DIVINAGRACIA, Gideon C.

2015-05229
Reflection Paper
Community Engagement

As a student that is currently in a provincial organization, UP Organization of Novo

Ecijanos, that aims to establish camaraderie, sound leadership and academic excellence for the
betterment of the province of Nueva Ecija, and for the greater service of Novo Ecijanos; I have
been part of what we call community engagement, according to Professor Julienne Baldo-
Cubelo, Community participation or engagement may be defined as the process of 'working
collaboratively with relevant partners who share common goals and interests' or 'working
collaboratively with and for groups of people affiliated by geographical proximity, special
interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people'.

I have been a part of a relief operation team from our organization that went to Gabaldon,
Nueva Ecija last year when typhoon Santi ravaged the province by strong winds. I got to talk to
my fellow Novo Ecijanos about what happened the day itself and I sympathized with them
because me and my family too were at Nueva Ecija that day, for that I felt a sense of place. I
remember them saying that Basta tulungan kakayanin natin lahat ng sakuna. For me that was a
very memorable day and it really made me realize that we shouldnt care just about ourselves but
also for the well-being of others.

What I realized is that the engagement to people around you will help form a relationship
with them will result to improvements in the capacity of community, improved quality of life.
Recently, Filipinos have been actively participating in the international community through
social media, an example would be the tragedy of Paris bombing attacks though there is no really
engagement between people but if we can reach out to the world problems why not reach out to
the community within the vicinity.