Videography with JCI's very own Rich Estuesta

From Buhay Ko Videography with JCI Rich

You don't have to look far for great teachers. Just take a look at our workshop with Rich Estuesta, the Chair of JCI Manila's DARE to CARE project in Smokey Mountain. Rich brought wit and humor as well as a lot of cool gear from his day job as a professional videographer at his company DV Technologies. 

From Buhay Ko Videography with JCI Rich

Rich did a great workshop which covered everything from the history of videography up to how to do an interview.

From Buhay Ko Videography with JCI Rich Rich did such a great job that it inspired Mark, one of our Buhay Ko Bloggers to write post on the spot.  This saturday i guess we encountered the most dedicated guest we had, because of his words are true to his feelings and in his works. In his story of his career I can say he can have the good life of being an engineer, I just can`t imagine how much his income will be if he continued to be in this course. But he followed his heart and made his hobby, videography his career. His words of wisdom,advice,encouragement and teachings will never be forgotten in our life. Thank you KUYA RICHARD.... You can check out Mark's blog post here http://zamorai.blogspot.com/2010/08/session-with-kuya-richard-estuesta.html From Buhay Ko Videography with JCI Rich

loqal teach the Buhay Ko bloggers to be web journalists!

From Buhay Ko with Loqal

Our friend, Leo Magno and his team at loqal.ph have joined the Buhay Ko crew to teach the kids to be journalist.

From Buhay Ko with Loqal

The first meeting was an interview/ workshop. The loqal guys and girls taught the kids about journalism in the age of the internet while teaching them the craft as well. It was a great intro session for the kids and for the Buhay Ko team too.  Alex and his crew have graciously offered more workshops including advanced writing, advanced photography and advance videography. The loqal team even invited us to their studio so the kids can get some hands on experience!

From Buhay Ko with Loqal

The interview part can be seen at loqal's website or you can just scroll down and check out the post.

From Buhay Ko with Loqal

Bing Tan teaches the kid SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Analytics and Net Safety

I would like to thank my very good friend Bing Tan for being such an active partner and believer in the Buhay Ko project.

In the very beginning he helped create and develop the concept and is still playing a very active and time consuming role. Bing and his web company Thousand Minds conceptualized and created the buhayko.org website. Then Bing and his film friends at Rangefinder Filipinas helped document several of our sessions as well as mentor the kids on during our Photography Walkabout. And finally he has taught a workshop on SEO and internet safety.

It's pretty cool that the Buhay Ko Bloggers are now checking google analytics to see how their blog is connecting with the world.

Thanks Bing for helping us out and making this project ROCK!

Buhay Ko featured on Loqal!

Big Thanks to Leo Magno and his entire crew for the workshop/interview!

Smokey Mountain kids get chance to blog about everyday life

Posted at 8:14 pm August 16, 2010

Tags: Mobile Lifestyle

By Marjorie Gorospe

MANILA CITY, METRO MANILA – Children living in the infamous Smokey Mountain dumpsite can now share their everyday lives and likewise their dreams through blogging.

Through the initiative of the Young Focus Foundation and the Junior Chamber International (JCI), a project called “Buhay Ko sa Smokey Mountain” was initiated to teach select Smokey Mountain children to write blogs.

“One of the most effective therapies for children is to let them express their feelings. Teaching Smokey Mountain kids to blog is also one way of giving them equal opportunity to be connected to the World Wide Web despite their status in life,” says Alvin Tsoi, co-founder of the BuhayKo.Org

Aside from writing blogs, some 25 Smokey Mountain children were also taught how to take photos and videos to add to their blogs.

Tsoi says the project taps professionals like photographers, cinematographers and writers to conduct seminars for the 25 Smokey Mountain “scholars.”

“Our aim is to empower these marginalized kids through blogging. It is sort of a therapy for them and they were all excited when we introduced the project,” Tsoi says.

He adds that the project also aims to tell kids that there is also a future in blogging as a profession. “They get exposed to these kinds of professions and this can be their alternative profession someday if they want to,” he adds.

As part of the project, a special Young Focus Center was put up in Smokey Mountain where the scholars can use computers and cameras.

Seventeen-year-old Jovelyn Andia, one of the Smokey Mountain scholars, says she is thankful for being selected as one of the students taught to use the computer and camera.

“Pinakapaborito ko po itong blogging seminar namin kasi natutunan ko hindi lang pagsusulat pero pati pag-eexpress ng feelings ko at natuto pa ko na gumamit ng camera (The blogging seminar is one of my favorite sessions because I get to express myself and learn how to use a camera),” she says.

She says she can even visit the center to do research or assignments in school. Through this project, she says she now has an alternative career, like putting up a small photo studio in their area someday.

Buhay Ko Article in Manila Times: Smokey mountain kids into bloggers

Smokey Mountain kids turn into bloggers

By John Constantine G. Cordon Researcher

AT 17, Edmon has experienced hard labor and a harder life.

Being young and tall makes him unfit to work in a boat filled with sacks of rice that brawny and much older men must lift, carry and heave all day for scant wages.
But life in Edmon’s neighborhood was tougher. On May, he went with his brother to work in a barge. They helped transfer hundreds of sacks of rice from the boat to a delivery truck waiting at the port of Pier 18 in northern Manila.

It was a tiring, round-the-clock work from 5 a.m. to 5 a.m the following day. Edmon and his brother would dump hundreds of sacks of rice into a huge net that a crane would then lift. Men waiting at the port would pile them in a truck, ready to be delivered to dealers or placed inside a warehouse.

But he endured exhaustion. His arms grew sore during the first few days that he wanted to quit. But his brother told him that the job would actually make him bigger and that resting or sleeping would only worsen the pain. For P700 a day, he stayed.

During a month of toil and even after being found too young to work, he and his fellow laborers finished piling thousands of sacks of rice nearly three stories high. For the whole month of May, Edmon was tired, spent and sleepless.

Despite the torture, he admitted that he was grateful for the job since the money he earned allowed him to save for himself and help his mother win their daily battle against poverty.

Edmon’s story is actually available online for the whole world to read. He is just one of the 21 teenagers who are allowing other netizens to take a peek at their lives through blogs.

With their online narratives, they share shards of their lives as they grow up in one of Metro Manila’s most maligned places, Smokey Mountain.

Their posts give readers a chance to read first-hand accounts of their struggle with poverty, their wishes for themselves and their families, and even their thanksgiving for small blessings they receive even if a mountain of trash stands tall at their backyard.

The 21 kids, trained under the Buhay Ko sa Smokey Mountain (Buhay Ko) program, a joint program of Philippine Junior Chamber International and Young Focus Foundation (YFF), are taught how to write, blog, take photos, edit videos and manage their mini-sites, among others.

During an interview with The Manila Times, Edmon is much exuberant in person, gamely answering and retelling his story above without hesitation. More than interest in technology and the Net, he wound up in Buhay Ko out of curiosity.

After seeing an announcement on a blog workshop, he asked his coordinator, “What is a blog?” And the answer piqued his interest that he joined.
Edmon said that keeping a blog is more challenging than just sharing stories with friends because with a blog, the whole world is out there to see what he writes and so decided to publish online.

When his life was yet unknown to bloggers, he preferred to tell what his day was to select friends. Be it matters of the heart or just silly daily adventures, at least with his friends, he said, he knows who he is talking with.

For his first blog entry, Edmon said that he did not know what to write about because he was thinking that there could be hundreds of eyes that would read it.

Aside from maintaining privacy, language was also a challenge to him at first. His first post in English paled in comparison with his second in Filipino—Ang Unang Trabahong Naranasan ko (The First Job I Experienced).

But more than just typing away what was on his mind or thinking about privacy, Edmon now says: “Mas ok kung marami ang makakabasa ng blog ko. Mas marami din kasi ang makakaalam at mas marami din ang pwedeng magbigay sa ‘kin ng lakas ng loob [It’s much better when more people will read my blog. That way, more people will come to know about it and more people can inspire me].”

This is exactly what Buhay Ko aims for, said Ibba Bernardo, the chairman of the program—to teach students skills that would fuel their creativity, bolster self-confidence and fill in the gap that has been lacking in the many outreach projects conducted for Smokey Mountain.

“Why don’t we empower them by teaching ‘geek’ skills like blogging, taking pictures, video editing and let them tell their own stories. Content creation is important nowadays,” said Bernardo, a self-confessed geek himself.

“Usually projects of different foundations focus on health or medicine. They forget about the mental and intellectual aspect. We want the students to be confident because part and parcel of success is confidence,” added Howard Paw, one of the Buhay Ko team members.

Through a series of sessions, Buhay Ko is introducing blog writing, photography and video editing, among others, to these teenagers who grew up in a family of scavengers.

Their workshops, held Saturdays from June 19 to August 7, invited well-known speakers, among them Vince Golangco, editor in chief of WhenInManila.com; Aids Tecson of the Under Ground Logic; and Jun Valbuena, a celebrated wedding photographer.

Bernardo calls today’s era as generation upload, where kids get connected and go online. Along with it is an information divide, he says. It is either you are connected or not. And getting connected while sharpening creativity is what Buhay Ko wants the students to learn.

Ronnel Golimlim, the executive director of YFF, says the kids have talent waiting to be tapped. He recalls that the photographs the students took gave hints of artistry.

Pictures taken by a student, Jovelyn, made Buhay Ko believe that she has what it takes to be a photographer. Jovelyn, naturally shy as how Golimlim describes the young girl, is volunteering during workshops and is actively participating.

YFF wants the students to experience and learn new things, while honing their creativity and building self-confidence in the process.
And how are the 21 students faring?

Bukay Ko Vice Chairman Alvin Tsoi said, “Sa simula, makikita mo na takot sila mag-blog. Tumatakbo na kami ng 2 to 3 sessions, ang kaunti pa rin nang nagpo-post. After sometime, bigla na lang nag-pick up. They got over their inhibition. Gumaganda na rin yung mga kwento nila. [At first, you’ll see that they’re scared to blog. We’re already into 2 to 3 sessions, but only a few were posting entries. After sometime, they suddenly picked up. They got over their inhibition, and their stories werre getting better].”

Golimlim is proud of the students for the progress that they have achieved and is overwhelmed that the program, with a little fine-tuning, can be replicated in other areas.

Now that they see the kids are learning before their eyes, Paw himself “feels good that he is helping and that the effort was all worth it.” The positive results, he said, make him more willing to help and do more for the students, who have become close to them.

As for Tsoi, “Wala pa kong anak, pero feeling ko parang may inaalagaan ako. Na kahit nasa office ako o nasa school ako, tsine-check ko yung blog nila. I comment. Nandoon yung support. [I still don’t have a kid but it feels like I’m taking care of someone. Even though I’m at the office or at school, I check their blogs. I comment. The support is there].”

For Bernardo, it’s so hard to find a word for the success of the project and the overwhelming support people have given them. He does “feel good and ‘yun ‘yun! [that’s it] I’m really happy about this.”

As the lectures came to a close, Edmon, given the time, would want to write more about himself and about his life in Smokey Mountain, and share what he learned with his siblings and other students in YFF.

“Ang turo nga sa amin, kaya ka nagba-blog kasi gusto mong magkwento. Gusto kong maraming nakakabasa at gusto ko pang magkwento para mas maraming ma-inspire. [What was taught to us was you’re blogging because you want to tell a story. I want more people to read and I want to tell more stories so that more will be inspired].”

Article in Manila Bulletin: From scavengers to blogging geeks

From scavengers to blogging geeks

By RACHEL C. BARAWID

August 11, 2010, 7:56am

The mere mention of Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila conjures images of a gigantic heap of garbage, of dirty children scavenging for food and anything of value that they can sell for a few pesos.

While this picture still exists, more and more children are slowly breaking free from the chains of poverty to give themselves a chance for a better life. With the gradual metamorphosis of Smokey Mountain into a livable surrounding is the transformation of its young residents who have discovered the power of education and the Internet.

Geek to the rescue

Learning a whole gamut of skills from blogging or writing online, photography, to videography, cinematography, and multi-media editing, the young people of Smokey Mountain are discovering all these under the tech education project initiated by a group of tech-savvy, idealistic, and socially aware young professionals led by Ibrahim Rasul Bernardo, a freelance tech writer and new member of the Manila Junior Chamber International (JCI).

As part of their contribution to Manila JCI’s outreach program, Bernardo’s group thought of giving a voice to the youth of Smokey Mountain through the internet, via blogging.

“If you’re a lawyer or doctor madaling tumulong. Pero if you’re a geek what can you do? I am a geek, so I thought of teaching the Smokey Mountain youth to be geeks. More importantly, it’s empowering the marginalized sector to share the story of their lives to the world through blogging,” says Bernardo.

In partnership with the Young Focus Foundation (YFF), a non-government organization dedicated to uplift the lives of children living in Smokey Mountain, the Manila JCI established the “Buhay Ko sa Smokey Mountain: Naka blog ka na ba sa Bundok ng Basura?” project to teach these third-generation scavengers how to be blog through a series of short courses on various disciplines.

Some 25 high school and college participants who are scholars of YFF are attending the Saturday workshops which began in June. The teachers are volunteer professionals like cinematographer Rody Lacap, writer-editor Art Ilano, bloggers Hannah Viallasis, Vince Golangco and Aids Tecson.

The students are also provided with digital cameras to help them capture photos and videos that are visual aids for their blogs.

MoAnima animation studio country manager Lyshiel Valencia has likewise volunteered to hold a workshop on drawing and basic animation to encourage the youth to consider a career in game development.

The blogs of the participants can be viewed at www.blogspot.com withwww.buhayko.org as the portal.

Reaching out

Bernardo revealed that the students were quite apprehensive and reluctant to blog at first.

“Connecting with the world is kinda daunting and scary kaya medyo kinakabahan pa sila. But I can see that there is an eagerness to learn. During workshops, they focus on their teachers and the lesson. They even ask intelligent questions. They’re such a productive class,” relates Bernardo.

Ronnel Gulimlilm, executive director of YFF, on the other hand, lauds the project for its relevance and as a worthy and powerful tool to help empower the poor.

“The project is very much welcome, very inspiring and very doable. The youth of Smokey Mountain really need to find themselves. They need to find who they are and they need to express themselves in their point of view. It’s what we call championing the students,” he adds.

Bernardo says the poor people of Smokey Mountain have very interesting and inspiring stories to tell, and can even serve as an eye-opener to the public. This same reason has urged him to opt for a higher goal which is to create a curriculum that can be used to reach out to other marginalized groups. He intends to replicate the project in the mountains with the tribal communities.

Standing tall and proud

One of the participants, 17-year-old Maria Jovelyn Andia, finds blogging a whole new world where she can express herself and connect with other people.

But this IT freshman from the Unibersidad ng Maynila admits she fell in love with photography and is determined to further hone her skills to be a professional photographer someday.

Andia is also looking forward to the time when her friends would be able to read her blogs and get inspired by her simple stories.

“Sa Smokey Mountain 1 (the original dumpsite which has undergone major transformation) may mga Internet shops din. Sa isang building (permanent housing where she lives) may apat na internet shops kaya mahilig mag computer ang mga bata. Seven years old pa lang, may Facebook na. Sa pag-aaral namin nitong mga iba’t ibang skills sa workshops, nais ko na mai-share din ang kaalamang ito sa mga bata sa amin,” she discloses.

Rameses Banzuela Jr., meanwhile, wants to change the negative image associated with residents of Smokey Mountain through blogging and through his achievements.

“Pag taga Smokey Mountain ka, ang naiisip kaagad ng mga tao, sobrang baho at dumi sa lugar mo. Pero ako po, ipinagmamalaki ko na taga Smokey Mountain ako. Gusto ko ishare sa pagblo-blog na hindi lang puro kahirapan at puro pangit ang nakikita sa amin. Dito masaya ang mga tao kahit may problema.Balang araw pag nag tagumpay na ko sa tulong ng mabubuting tao, maipapakita ko na dapat din ipagmalaki ang mga tulad namin, na may karapatan din kami gaya ng iba,” ends 15-year-old Banzuela.

Teacher Vijay on Tek Tok TV!

Teacher Vijay on Tek Tok TV! Thanks Vince and Hannah for all the support!