Young Professionals Orientation and Training Program (YP-OTP)

The Young Professionals Orientation and Training Program is the key project of of the Young Professionals’ Program. It is an annual seminar-workshop-immersion activity that aims to provide a balanced theoretical and practical learning experience to students and young professionals interested in working with marginalized groups.

It is implemented in two stages: (1) the General Orientation Workshop on Social Housing and (2) the Community Integration Process. The General Orientation Workshop is a series of lectures on social housing issues, visits to selected housing sites, and stay-in community workshops. The Community Integration Process is a 6-month internship/fellowship with urban poor communities that have concrete needs for technical assistance. The integration process provides participants valuable hands-on experience on participatory processes and allows for intense and direct community-young professional interaction, with both parties mutually benefiting from the process.

Community-Based Solid Waste Management Training

This is a training for community leaders and members on proper waste segregation, recycling, waste reduction and reuse, urban gardening and livelihood using recyclable materials. Follow-up activities will guide people’s organizations on how to manage and operate an SWM program in the community and their own materials recovery facility. This training has been done in communities in Navotas and Pasay.

Community-Based Disaster Risk Management for Site and Building

This training module covers both social preparations and design approaches to address existing vulnerabilities due to social factors, location and building design. It is expected that a disaster risk management committee will be formed to be responsible for the implementation of a disaster preparedness plan. It has been done in communities in Infanta, Quezon, and Albay, Bicol.