“Paying it Forward”

The movie “Paying It Forward” is the inspiration for the projects my students undertake in their Community Welfare Training System (CWTS) class.

Of course they enroll in the “CWATS” course as they call it to earn the requisite 6 units. I hope that at the end of the semester, they shall also have learned to “Pay It Forward”.

Reproducing here an excerpt of an article on the movie.

“Paying It Forward” at UP, Part I

The group was giddy with fulfillment. They had after all, made wishes come true. Having chosen the Make-a-wish Foundation to sponsor, they had spent the semester raising funds so three very sick kids from poor families could have their wishes fulfilled.

So they took Joseph who wanted to be a pilot to PATTS Flying School where he got to sit in a plane's cockpit & fiddle around with the dashboard with the student pilots.

JOSEPH IN THE COCKPIT AND WITH STUDENT PILOT

Mylene wanted to be Darna when she grew up and Jojo a superhero.

SUPERHEROES TO THE RESCUE

So for three afternoons, the CWATS group played Fairy Godmother. See photos.

A FAIRY COSTUME FOR A VERY SICK LITTLE GIRL.

I always promised myself I would write about my CWATS students' projects. People, especially their parents, I thought should know that these bright kids who incidentally are some of only 10,000 UP College Entrance Test (UPCAT) passers in a field of about 60,000 hopefuls from all over the country, are not just about sloganeering, rallies and protests.

CWTS (Community Welfare Training System) has by law been established as an alternative to ROTC. I've coordinated it at the UP College of Business Administration since 2003. Designed as a class in volunteerism where the mostly business students could develop social consciousness and get the glimmerings of social responsibility, they, together with their classmates from other colleges get an

early experience in project conceptualization, planning, organization and implementation. I hope anyway.

After all, I tell them, “you will be business and community leaders one day. You better learn your social responsibilities early”.

Another group a semester later sponsored another three kids with polysyllabic unpronounceable diseases. That was mostly easy. A little girl wanted a fairy costume, another a superhero (inspired by Richard Gutierrez he wished to meet him too but the man could not make it, they said.) The other girl just wanted to see and play in a real playground. See photos.

This is a series as a new semester of CWTS at UPCBA has started.