Walking in Pathways

(Written on August 15, 2006 by Concordio Lloyd Diel IV)


It has been more than 3 months now since we came to the island of Panay to become the new Pathways Program Officers for Education in the Visayas Regions. From then on, we have been monitoring and assisting 10 Pathways Youth Groups (PYGs), namely: the PYGs of three Western Visayas State University campuses (WVSU - Lapaz, Lambunao and Pototan) and Western College of Science and Technology (WVCST) in Iloilo city, University of St. La Salle in Bacolod, Guimaras State College (GSC) in Guimaras, Filamer State College (FSC) in Roxas, University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) and San Carlos (USC) in Cebu, and Siliman University (SU) in Dumagete.

Serving so far is great and we were able to go to different places and meet different people during our visitations with the PYGs and their clienteles, and during the volunteers’ trainings. But our time here is not without its trials and pains. Before we came to our area we had such a perfect vision of service and we thought that we were already so prepared and equipped to administer the tasks given to us by JVP and Pathways. But the truth is it has been a process of learning and letting go of things and there are also times that we get frustrated and tired.

The thing in being Pathways Program Officer for Education Development is that we seldom see immediate victories. The products of our work are usually expressed indirectly or in the attainment of long term goals. Sometimes, the only rewards we receive comes from seeing the enthusiasm of the youth groups to serve and the signs of hope and gratitude from the people they are helping

You can’t help but be amazed by the effort, creativity and cura personalis each member of these PYGs displays despite their hectic academic schedule. Their projects, no matter how big or simple, do help serve in promoting equality in the access to quality higher education. And even though we are still in the pre-implementation phase of the Sharing the Light project and that most of PYGs are just starting to give their college preparation tutorials, we could already sense the joy in the hearts of their beneficiaries. These things together with the support from our love ones, friends, the JVP and Pathways communities and our faith in God are the ones that continue to inspire us to help create a Society wherein there is equality to access quality higher education right here in the Visayas.

There is more to our work than the final triumph, also important are the hope and joy that we give and the positive changes in ourselves that we acquire along the way.