Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Power to the people

“Superwoman,” a daylong seminar-workshop geared towards empowering women, was held last Saturday at Barangay U.P. Campus. This was the project my groupmates and I conceptualized for our Local Government Class under Prof. Guanzon. The event commenced with lectures on R.A. 9262 and R.A. 9344, followed by a livelihood seminar, and culminated with a surprisingly enjoyable self-defense class. While we were planning for this event, we were worried that the participants might not be interested enough to stay for the whole program. Much to our surprise, that should have been the least of our concerns. I realized that if you give these women a sincere opportunity to learn, a venue for furthering their education, there would be no need for creating devices and incentives for them to stay.

It was definitely one of the best audiences I have, personally, encountered. The women were cooperative and very attentive; they listened to every word of our lecture, shared their experiences, and asked pertinent questions. They even took down notes. All we had was a simple set-up of a powerpoint presentation projected on the video wall in the barangay’s seminar room. This experience was in sync with the lecture on convergence we had in ICT class just last Friday. At the barangay level, the fairly simple and inexpensive use of a DVD player and television, or a projector to show taped lectures, seminars, demonstrations on various topics – new laws and ordinances, values formation, a review on basic school subjects, livelihood programs, health and fitness regimens, exercise videos – could bring sweeping changes to the lives of the citizens. Interestingly, I learned that Quezon City is known as the ICT capital of the country because of the highest concentration of ICT related industries within it and its efforts in raising educational competitiveness through ICT projects. It’s a shame if other self-proclaimed progressive cities do not follow suit. It’s not that hard, to begin with. If LGUs can spend millions on infrastructure and road-widening projects, surely it can invest a small amount in computers, wi-fi and similar gadgets. Information and education empowers, and as empowered individuals they can then seek to empower others.

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