Awarding of Best Volunteer Experience Essays in Discover. Act. Volunteer Fair

Volunteers are people whose heroic efforts are left unsung. But the
time has come for them to have all the attention and to celebrate the
great service they have given to the community and society.

The Best Volunteer Experience Essay Writing Contest, a project of
iVolunteer.ph in cooperation with United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and
Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA),
became a venue for volunteers––whether seasoned or green––to relate
their challenging yet wonderful experiences. The 6 winning personal
essays have become sources of inspiration to the people who have read
them.

In "Children Have Dreams Too!" the lack of a college degree did not
hold back Maricel Barahan in her efforts to help children with
learning difficulties realize their own dreams.

Ms. Christina Alejandro in "The Seed" showed us how volunteering is
like planting seeds. We never know how tall or how wide the plant
will become. We just water it everyday and let it grow.

In the crannies of Davao City's depressed areas, paraplegics,
hemiplegics and children with developmental delays brought meaning
into Michael Velilla's life as a volunteer physical therapist in "A
Different Road."

In "Going Against The Tide," Jan Andrew Zubiri received lessons on
flexibility, performance and courage while at the same time saving
the breathtaking beauty of life beneath the waves in a volunteer's
summer journey.

Children with leukemia taught volunteer Christina Alejandro more
about courage, perseverance, faith, and hope than any book she could
read as she shared with us her experiences in "The Sixth Floor."

Ms. Theresa Cayton is "A Sacred Volunteer" who is willing to go out
of her comfort zone to respond to the challenges of her work on river
and lake rehabilitation. She gives untiringly her time and effort.
That she learns from her experiences at the same time is just an
added bonus for her.

On December 5, 2004, iVolunteer.ph will be awarding the volunteer-
writers of these 6 winning essays. The program, entitled "Creative
Collaborations Through Volunteering: Awarding Ceremony of the Essay
Writing Contest Winners", will be held at Clamshell 2, Intramuros at
230 PM- 400 PM.

Apart from awarding the winners of the essay writing contest,
paintings from artists like Jill Posadas, Elbert Or, Bleps Carlos,
Jen Abaricia among others will be featured. These artists have
volunteered their talents to come up with paintings of their own
interpretations of the winning essays.

Musical numbers in the program will be provided by the Young Artists
Fellowship for the Environment (YAFE) and Ciudad.

"Creative Collaborations Through Volunteering" is a part of the
National Volunteer Month Celebration with a volunteer fair
entitled "Discover. Act. Volunteer" to be held on International
Volunteer's Day this December 5, 2004 at Clamshell2, Intramuros,
Manila.

It is a one day fair filled with various activities like round table
discussions, mural painting, photo exhibit, awarding and recognition
of volunteers, street dance and a mini concert. This is to encourage
volunteer organizations, managers, stakeholders and individuals to
adopt its four-fold objectives of facilitation, promotion,
recognition and networking for volunteerism to grow and prosper
everywhere.

Discover. Act. Volunteer is brought to you by the collaborated
efforts of the iVolunteer.ph, Philippine Business for Social Progress
(PBSP), CreativeAid, Philippine Association of Volunteer Efforts
(PAVE), Philippine National Volunteer Services Coordinating Agency
(PNVSCA), Volunteer Organization Information Coordination and
Exchange (VOICE), VSO-Bahaginan, Filipino United Nations Volunteers
Association (FUNVA), People Power People Movement, and the United
Nations Volunteer (UNV).

The 6 winning essays are published in the iVolunteer.ph website and
maybe accessed at

http://www.ivolunteer.ph/iscribe.asp?section=features