In the day-to-day
community improvement or organizing work, it is difficult to identify or separate the theory from
the practice. Theory and practices should be so inter-woven and complementary, each testing and
strengthening the other. It also refers to reflection and action.
Conscientization refers to the process in which men (humans) are not recipients, but as knowing
subjects, achieve deepening awareness both of the socio-cultural reality which shapes their lives
and their capacity to transform that reality (Paulo Freire; 1972).
Conscientization involves reflection and action occurring simultaneously in the process of
organizing wherein critical reflection becomes form of action.
Features of Conscientization:
2. It mirrors and unmasks the different aspects (realities) of the system so that the people see
them for what they are.
3. It changes attempts by elites to petrify (solidify) the culture of poverty and galvanize
(electrifies) within people the spirit of critical awareness and mass protest. At the same time,
it promotes the spirit of cooperation, unity and sincerity among the people to fight against the
individualistic, competitive, exploitation and selfish characteristics of the elites.
1. People’s Empowerment
CO helps the community to become better equipped with appropriate skills, ethics to assert and
advocate for their rights, towards social equity, fairness and human dignity.
2. Building Organization
The organizing process brings into being relatively permanent structures that can better serve the
needs and aspirations of the community. A viable, self- reliant and grassroots-managed
organization (PO) is one of the aims of CO. through formal or non-formal set-ups or structures,
the community acquires the skills of community management.
3. Building Alliances
Community organizing aims to give the people, skills in intra and inter organizational
management and processes through group linkages and networking among the various groups in
the community.
4. Popular Democracy
5. Social Transformation
CO seeks to change the life of a community and the whole society into a democratic,
nationalistic, self-reliant and self-governing entity. An entity to address the needs of individual
members as well as community-based concerns such as environmental degradation.
It aims to identify local leaders and equip them with the necessary skills to better serve their
people.
CO like other concepts, has set of principles to guide the practice. It is people’s organized
response because the system it contends (struggles with) is organized:
Go to the people.
Live among them.
Learn from them.
Plan with them.
Work with them.
Start with what they know.
Build on what they have.
Teach by showing.
Learn by doing.
Not by showcase, but a pattern.
Not odds and ends, but a system.
Not piecemeal, but an integrated approach.
Not to conform, but to transform.
Not relief, but release.
Go to the people and live among the people. Learn the culture of the people and try to integrate
into the culture.
Learn, plan and work with the people. The people are highly knowledgeable about the local
situation so the community organizer must avail of this opportunity.
Start from where the people are in their development. There must be a proportionate blend
between top-down and bottom-up technologies in order to tap the indigenous resources in the
community.
Teach by learning first from the people. The community organizer must realize that local or
indigenous knowledge is not inferior to Western or scientific knowledge. Respecting the
people’s knowledge will encourage them to learn other skills to complement what they already
know.
Integrative and holistic approach. The community organizing must focus on the interdependency
and the interrelatedness of the factors needed to transform the situation of the people for the
better.
Cumulative and continuous. CO is not one time great even but grows gradually without break
until specific problems are addressed and phased-out.
Volunteerism is a cross-cutting social phenomenon that involves all groups in society and
all aspects of human activity. Volunteer action directly contributes to economic growth, social
welfare and protecting the environment. It also helps to build and/or consolidate social capital
and to promote more participation and self-initiative, thereby, establishing or stabilizing
democratic processes.
Volunteerism opens wide doors of opportunities for other things. Serving others can lead
an individual to new avenues which he can gain valuable experiences in life. Through volunteer
work, one can expand his horizon and learn how to live with other people and can even gain new
friends. The experience of living in a new environment can make him more understanding and
compassionate while at the same time learning new skills to develop his self-esteem and
interpersonal skills. Opportunities abound for him to share his skills and resources, but so much
more to share his hopes and dreams, and in the process, make other dreams come true.
Serving others through volunteer work can challenge one to tap his resources, get in
touch with his inner self and discover latent abilities he never thought he had. Given the
responsibilities of a volunteer, many people have discovered their deep sense of commitment and
the heart to help others. Volunteerism recognizes the power of individuals driven by their
commitment to make a difference wherever they are.
MODULE II
Introduction
The Letran’s CWS Program is founded on human development process which aims to
facilitate the human and technical formation, particularly, of its students who will engage in
volunteer work. The students receive an equally intense training/seminar on the different
dimension of development as defined under the CWS program prior to and during the actual act
of community work.
Health
Being fit relates to every aspect of our health - physical, emotional and mental. All three
are interconnected. And nutrition and physical activity are fundamental to each one.
Topic Discussion
Education
Environment
Environment Development
As development moves further and further to the metropolitan fringe, it competes with
open space habitat and prime farmland. Loss of open space impacts the environment in multiple
ways. First, we lose many of the natural landscapes features we value such as forests, wetlands,
etc. Second, we lose the functions that these features provide such as runoff control, wildlife
migration, etc. And in the instance of farmland loss, we hasten the use of lesser quality soils for
production, thereby heightening conversion of forests and wetlands for crop production and
increasing dependency on irrigation, fertilizers and chemicals. The communities should pursue
open space protection and development objectives through the clustering of development activity
away from sensitive natural areas.
Entrepreneurship
The government supports the small entrepreneurs by extending financial and technical
assistance, particularly production and marketing.
Safety
First Aid
We do not know when an emergency may occur and therefore we need to know how to
react quickly to such situation. Knowing how to react is essential in applying first aid which is
very crucial.
First Aid is the immediate care given to person who has been injured or suddenly taken
ill. It includes self-help and home care if medical assistance is not yet available or delayed.
Further defined, it is the skilled application of treatment, using facilities or materials available at
the time, that any trained individual gives an ill or injured person while waiting for medical
assistance.
The first aider deals with the whole situation, the injured person and the injury or illness.
He knows what not to do as well as what to do. He avoids errors that are frequently made by
untrained persons through well-meant but misguided efforts
It is important that we learn how to keep safe and how to get or give first aid. First aid
knowledge and skill can mean the difference between life and death, between temporary and
permanent disability, and between rapid recovery and long hospitalization.
Disasters, whether natural or man-made, have always been a part our lives and we have
learned to live with them by force of nature or by circumstances. Our resiliency to overcome
these difficulties is a symbol of our steadfastness and undaunted ness to rise from the rubbles and
recover from the wrath of nature.
Disaster comes to our lives and communities when we least expect them. It is therefore
important to empower ourselves to overcome our vulnerability to disasters and be ready to cope
with any disaster that may occur anytime.
The most effective way to protect ourselves and our homes from fire is to prevent a fire
from starting. Identifying and diminishing fire hazards in and around our homes are our first line
of defense.
Crime Prevention
Crime prevention is an act to be done in order that a crime could not happen. It is
through crime prevention where we can lessen crimes in our society. Don’t be a victim. Crime
prevention is everybody’s concern. We have to join hands in order to lessen crime in our
community it not totally eradicate it.
Recreation
Importance of Recreation
When people work the whole day, they become very tired and bored. Their tendency is
to divert their activity in the form of recreation. Recreation is a leisure activity which is done
during free time. It is referred to as a play for the young and diversion for the adults, because
they are enjoying the activity. It is believed that people occasionally need a break from their
routine activities and therefore providing community and recreational activities would allow
them to develop different skills.
Topic Discussion
Ethics in Politics
Graft and corruption have become institutions in government as they have been practiced
in practically all levels of government including the country’s highest office. Graft and
corruption have become too endemic that the government is losing its moral ascendency to lead
its constituents to the extent that it tends to deceive, bribe or coerce the people to submit to its
rule.
Ethics in Business
The industrial sector, being underdeveloped, cannot provide jobs to the labor surplus.
The growth of the urban poor population has been rapid that comprises the bulk of the informal
sector. Most being unskilled labor, they do not have the competitive edge in the employment
market. Some are lucky enough to be absorbed in construction industries that provide them
seasonal employment. Even those with academic qualification hardly find jobs and end up in the
export labor market. Those who cannot find oversees employment are forced to take jobs for
which they are qualified.
MODULE III
Topic Discussion
1. It has a definite endpoint; thus it is finite. Such a point would be when goals are achieved
and objectives reached.
2. A project, to be called one, requires a fairly involved mixture of series and parallel work
tasks, and a significant mixture of human skills, as well as resources and materials. Thus a
project is complex.
Topic Discussion
The following are the three major stages in the life span of a project:
1. Planning
This stage, using the network-based management information system would integrate the
elements of project planning which are outputs, identification and specification, activities and
work packages, activity scheduling, networking, resource requirements, determination, resource
estimating, allocation and scheduling.
The project plan must definitely state in specific and measurable terms the outputs or outcomes
expected of the project.
2. Scheduling
This stage involves superimposing the developed plans into a timetable, and working out
minimum cost schedules.
Work packages are groups of similar or related activities. Care must be taken in identifying the
appropriate level of activity that should be considered for control purposes specially during
costing.
Schedules are activity-duration. Scheduling is characterized by activity starts and finishes and
milestones (milestones usually correspond to events related to management review, output
deliveries, or project evaluation).
Activities are implemented with the use of various resources: manpower, money, certain defined
technologies, equipment, etc. Each activity requires all these resources in varying degrees.
Both the preceding stages should be finished prior to the start of actual operations of the project
after which project management will be involved in the monitoring and control stage. This
involves basically seeing to it that the actual progress conforms to the developed schedules. This
continues up to the end of the project and will involve many activities in the two preceding
stages due to inevitable changes in the developed plan.
The three major elements here are the following:
• Project Specifications provides direction and criteria for the realization of the project
objectives or outputs. They represent a set of references against which the project
management and project personnel will check their accomplishments. The project
specs consist of information on what to do, how and how good activities should be
done, when activities are done, when their outputs are due, and how much it costs to
perform such activities.
• Project Control includes all the plans developed in the project planning stage which
are carried out. The means used in project control are: regular reporting of project
participants to a project control office as agreed in the defined activities network;
progress control in which progress is check by comparing plans, the previous reports,
and current reports, analysis of project progress which triggers the feedback and
remedies or corrective actions required by the project and manpower utilization and
cost data which reflects analysis of the correlation among schedules, amount of work
done and cost.
Corrective actions are resorted to when deviations from plans have occurred or are
foreseen to occur. Modifications in system or project specifications can occur as a
last result.
Topic Discussion
1. Community Organizing
2. Social Analysis
In the planning and management of development projects, social analysis of the community is
specifically focused on the problems, needs and potentials of the people which will help them in
the systematic identification of potential projects which can help solve their problems and meet
their needs.
As in community organizing, what we are aspiring for is that the people must take the leading
role in the social analysis of their community. They should be the ones to identify their
problems, needs and capabilities. Just as in the experiential learning of the people in the
community organizing process, there should be a deepening of critical self-awareness of the
people about their community’s condition.
3. Project Identification
Project identification gains meaning as the people discover potential projects which can help
change oppressive conditions in their community and respond sensitively to their problems and
needs. That is precisely why, just as in the earlier steps in participatory project development and
management, we want the people to take the lead role in identifying development projects. We
want them, based on their own analysis of their conditions, to identify the development projects
feasible in their community.
There are numerous projects which can possibly help solve the people’s problems and meet their
needs. But in doing studies on development projects, we want the people to be critical in their
decision-making as to what projects would be implemented.
Just like in the preceding steps, we want the people, themselves, to the take the lead role in doing
feasibility studies for their development projects. In short, we want the feasibility studies to end
up pinpointing to the people, themselves, which projects are viable and how they can start on
their own, so that the foundation of a self-reliant and self-sustaining development is continuously
built on their own capabilities and resources.
At this stage in the process of planning and management of development projects, we want the
people to decide. Just as in the preceding steps, we want the people to decide what projects they
want to implement in their community. Their decision will be guided by their own feasibility
studies of the development projects.
Once the people have already selected and approved the projects which they will implement, we
want them to prepare a proposal and plan for implementing the project. At this stage, the people
must also prepare for the project implementation by having a clear-cut work plan and division of
responsibilities among the members. It should be kept in mind that the active involvement of the
people must be as extensive as possible. The whole organization must be motivated and
encouraged to decide and act for the project’s realization.
6. Project Implementation
In implementing the project, we want to see the people taking the lead role. At this stage in the
process of planning and managing development projects, the actual participation of the
people shall be fully harnessed in meeting their objectives. As it has been in the earlier
steps, this is also a developmental process in a continuum of action-reflection-action.
Once completed, the project must be continually managed and sustained. The project must serve
as an avenue for the people’s continuing capability building, self-reliance and empowerment.
What we want to happen is for the people to know and continuously search for more effective
ways of doing things. We want them to discover innovative ways of organizing their tasks and
collectively pursuing them.
If the project is intended to increase the income of the members of the organization, what we
want to see is a situation where, no matter how meager, benefits derived from the project are
divided equitably to those who labor to make the project a success.
In this activity, we want the people to monitor and evaluate their project. Monitoring and
evaluation are done so that the people can periodically discuss and act timely enough on
whatever problems they may encounter in the project’s implementation and management. In
short, monitoring the project is intended to improve on the project’s implementation and
management and make it more systematic and meaningful.
We also want the people to evaluate the project. We want them to have a critical self-awareness
about their strengths and weaknesses. In the course of their evaluation, we want to reinforce their
confidence on their own capabilities.
Topic Discussion
Project Conceptualization
1. Establishment of Project Objectives – Project objective must be clarified and agreed upon
before further action can be taken by any of the two contracting parties.
2. Project Pricing – Basically, two factors are involved in project pricing namely, TIME and
COST.
3. Preparing the Project Proposal - The project proposal is a document wherein the major
elements and details of a project, as well as the areas of agreement between two contracting
parties, are to be included. Important sections included in a project proposal are:
a. Rationale – gives the background and the surrounding events which have led to the
conceptualization of the project.
b. Project Objectives – determine what the project is supposed to achieve.
c. Methodology – outlines briefly the major steps to be taken in achieving the project
objectives.
d. Project Price and Source of Fund – give the community a general picture of how
much the project will cost and the manner of funding.
e. Importance of the Project to the community, to the local community or to the welfare
of the nation in general.
4. Inventory of Available Resources - It is imperative that before any planning can proceed, the
inventory of resources (both manpower and equipment) which the mother organization can
release for the project be taken. This provides planners with a basis for making decisions
regarding the acquisition of additional resources.