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 Towards the goal “Integrated and sustainable development of rural communities in Bicol and Caraga, with special focus on women, promoting the articulation and strengthening of the productive and social structures, through community participation”, the Ateneo de Naga University in partnership with Fundacion Intered (Intercambio y Solidaridad) started the SIAD Project in Barangays Atulayan and Nato, Sagnay, Camarines Sur in August, 2008.
 Barangays Atulayan and Nato are among the twenty (20) pilot barangays in the development partnership between the Ateneo de Naga University and the municipal governments of Cabusao, Calabanga, Sagnay, and Buhi, and are considered as among the most economically depressed barangays in Camarines Sur. 
 The project, which, as planned, will run for four (4) years, was conceptualized and its details formulated after the conduct of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to determine just what exactly are the residents’ priority community development issues in these two barangays. Through the PRA, the five (5) project components were identified, namely: Community Organizing, Productivity, Health, Education, Disaster Risk Reduction. Two (2) full-time employees were hired by the Project as community organizers (COs), one for each of the two barangays. Before the COs were fielded to their respective barangay of assignment, a project orientation to ensure full and comprehensive understanding of the Project was conducted for them. To effectively perform their work, these community organizers have to live in the barangay of their assignment
Before the Project actually began implementation, two (2) community/stakeholders’ orientation were conducted: one at the barangay level where the members of the respective barangay councils of the two barangays, together with other leaders in the community participated, and the other at the Municipal level where the Municipal Mayor was represented and the members of the Sangguniang Bayan, headed by the Municipal Vice-Mayor, attended.
Among the desired results at the end of the project’s first year of implementation is the formation/formalization of a people’s organization (PO) in each barangay comprising the local sectors of youth, women, fisherfolk, and farmers. While undergoing the process of registration with the Bureau of Rural Workers of the Department of Labor and Employment, each group conducted fortnightly community meetings to consult and be updated on the work of the different committees, such as the Committee on Health which was mobilized for the implementation of a feeding program which benefits 175 children in Nato and 57 in Atulayan.
To facilitate necessary goal-setting, project identification, installation of policies and systems within their structure, and preparatory activities for the operationalization of the Project’s livelihood/productivity component, the following training/workshops were conducted and duly participated in by the leaders in the two barangays:
Basic Leadership Training Seminar (BLTS). The BLTS was held last February 16 – 18, 2009 at the Arrupe Convention Hall of the Ateneo de Naga University. The 20 participants, 14 women and 6 men, from the PO Core Group in each of the two barangays formulated for their respective approval and adoption certain guiding principles and strategies to achieve teamwork within their respective groups based on the inputs of Dr. Ronald Elicay, Chairperson of the ADNU Psychology Department on communication skills, personal values, group decision-making, and leadership orientation.
Gender Sensitivity Training. Facilitated mainly by Ms. Emelie Rayala of the Office of Gender Concerns, around 30 participants, 11 men and 18 women from Nato and Atulayan came to the University’s Instructional Media Center to contribute to the process of vision-formulation for a gender-fair society based on surfaced issues and concerns confronting both men and women in the context of family and immediate community. Basic inputs on R.A. 9262 (Violence Against Women and Children Act) and Millenium Development Goals pertaining to mainstreaming development of women and children sectors provided the governance perspective for development interventions that said groups would take.
Basic Skills in Managing Organization. Held last July 2 – 4, 2009 at Partido State University-Sagnay Campus, this training session was facilitated in by Mr. J. Raul Relloso of the ADNU Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Inc. (SMEDI). 20 participants from both barangays particularly from Atulayan, weathered crossing the rough seas to come to this skills training and participated in formulating the mission, goals, and strategies to address local livelihood, nutrition, and disaster-preparedness concerns. Group simulation exercises on analyzing organizational strength-weakness-opportunity-threat, problem-solving, decision-making, action-planning, and team work were undertaken to provide a hands-on exercise.
 Resolution/Ordinance-Formulation Workshop on Peoples’ Participation in Governance. This Training-Workshop was divided into two sessions comprising of 2 days per session. The first session, which was for the officials of the two barangays, was held on June 11 – 12, 2009. The second session which was for the members of the peoples’ Organization (PO) was held on July 11 – 12, 2009. Both sessions were held at the Partido State University – Nato Campus.
Drafts of formulated ordinance/resolution on peoples’ participation as provided under the Local Government Code (R.A. 7160) resulted from the workshop and some of which were later on formally and officially adopted as resolutions of the Barangay Council.
 To ensure sustainability of efforts even after the project period, the Project also trains Local Community Organizers’ who would have the capability to act as the CO in their respective barangays once the ADNU-Fundacion Intered Project would have finally ended .
On September 24-25, 2009, a Strategic Planning Workshop was held to consolidated the initial gains of the organizing efforts after the first year of project implementation and to better plan out the specific interventions in the next year. The regular monthly formation sessions of the members of the PO core group in each of the 2 barangays provided the opportunity to assess whether or not the participants in the previous training workshops conducted under the Project indeed learned therefrom.
For any clarification regarding this Project, please do not hesitate to contact Atty. Mila Raquid-Arroyo at the telephone numbers listed at the foot of this page.
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