Category Archives: Regional Center for Asia

Behind the Trees: Kuyang’s Dedication to IIRR

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This post comes from our Philippines Office and was written by staffers Joycen Sabio and Josephina Vicencio.

“Kuyang”, 75, is originally from Imus, Cavite. Upon finishing his degree in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry at Araneta University, he began working with Dr. Yen in the early stages of IIRR. He was one of Dr. Yen’s closest friends, and he eventually became the care-taker of the grounds at The Yen Center.  He worked with IIRR for more than 35 years.

After the structures were built around the IIRR campus in the early 1970s, “Kuyang” was mandated
to plant trees around the Yen Center campus with a $23 budget. IIRR founder Dr. James Yen’s original idea was to have every type of tree that can be found in the country planted on the campus, a challenge “Kuyang” readily accepted because he knew that he was planting for the future generation.

Given the limited budget for his assignment, he became very resourceful in finding ways to get various seedlings. He personally collected seeds found around the area, and asked the staff, particularly those working in the field,  to bring back seedlings for planting.

The eye-catching “Bottle tree” found on campus came from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, while the Cherry Blossom trees came all the way from Palawan. The Cherry Blossoms were planted by the wives of the Prime Ministers of Thailand, Vietnam, and New Zealand. Former First Ladies Imelda Marcos and Lady Bird Johnson have also planted trees on the campus. Among the many varieties, mango, tamarind, and coconut trees can also be found on campus.

The great effort to bring biodiversity to campus is conducive for learning, and reflects IIRR’s commitment to the environment. Today, these trees serve as a playground for children, a nesting ground for birds, shade from sunlight, and providers of fresh air and a cooler ambiance.

If “Kuyang’s” dedication and hard work for the institution could be compared to a tree, it would be the Fire tree, as Fire trees bloom most in times of adversity. The tree turns the reddest during the hottest season of the year while other trees are weak and dry. With more than 35 years of service, “Kuyang” has definitely proven his unselfish passion and loyalty for his job and to the founder of rural reconstruction in the Philippines.

To this day, “Kuyang” continues to visit IIRR and share his most treasured stories about the campus and his time with Dr. Yen. “Kuyang” was the guest speaker during IIRR’s 51st Anniversary last October 2011, when staff and families gathered to listen as he reminisced about his time of service and how grateful he is for having served the institution.

“Kuyang” embodies the competence, creativity, compassion, and impact made of rural reconstruction workers. These characteristics in “Kuyang” have contributed much to the success of IIRR’s programs and set the institution apart from the rest.

We are thankful at IIRR to have such a loyal friend.

IIRR and Malnutrition

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According to the World Food Programme, there are an estimated 925 million that do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. There are a lot of causes hunger-from natural disasters to conflict-but malnutrition, hunger’s much-less publicized counterpart, it also causing major issues in the developing world.

Malnutrition is someone who is “badly nourished”, but it is really characterized as an inadequate intake of protein, energy, and micronutrients.  Malnutrition can also mean frequent infections and diseases, and those who are malnourished can die from common infections like measles or diarrhea.

In industrialized nations, getting enough Vitamin A or Iron doesn’t seem like a big issue, but in developing countries meals often lack many of the components of a healthy meal. The World Health Organization ranks deficiencies in Iron, Vitamin A, Iodine, and Zinc in the top ten leading causes of death through disease in developing countries.  And besides that, malnutrition can lead to wasting (substantial weight loss), stunting (chronic malnutrition), and being underweight (comparison of weight-for-age in children around the world).

Being malnourished makes it difficult to do normal things like growing or preventing disease.  Or going to school and playing sports.  Or just being a kid.

IIRR is working to tackle malnutrition in the Philippines through a pretty interesting and innovating initiative. In the Philippines, there is no shortage of viable land for agriculture, yet thousands of rural children are still under nourished.  Through the Bio-Intensive Gardening programs, IIRR is working with the Department of Education in Cavite to bring gardens and nutrition programs into schools.

The gardens utilize organic methods and local products to grow vegetables and fruits that will not only flourish in the local climates, but will also provide a high nutritional yield.  The vegetables and fruits that are grown are used in school meal programs to help children in Cavite.  Nutrition is also incorporated into the classroom as a means to help children better understand proper nutrition for themselves and their families. Upon the success of the program, more schools in outer regions will begin to benefit from the programs.

While there is still need for additional funding so we can expand to new schools, we have plans underway to do nutrition research on the benefits of the program.

Returning to IIRR after 25 years…An Alum’s Story

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Bangladeshi Alumnus Visits the IIRR Campus after 25 Years

– Josephina J. Vicencio, Communications Intern

A much younger Aminur Rahman walked the halls of the Yen Center some 25 years ago. The training experience is still sharp in his mind. “It was an excellent, beautiful and marvelous program,” reminisces Mr. Rahman of the training course he attended with IIRR in 1986. 

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Mr. Rahman, who visited the campus with his colleagues on October 28, 2011, was one of the 33 participants in the International Training for Senior Managers held at the Yen Center in 1986.  In an interview during his recent visit, he remembered that three-week program as a golden time of intellectual discussion and of amazing visits to the barrios (rural villages) in the area. He recalls participants from Asia, Africa and Latin America and wonderful discussion with staff and resource persons.

 The Senior Managers’ program gave him new learnings which helped him advance his career (he was then a training program officer).  He incorporated the skills and ideas he learned particularly about  participatory monitoring systems into his own training programs and began conducting evaluations for both national and international NGOs. He says that he still uses the techniques of participatory monitoring and evaluation and applies the lessons he learned in his day-to-day work.

 The Credo of Rural Reconstruction touched his heart and he brings that focus on the people with him wherever he works. Mr. Rahman is currently the Associate Director of Unnayan Shahojogy Team (UST), a national NGO in Bangladesh which mobilizes resources for the rural poor particularly women and children.  

IIRR proudly offers training courses internationally to development professionals, government representatives, community organizers, and leaders in grassroots organizations. Courses always include a field-based learning component where participants learn hands-on and see true participatory development in practice.

The International Trainings for 2011-2012 are listed on our website.

IIRR Trains Others in Its Innovative Writeshop Methodologies

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“The training is eye-opening in many ways, especially in community development.  The training itself was a living example of how there can be learning through practice.  I believe we’ll go back with a meaningful purpose.”

-Lipongse Thongtsar, Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency, India 

 
Documentation of project learnings and field experiences has always been a challenge for development workers who are usually busy doing the work and have no time to tell the tale. In response, IIRR developed the Writeshop, a participatory writing, editing, and compiling of information into books or other dissemination materials. We’re not just a pioneer of the Writeshop process, IIRR has now enhanced its courses and is offering a training for other NGOs and institutions on how to organize and run a Writeshop to document project learnings and field-based experiences.

(To read more about IIRR’s innovative Writeshop process, click here)

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The first formal Writeshop training for other organizations, “Capturing Lessons from the Field: The Writeshop Process” was held June 13-24 2011 at the Yen Center, Headquarters of IIRR in the Philippines. Twelve development practitioners from five countries: Africa, India, Indonesia, The Philippines, and The Netherlands were trained in designing, organizing and managing a Writeshop, improving their personal writing and analytical skills, and taking ownership of and effectively communicating project experiences for dissemination.

As part of the hands-on, experiential course, participants produced eleven case stories and one “case-let”. These stories were compiled into the soon-to-be released book, 12 Community Development Experiences: Capturing Lessons from the Field as a final output of the training.The e-book will be available on the IIRR website soon.

(Click here to see other publications and e-books produced through IIRR Writeshops)

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For more information, please contact:

 

Mae-anne Llanza

Program Specialist, Development Communications
Tel/Fax: +63 46 414 3216 

 


Agricultural Participation by Rural Women is Key to Reaching MDGs says UN

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The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization along with the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the International Labour Organisation collaborated on a report titled “Gender Dimensions of Agricultural and Rural Employment: Differentiated Pathways Out of Poverty” released today. The report concludes that with 70% of the world’s extremely poor living in rural areas, raising rural women’s economic participation is crucial to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For the full report, click here.

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The report highlights the barriers to economic participation that women face particularly in rural areas. Women are disproportionately employed in low-quality jobs, have fewer hours of paid work but larger work burdens, and are paid less. As financial and food crises have hit worldwide, the progress being made in women’s equality and employment opportunity has slowed. The report calls on governments to ensure equal access to education, business training, credit, and markets noting that 90% of the wage gap between men and women can be attributed to gender discrimination. The report has a very interesting comment about the “feminization of agriculture” (pages 29-30) as well as the potential impacts of climate change on women farmers (page 30).

IIRR works to make education, technical assistance, value chain access, and employment opportunities attainable for rural women. For more information on our programs in Africa and Asia, please visit our website – www.iirr.org

Attend this event! Examining the Politics of Democracy in South East Asia

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This panel discussion looks really interesting!

David Merrill is a former US Ambassador and a former USAID Director, but also worked for Enron AND Halliburton!? WOW. The other key speaker is Professor David Denoon, Director of the NYU Center on U.S. – China Relations and Professor of Politics and Economics. He too worked for USAID, and also was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. These guys are going to have some interesting perspectives. They will be discussing democracy in the region of South East Asia – What does it mean in practice? How might it be affected by terrorism? and What does this mean for US foreign policy? 

The event is sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Student Alliance (APASA) of NYU’s Wagner School.

  WHEN: Friday Oct 29th

  WHERE: Rudin, Second Floor of Puck Building

  TIME: 4:30-6:00 pm

RSVP REQUIRED!  You can RSVP here –  OCT 29th EVENT

More event info here – APASA EVENTS

End Poverty by 2015!

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There are approximately 5 years, 143 days, and 10 hours left to make a change.

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End Poverty by 2015 – that was the big hairy audacious goal of 189 world leaders when they agreed to the Millennium Development Goals in 2000.

The Millennium Development Goals

1. Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty

2. Universal Primary Education

3. Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

4. Reduce Child Mortality

5. Improve Maternal Health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases

7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability

8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Check out the 8 Goals for Africa campaign for the music video created by African musicians ranging from Baaba Maal and Eric Wainaina to the Soweto Gospel Choir encouraging everyone to push for these goals (rights) and to support the organizations and governments working to achieve them.

IIRR is doing its part by:

1. leading job creation, entrepreneurship, and value chain participation efforts to help rural communities develop environmentally sustainable and locally appropriate income generating activities and then to be able to manage and grow those businesses effectively

2. supporting preschool, primary, and adult education in pastoralist regions of Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya

3. supporting gender mainstreaming, women’s literacy and income generation, and Learning Our Way Out (LOWO) methodologies in development

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4. encouraging Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction and Community Managed Natural Resources Management which typically involves creating access to clean water, sustainable agriculture, and reducing likelihood of deaths caused by flooding, drought, and other natural disasters along with water-borne diseases

for more information on IIRR’s work, please visit our website at www.iirr.org

NEW PROGRAM SPECIALIST JOINS THE ASIA TEAM AT IIRR

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NEW PROGRAM SPECIALIST JOINS THE ASIA TEAM AT IIRR


We are pleased to announce the appointment of a new program specialist (senior staff) at the Regional Center for Asia.

 

BEN-HUR R. VILORIA comes on board the RCA Team as Program Specialist, Agriculture, Natural Resource Management effective May 15, 2010.

 

Prior to IIRR, Ben-Hur was a consultant with People Collaborating for Environmental and Economic Management Inc. (PCEEM), and the Sustainable Ecosystems Intl. Corp. (SUSTEC). From 2000 to 2007, Ben-Hur  worked as Sustainable Agriculture Development Component Coordinator with Upland Development Programme in Southern Mindanao (UDP), DA-European Union Special Project, where he facilitated the operation of the Sustainable Agriculture Development Component in: Upland Agriculture Extension; Farming Systems Development, Land Capability Classification, Sloping Land Mgt., Soil and Water Conservation and Farm Enterprise Development. He also spent some time as Fisheries and Livestock Advisor/Senior Agriculturist with Southern Mindanao Agricultural Programme (SMAP) DA-European Union Special Project. 

 

 

Ben-Hur completed his bachelor’s degree in Inland Fisheries/Aquaculture from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.  He also has Master’s degree on Professional Studies in Rural Extension Development from the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, Cotabato. Ben-Hur is Filipino by nationality.

Let us welcome Ben-Hur to the IIRR family!