Future Leaders Of Toledo City To Start Training At RAFI-KAC

To better equip themselves in implementing community projects at the barangay level, 70 student leaders from Toledo City, Cebu will start undergoing this month a Three-Phase Youth Leadership Development Program organized by the Carmen Copper Corporation (CCC) in partnership with Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc – Kool Adventure Camp (RAFI – KAC).

The program is a long-term investment that starts with an initial three-day training to strengthen fundamental personal skills for effective personal leadership and self-confidence; to conquer personal fears; and for them to gain deeper understanding of their selves to become active and effective members of a team.

“This partnership is one more step in injecting into the community a program that produces significant transformation. I can guarantee that participants of this program will never be the same when they complete the training. This program creates people free from the normal human constraints which hold them back from becoming what they can be. We are very excited to be part of this program and thankful to Carmen Copper Corporation for engaging us,” said RAFI President Roberto Aboitiz.

The second phase of the training is designed for participants to learn the basic principles of project management for to create initial assessment of their local communities and to craft project proposals for implementation. Outstanding project proposals will be given counterpart seed funding by CCC.

The third and final phase of the training will gather project team leaders for them to share their best practices on project implementation and provide them opportunities for network building. Outstanding projects will be recognized during the awarding ceremony by end of the year.

“These projects are really for the benefit of the community. In terms of training activities, this will have a mix of indoor activities, knowledge building, while a large part of it is sending the participants to the community to practice the skills they learn,” said RAFI – KAC Director Edvan Loh.

The participating national high schools are from the barangays of Don Andres Soriano, Cantabaco, Bunga, Media Once, Magdugo, and General Climaco and private school De La Salle Andres Soriano Memorial College.

“We are very impressed with the program of RAFI – KAC. We in CCC want to develop the youth to become the future leaders, and we want to do this in collaboration with RAFI,” expressed CCC Vice President and Resident Manager Rodrigo Cal.

“This is a highly-sophisticated and productive kind of training that will help supplement and complement our already established school curriculum for our high school students,” also said Department of Education-7 Education Program Supervisor Victor Intig.

The partnership was sealed through the signing of a memorandum of agreement between CCC and RAFI last February 11 at the Cebu Grand Hotel.

KAC has been offering adventure education programs for leadership and team development for youth and professionals for the last decade. It is a program under the Leadership and Citizenship focus area of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI). It has recently opened the Philippines’ first fully dedicated adventure education center last August 2. For more information on KAC and its services, contact 260-9000 local 1001 and look for Althea May Santillan, or visit www.kac.rafi.org.ph or www.facebook.com/kooladventurecamp.