𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠? ‘𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑚,’ 𝑃𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑.
True enough, the university welcomed US Peace Corps lead by its 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒐 𝒀𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒄𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒓, 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌, for a courtesy call and coordination meeting on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.
PSU, through the Research, Extension and Innovation (REI) Division headed by 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐆. 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐲, accommodated the US Peace Corps representatives.
The meeting offered discussion on the overview of programs and initiatives by the US Peace Corps with the established partnership of PSU and Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) as the mother unit.
“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦,” 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝.
According to Mr. Yangco, the US Peace Corps will help Pangasinan State University to formalize volunteering systems in university-wide spectrum and to be able to put up a strong foundation of volunteerism in tertiary or Higher Education level.
Mr. Yangco shared his experience of volunteerism manifested during the pandemic saying that “𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 [𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠] 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐷𝑁𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡.”
Mr. Grayson Black, a US Peace Corps Volunteer, narrates a fulfilling testament earned through the act of volunteerism and single out roles of a volunteer as he, himself, is an advocate for a year now here in the Philippines for a two-year program.
In the meeting, Dr. Renato Salcedo (CED of PSU Lingayen) said that he is more than excited on this project and very willing to fast track necessary processes for the partnership. The GAD Director, Dr. Romary R. Lincod opened potential collaboration on the inclusion of life skills education, health education, marital and pregnancy, development of youth club aligned to volunteerism in the university.
PSU Director for Extension Services, Dr. Armando D. Junior, along with center heads and REI coordinators detailed the incorporation of Communiversidad in the program as the said project also speaks solely in volunteerism pioneered in the university.
PSU and US Peace Corps agreed on the implementation of the Peace Corps Volunteer Program in September this year right after the requirements are completed.
