In recognition of the important role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) at this time of COVID-19 Pandemic, the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) hosted a webinar entitled, “Responding to the Challenges of the Pandemic through Volunteerism: Some Good Practices of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)” on 27 August 2020 via video conference.
The webinar aims to encourage HEIs to devise plans and opportunities to engage their students, alumni and faculty and staff as volunteers in response to the pandemic.
In his opening message, PNVSCA Executive Director Donald James D. Gawe emphasized that the purpose of the webinar is to share knowledge on how the academic sector are contributing to the overall goal of keeping volunteerism as a way of life of every Filipino, and how volunteerism was used as platform in delivering community-related services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that HEIs plays a great role in society, as they have the expertise as well as the resources, that through various academic disciplines they can practically participate in all aspects of COVID 19 response with the faculty, staff, students as well as alumni that can be tapped as volunteers and expressed hope to identify effective modalities of volunteering during the pandemic such as online volunteering.
Presenters in the webinar included: Batangas State University (BatSU) represented by its President Tirso A. Ronquillo, College of Saint Benilde-School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (CSB-SDEAS) Manila represented by its Program Officer Mr. William Sidayon, Visayas State University (VSU) represented by the Dean of Students Dr. Manolo B. Loreto Jr., and Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan University represented by the Vice President for Social Development Prof. Roel Ravanera. The presenters showcased their respective institutions’ existing volunteer programs, highlighting the initiatives and best practices undertaken during this time of COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the projects and activities that they have conducted were donation drives, psychosocial support, production of PPEs, communication campaigns, and relief operations which provided invaluable assistance to frontliners, patients, and the marginalized sector affected by the pandemic.
Dr. Grace Aguiling-Dalisay, Director of the UP-Ugnayan ng Pahinungod System in her reaction cited the importance of having a volunteering champion who is ideally the head of the institution or the President in a university setting, documentation to make everyone aware of myriad possibilities of volunteering, source of learning from past experiences and historical purposes. She also identified areas for further discussion such as fund sourcing for logistics, volunteer training & documentation among others and the duty of care for volunteers and volunteer managers especially for those responding to the COVID-19 pandemic Director Cherrie Melanie Ancheta-Diego of CHED-Office of Programs and Standards Division served as the moderator who also provided a very comprehensive synthesis of the webinar.
The webinar had more than 300 participants from different public and private HEIs across the country who joined via zoom and facebook live. Through the College of Saint Benilde-SDEAS, the forum was made inclusive for the deaf and mute population through the sign language done by Ms. Maritess Buenaventuura.
(Written by: Angeles E. Gavino) The author is currently the Volunteer Service Officer, Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency.
Visit PNVSCA website (www.pnvsca.gov.ph) and PNVSCA Facebook (facebook.com/PNVSCA) for other stories and information on volunteering.