Three from the Dole Philippines School (DPS) Grade 12 students of HUMSS strand, Gilmore Leaño, Sairah Sipe, and Ronjey Rendon, underwent the 2-week Student Work Immersion Program in Mahintana Foundation Inc. in January 2019. Mr. Leaño and Ms. Sipe were designated to work in the Ridge-to-Reef (R2R) Project under the supervision of R2R Coordinator Ms. Ella Mae Babao. On the other hand, Mr. Rendon was assigned in Nutripan Project under Ms. Yvonne Templonuevo’s watch. Admin & Finance Officer Ms. Liza D. Hora received a Certificate of Appreciation from DPS in behalf of the organization. Adolescent Reproductive Health Volunteer Ms. Wiki Hamilton was also recognized in the speech for her invaluable support to the immersion work experience.
During the Grade 12 Culmination Program of DPS on March 8, 2019, the immersion students were given the opportunity to share their work experiences. Booths were also set up with photos of their immersion work. Mr. Leaño representative of the HUMSS students who worked in Mahintana, shared:
“No one has ever become poor by giving.” Yes, nothing is going to lose when you help someone.
“Building resiliency and sustaining development has been the bullseye of the institution. Empowering people’s capacity has also been greatest investment – we learned, through this institution, on how to help others by helping themselves. It is not just all about helping others and giving what they need but also helping them to stand and live by their own efforts. As we entered the foundation, the Mahintana force had embraced us with love and care as if we had never felt like anyone else inside the room. In fact, they treated us like family. Two weeks were a bit short for us. Short as it was, however, we cherished the moments that the institution had taught us.”
More than the appreciation of the environmental and socio-economic development interventions, he cherished the learnings and experiences, as well as, relationships built with the mentors and co-workers in Mahintana. Also, he mentioned that with Mahintana, they were able to immerse with the culture and dream of the community and travel to the project sites as an exhilarating experience. Mr. Leaño encouraged the incoming Grade 12 HUMSS and Grade 11 students to freely express their insights and creative juices in developing the society.
HUMSS, or Humanities and Social Sciences, is one of the tracks offered to senior high school in DepEd’s Kto12 Program. It is the strand for students who will take up communication arts, liberal arts, education, and other social science-related courses in college. Meanwhile, the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) strand students worked in Dole Philippines, Inc.
