Sustainability, a challenge to the APR Ticket to Life Project

The annual four-day workshop for the evaluation and planning of the APR Ticket to Life Project was held at the National Office of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) on 7th October 2011, gathering 20 participants from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Philippines. Most participants are TTL Project coordinators who are presented with the challenge of making the project self-sustaining. TTL Project is a Scouting program offered to street children in selected countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.

At the opening ceremony, Atty. Wendel Avisado, BSP Senior Vice-President, challenged the future of the project on how sustainable it would be. Avisado said that for the project to make a difference in the lives of street children, it should be sustainable, and therefore National Scout Organizations should take ownership of the project. As a good example, as Chairman of the Davao Scout Council where there are units under TTL, Avisado made a commitment to make the unit self-sustaining by 2013. Others present at the opening were BSP Secretary General Jose R. Pangilinan and Regional Director Abdullah Rasheed.

Since 2007, national coordinators and unit leaders meet annually to present their report, share good practices and experiences. For this year, participants reported their accomplishments, such as offering paper bag making, painting and mechanics, which are generating positive results. While the focus is on vocational training, their scout advancement are also monitored. Five Scouts under TTL have reached the highest Scout level.

Facilitating the workshop was TTL Zamboanga Co-ordinator Arthur Griño, assisted by APR Director Syd Castillo. Joining the workshop are Scout Leaders who are interested to start the project in their localities, particularly in Manila South Scout Council and Marikina Scout Council.

Looking back in 2007 (India), participants dealt on clarifying the ideals of the project and framing proper documentation. In 2008 (Nepal), the workshop determined the general impact of the project to the community. The 2009 workshop in Bangladesh focused on the impact of the project on individuals and the 2010 workshop in Sri Lanka focused on Scout advancement. Also during these annual workshops, bilateral meetings were held to coach national coordinators in implementing the project.

Some of the major donors of this project are World Scout Foundation, Asia Pacific Regional Scout Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Sylvia Scout Foundation, Scout Association of Japan and Mr Eric Frank.

Source: scout.org