This is the writer’s second time to attend the National Youth Congress and the NRCYAL Conference.  The first one was held two years ago, in 2009, at Manila.  The idea of going to Bukidnon, in Central Mindanao provides mixed sensations, of fear, and excitement.  What if we were trapped in areas with armed conflict?  What if there’s terrorism?  There were many “IFs” and “BUTs” yet excitement also prevails.

WE are Red Cross, and wherever we are, there will always be a Red Cross volunteer willing to help and assist us, not to mention the power of the emblem that every volunteer bears in his shirt.

The feelings of anxiety were dissolved, and the power to pursue the goals of attending the occasion heightens up.  We decided to join.  What transpired in the next few pages were the experiences of the writer – a CRCY adviser and delegate, together with the Camarines Sur Youth Delegates.

Day 0_October 20, 2011
A day allotted for travel by plane… but due to unavoidable circumstances, the plane trip was not pursued.  Yet, it does not hinder the team to attend the 17th National Youth Congress and 5th NRCYAL Conference.  Other forms of transportation means were utilized.

Day 1_October 21, 2011
This was scheduled for registration, orientation, and billeting.  We have not experienced it because we were still travelling.  This was still a whole day travel to reach the venue.  The team arrived at the venue past midnight.  We were denied registration because of the time, but were given food for dinner, were billeted, and given the chance to sleep.

Day 2_October 22, 2011
We have attended the plenary sessions in the morning.  Advisers, youth delegates, youth observers, other extra guests, and unofficial participants were all gathered in one roof.  The speakers were the members of the Board of Governors of the Philippine Red Cross.  Atty. Lorna Kapunan, Gov. Juan Miguel Zubiri, and Gov. Mabini F. Pablo all transformed the youth to become more assertive and caring through their powerful and meaningful speeches.

At lunchtime, we took the liberty of time to register ourselves as official delegates of the Congress as it also coincide with the free time of the secretariat committee.  We were accommodated.  The registration fee was shouldered by the Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges where we came from.

The afternoon was for the commission sessions with separate topics and venues for the advisers and youth delegates.  There were three designed sessions for the advisers but because of some technical fall-outs, it was compressed into one session with these topics:  Awards and Recognition by the NRCYAL President himself, Mr. Nonito Llanos III; Fund Raising in RCY Councils by the OIC of the Fund Generation Department, Ms. Anaclets Bandril; and lastly, 143 Volunteerism and Management by the OIC of the Volunteer Service, Ms. Arlyn Banks.

The first topic dealt with the reasons and objectives of launching the Outstanding RCY Adviser Award, the means of choosing the person to whom the award would be named after, the final result as “The Lourdes Casas Quezon Award” for the Outstanding RCY Adviser of the Philippines, the criteria of selection, and when would be the actual start of the project.  The second topic was focused on the reasons why people support fundraising campaigns, to whom or to what agency are the people willing to give money, how to raise funds for the RCYs with its marketing strategies, and lastly, the promotion of the Million Volunteer Run project for December 2011.  The last topic rotated on the volunteer services, how it started, how it can be maintained, how it maintained its manpower, and who were the Star Volunteers that supports the Movement.

The afternoon session ended, dinner was served, and almost everybody prepared for the Youth Night with a COWBOY theme reflecting Bukidnon’s pride.  It ended past midnight, we returned to our billeting area – a 30-minute ride by multicab going to RR Family Resort.  Upon arrival, we forced ourselves to sleep in preparation for the next day’s activity.

Day 3_October 23, 2011
The General Assembly of the Advisers commenced at one of the function halls of the resort.  The gathering was for the submission of resolutions and proposals for the benefit of the league, the amendments, ratification, and approval of the NRCYAL Constitution and By-Laws, the meeting and election of coordinators and officers per area, then the meeting of all area coordinators and the election of the next set of NRCYAL officers.  The election results were as follows:


Lunch broke the monotony of the situation. After lunch, the tour of the advisers to LAKE APO, Bukidnon, was a way to release the tensions that emerged during the assembly.  The advisers experienced the countryside means of living.  After the tour, preparations for the closing program followed.  Included in this night were experiences of almost an hour of waiting time for the transportation service to fetch the advisers, the sudden changes in the transportation vehicles, a 30-minute travel to the venue through the rain that made the advisers shiver, a fast set of dinner, and then… THE CLOSING CEREMONIES with the oath taking of the new set of NRCYAL Officers by Hon. Leandro Jose H. Catarata, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Philippine Red Cross-Bukidnon Chapter.  After the event, we went back to our dormitory, tidied up the things for the travel back to our own respective chapters, and slept past 2 AM.

Day 4_October 24, 2011
Breakfast, checking out, and departure from the venue were a challenge to the advisers.  There were no available transportation vehicles anymore, which were not officially announced (although the committee insisted that it was announced after the closing program).  The challenge was to traverse the paths going to the national highway with our luggage, utilizing any available PUVs at the national highway to reach Central Mindanao University, and attempts to ride local transportation services going to the terminal.  Lunch at CMU canteen was deemed a wise decision as passengers flock and filled the passenger busses that passed by the university making us unable to travel.  After lunch, our attempts to ride home became successful.  After two days of travel by land and sea, Camarines Sur Delegation arrived safe on the 26th day of October 2011 with mixed emotions.

This experience is worthwhile.  Learning new knowledge, of added responsibilities, and accountabilities is what the writer brought home.  Acting on it serves as a challenge.  The writer plans to improve and connect the missing links between Camarines Sur Chapter and the other chapters in AREA III (BICOL Region, MIMAROPA Region, Batangas, and Quezon-Lucena) and the National level in order to strengthen its service delivery.

Some of the initial plans that may come to reality are the creation of the Chapter Red Cross Youth Advisers’ League (CRCYAL) to help in the service delivery.  Once established, this league of extraordinary men and women can establish an RCY council in every institution, agency, or community where they are near.  Another plan is to gather the RCY advisers for the Council Management Training (CMT) which is designed for the advisers, especially for those who are new in the movement.

Soaring high, achieving it one by one, and maintaining not to fall is a challenge.  With the idea of TEAMWORK, there is no impossible. The writer believes in himself, believes in the Chapter, and believes in the Men and Women, THE VOLUNTEERS that supports the Movement.