<a href="https://www.finereads.com/grants" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.finereads.com/images/finereads_book_grants_2018.png" alt="finereads"></a>

This planting season we are growing dragon fruit because the plant is easy to grow, does not need much care and the harvest sells high in the market. Per kilo of the fruit is 300 pesos and it is difficult to find. I will update you of the result of this initiative from time to time.

Permaculture and Organic Fertilizer Production Center

Today, thanks to the German Embassy in Manila, we are starting to construct the Permaculture and Organic Fertilizer Production Center in Sitio Mahangub, Lubilan, Naawan, Misamis Oriental. The center will serve the training needs of farmers in the area. Mabuhay!

Greetings. May I post the biodata of our long-time partner starting with a youth organization called Association of Locally Empowered Youth in Northern Mindanao...

Curriculum Vitae

Full Name:      Michelle Frances Sayre Uy

Tel:                 09062580387

Address:          Bliss, Initao, Misamis Oriental, 9022 Philippines

Email address: aleynm@gmail.com

Birthday:         March 29, 1993

WORK EXPERIENCE

1.     Program In-charge, Youth Development Program, Water, Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development (WAND) Foundation (April 1, 2018 to present).

I led in the planning, designing and implementation of youth development programs of the WAND Foundation. Thematic areas of youth development include, off and on-farm livelihood promotion, youth organizing and local leadership development, community-based natural resources management with emphasis on the promotion of permaculture or farm diversification initiatives and rural entrepreneurship development. I cover 3 municipalities in Misamis Oriental as well as provide technical advice to our youth program in Albuera, Leyte which is an on-going disaster recovery food security program by vegetable gardening with those affected by Typhoon Yolanda.  The Leyte project is funded by the Associated Country Women of the World based in the United Kingdom and the Japan Fund for Global Environment and one of the component which I co-implement is the Zero Hunger Campaign.

I also co-manage a crowd-sourcing fund facility at the DonorSee site in order to access fund to support our various initiatives. These are mainly small, high impact projects maximum of Pesos 20,000 per project that are easily funded and quickly implemented. Once projects are implemented, I led in the conduct of monitoring and evaluation in order to make sure that projects are sustained beyond initial phase.

2.     Field Officer, Youth Development Program, Water, Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development (WAND) Foundation (June 1, 2014 to August 30, 2016).

I assisted in the implementation of youth development programs of the WAND Foundation mainly in Misamis Oriental and in Leyte with the bulk of the projects in Leyte related to our disaster recovery response after Typhoon Yolanda. The WAND Foundation maintain a permanent office in Albuera, Leyte after Typhoon Yolanda in late 2013. The youth development programs I assisted was mainly on vegetable gardening as a tool for food self-reliance and nutrition and income improvement. In Misamis Oriental, the youth development initiatives that I assisted include vegetable gardening for food security, direct assistance to youth-managed livelihood projects mostly on on-farm activities such as the raising of small animals, organic fertilizer production and charcoal making.

I also helped supervise the establishment of 3 Learning Farms, namely, Mahangub Highlands, E&C Gardens and the Libertad Organic Farm. The farms are located in the Municipalities of Libertad, Naawan and Manticao.  One of the farms, the Mahangub Highlands is now accredited with the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as a vocational school licensed to offer trainings on organic chicken production, care and management of small ruminants, organic fertilizer production and vegetable production.

3.     Co-Founder and Co-Manager and at present Adviser/Volunteer, Association of Locally-Empowered Youth-Northern Mindanao (ALEY-NM). May 2010 to present. 

Initially, I co-founded and co-managed the day to day operations of the ALEY-NM and presently acting as Adviser/Volunteer. ALEY is present in 3 provinces in Northern Mindanao and in Leyte. Most of our staff are trained volunteers being provided with living allowance by the Philippine National Volunteer Coordinating Agency.

Some of the projects that I designed and co-managed include the following;

a.      Disadvantaged Urban Youth Entrepreneurship, Organic Vegetable Production, Food Processing and Marketing Project funded by the UN-Habitat and implemented in the cities of Dapitan and Dipolog.  The project focused on producing vegetables using vermi-compost, simple hydrophonics and containers, food processing and marketing the product and then organizing the beneficiaries so that they are able to manage, sustain and expand the best practices with the objective of locally empowering   them so they are able to chart their destinies via improved entrepreneurial and personal competencies, resilient food security and organization development. A total of 420 youths participated in the project.

b.     Use of human waste in for small-scale vegetable gardens and tree planting activities. This was my national award from the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations or TAYO with the award I used to promote and expand the project.

c.      Providing vegetable gardening as food security support for home-based evacuees affected by the Marawi City crisis and residing with their relatives and friends scattered in villages in Misamis Oriental. I provided advice and volunteered on my free time the implementation of this project.

d.     Together with Jed Christian Sayre, I co-lead in the implementation of the training program, “Youth-Led Environmental Improvement Project through Permaculture(YLEIPP) for youth leaders in 2 provinces in Mindanao funded by the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). A total of 102 youths participated in the training program.

Other Activities:

Entrepreneur, Michelle’s Food and Health Products. I purchase farm products grown by local farmers and process these products into high-end tea, juice, herbal drinks, spices and organic coffee and market these in local and provincial markets. The link to my presentation is found in, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqtW50RuEFo&feature=youtu.be. I was able to attend the YSEALI Regional Workshop on May 13-18, 2018 at Inle Lake, Myanmar in order to improve my entrepreneurial capacity.  The LUSH Cosmetics supported me with a grant to scale-up processing and marketing of the products.

Publications (Contributor/Researcher):

a.      Association of Locally-Empowered Youth in Northern Mindanao EcoPee, Rain and Grey-water Conservation Project and Vegetable Gardening Initiative. Water and Solid Waste Newsletter. German Technical Cooperation, Manila.

b.     “ALEY-NM successfully implemented a project funded by the Japan Water Forum Fund”.   Water and Solid Waste Newsletter. German Technical Cooperation, Manila.

c.      “Promoting Ecological Sanitation via the Philippines 21 Young Leaders Initiative. Water and Solid Waste Newsletter, August 2010. German Technical Cooperation.

d.     “Giya unsaon pagtanum ug mga pagkaon ug mga kahoy ginamit ang Sustainable Agroforest Land Technology nga sistema” (Guide in implementing sustainable agroforest land technology system).” 25 pages.

e.      “Sustainable Small Vegetable Gardening Training Manual for Urban Youths.” 18-page brochure used in the urban youth gardening project.

International Travels:

a.      Australia -  October 15-28, 2007. Field exposure, visited Australian National University in Canberra and various places in Sydney and Melbourne.

b.     Thailand – January 15-25, 2007. Family tour.

c.      Hongkong – June 6-16, 2010. Family tour.

d.     Burma – May 13-18, 2018. Attend YSEALI Impact XL.

AWARDS AND PARTNERSHIPS

Winner, Ten Accomplished Youth Organization (TAYO 8) in the Philippines.   Youth Small Scale Vegetable Gardening Project.

Grantee, BOTH ENDS Netherlands, JWH Initiative, Supporting Young Environmental Leaders. Youth Environmental Leadership Grant. March 1 to July 30, 2018.

Grantee, YSEALI Impact XL at Inle Lake, Burma. US Department of State.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

           

College           :    Xavier University, BS Biology, June 2010 – March, 2013, (6 semesters).

                        :    Xavier University, BS Agriculture, major in Development Communication, June

     2013 – March 2014, (2 semesters).

                        :    Xavier University, AB Literature, June 2016 - March 2018. Graduated.

Location          :    Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

           

Hobbies: Singing, dancing, writing, hiking.

Good day to all! So very sorry for the long hiatus. I am back and I will be posting details of our initiatives providing water, latrines, livelihoods and medical support to people in need and primarily in our areas in Mindanao, the Philippines.

Thank you friends for your continuing support

Dear Friends,

Greetings for the Holidays 2015 from WAND Foundation. We continue to make breakthroughs with our work and expanding from our base in Libertad, Misamis Oriental to Zamboanga del Norte and Leyte and Samar. Our work in Leyte and Samar started in the early days when Typhoon Haiyan struck and up until now. In Leyte and Samar, we focus on implementing safe sanitation, food security via vegetable gardening and small-scale agriculture, local livelihoods, education for girls

and provision of needed supplies. Thanks to so many friends who donated money, goods, time and effort in order to make our work successful. We are proud to say that we are the few local organizations who are still providing much-needed relief to the typhoon survivors. We are geared to do some more initiatives starting early next year.

Our initiatives in Samar and Leyte can best be summed in the article, "harvesting hope" with this link, http://yolanda.dailybruin.com/chapter-3/harvesting-hope/

Again, to all friends and supporters, thank you very much.

Very sincerely yours,

Elmer

Jed as our Program Manager for Livelihoods in Leyte

Jed Christian Sayre is deployed as our Program Manager for Livelihoods in Leyte to support survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. He is based in Ormoc City and travels daily to neighboring municipalities. Jed's was graduated from Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro and from the Coady International Institute in Canada. His profile is presented below;

Awards and Partnerships:

a. Fellow, Philippines 21 Young Leaders Initiative. Asia Society Philippine Foundation, Inc. The fellowship is awarded for his efforts towards the development of an equitable and just Philippine Society.

b. Winner, Asia-Pacific Future 100. Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs and Social Change-makers. 2009. One of the most prestigious awards for social entrepreneurs in Asia.

c. Grantee, Idea Wild, USA. Biodiversity and Youth Rural Improvement Project.  November 2009 to present.

d. Grantee, Japan Fund for Water, Japan. Project to Conserving Water, Promote Ecological Sanitation and Improve Food Security. August 2009 to February 15, 2010.

e. Co-winner, International Competition on Integrated Rural Development, Rehovot, Israel, December 2011.

Work Experiences:

a. Program Manager, Local Livelihoods and Sustainable Small-scale Agriculture, Water, Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development Foundation, Inc. June 2012 to present. Provide organizational, technical and management support to the promotion of local livelihoods and sustainable agriculture.  I also promote and manage youth entrepreneurial activities in the project areas.

b. Municipal Councilor, Libertad Municipality. July 1, 2010 to May 30, 2013. I promote agricultural development and local livelihoods and assist in  in Libertad Municipality, Misamis Oriental.

b. Founder and Adviser, Association of Locally-Empowered Youth-Northern Mindanao (ALEY-NM). May 2007 to present.  Youth empowerment through ecological sanitation, home-gardening and local livelihoods. I designed the community development approach of the association, write project proposals, join project competitions and liaise with prospective partners and supporters.

d.  Originator and Proprietor, Jed’s Kofi. January 2008 to present. Jed’s Kofi is locally-made coffee from corn, coffee, moringa and lemon-grass designed to provide forward-linkage for farm products of small farmers at the same time employing local women in the production process.

e. Co-founder, Ecosan Club Philippines. April 2009.  The Ecosan Club promotes ecological sanitation and the safe re-use of human waste in agriculture and small-scale forestry in order to close the loop between agriculture and food consumption.