Planning for the PBL, the way that we wanted to know is by both asking people about how they feel and at the same time we wanted to observe as well the lifestyle of the barangay is. For me, what will measure the safety of a place is how safe people feel. When people feel safe in a place, I believe that it is safe. On the barangay being strong, we consider components like the presence of plants for environmental strength, and as for their strength together as a barangay, I believe that their relationships and closeness together can measure that. And sustainability would be based on how strong the barangay will be long term and the system that they have to sustain the barangay. We need to observe the lifestyle of the people in the barangay, their way of life. The relevant information that we need is the current programs of the barangay and the outcome and results of it. This is so we can improve on it and try to make more programs that would be effective. Questions that we need to ask are ones probably related to the action part and what they are doing about the problems. This way we know their method and we can find a way to improve it. We want to ask questions about the things they do related to our goal.
Personally, I think this project is very significant to me. This is because I believe that little changes would spread and affect other people. So by helping in this barangay, I think it can be a stepping stone for others and the country will eventually grow. At first I felt scared of the task because I felt that it would be a vary hard. I didn’t think we would be able to do it. The thought of going out to the community to help them was really intimidating. But on the other hand, I felt joy as I could help and contribute to the growth of a barangay and possibly a country in the future. It gave me the sense of hope that we could spark a change.
I was assigned to Barangay Santa Lucia. I observed that the barangay is a residential one. There are a lot of cars and houses. There are parts of the barangay that have very narrow streets like the street of the barangay hall. Only a little plants were seen in the area. A problem that they encountered according to one of the kagawads is traffic. I believe that cars and vehicles in general contribute to the present condition of the barangay. It is good as the people use it for transportation of people and goods but on the other hand it is part of the problem of traffic. The people park on the narrow streets and that makes it hard for people to pass through it. It also causes pollution to the barangay. I do not think that is is a fruit of prudent decision making. I believe this because they only saw the good side the good can do to them but they did not see what bad it could cause the barangay. For example in the traffic problem of Santa Lucia, they saw that vehicles would help them in transportation and it does, but the fact that they have too much vehicles and no where to park it, it causes even more traffic as no one can pass. Although currently, the local government and the barangay officials are trying to solve this issue. The barangay also has a problem of having very limited quantities of plants. This is a very big concern as pollution is a very big problem. Pollution can affect the health of people, and plants are one of the things that can cleanse our air. So having only a little plants is a big issue. This hinders the barangay from being safe because it is not safe if it is an unhealthy area. When the area is dirty, it is very bad for the health to live and be there. So it hinders the place from being safe. Which means it will be very harmful in the long run and therefore not strong and sustainable. For me making the environment safe, strong and sustainable would be the solution. The people would have a good place to live in and it will be an encouragement for them to keep it that way. I felt nervous in doing the project because I’m very shy. But at the same time I felt excited to help. I think the lessons are important in the PBL because it helps us in interacting with the the people and think of what would be best for the barangay. We discerned when we were trying to make a project for the barangay as we wanted what is best for it. Prudence was seen in working on our PBL when we were interviewing the people. We would be cautious with what we would say to them and ask them. My understanding of Discernment and Prudence was deepened as I learned that it can be applied in daily life.
I feel like it would help because these environmental programs are made to address these specific issues of the barangay. It would help them live in a better area and at the same time make life better for them. It will have a big change and impact in their lives as they would have a different and easier lifestyle. In my proposal of a community garden, it would impact them as is would be easier and cheaper to get vegetables. And at the same time, the plants they plant get to cleanse the air making it a better environment. We needed to discern which problem we wanted to tackle,what would really help the barangay most. This helped us come up with solutions to solve
the problem that we chose. Our advocacy is a fruit of prudential judgement as we looked ahead for possible problems and how we would solve it when it happens. It made our advocacy stronger in a sense that we are ready for the challenges. I discovered that the there are a lot of flaws inside the community that we don’t notice and when noticed, people do not take action. People just ignore the problem and continue with life. I also saw what it feels like to be exposed to other people communicating with the community. I helped others by trying to come up with solutions and programs for their community’s problems. I might have hindered my teammates at times when I don’t execute like we expected. The most challenging would probably be going out to do the research in the place because the outside world is a whole different world where we talk to people we don’t know. But at the same time, it was also one of the most powerful learning moments as I have learned the problems the barangay has and I can help fix it. I can use what I have learned to further help using my experiences of talking and interacting with people.
KalikaSAN JUAN 