The Department of Social Welfare and Development has provided participants in its Government Internship Program with hands-on training in disaster response and logistics operations.
The DSWD’s Protective Services Bureau deployed the first batch of GIP participants to the Luzon Disaster Resource Center in Pasay City for an educational tour and work immersion.
The LDRC is one of the department’s major production hubs for disaster response supplies.
“We want to maximize the 30-day internship of these students. Instead of just administrative work, mas maganda na nararanasan mismo ng mga estudyante ang proseso sa isa sa ating mga warehouses upang mas lumalim pa ang kanilang kaalaman sa disaster operations and logistics, at maging kaakibat ng departamento sa pagsusulong ng disaster resilience sa bansa,” Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group said.
The deployment allowed participants to learn how the national supply chain management system supports the DSWD’s disaster response operations.
It also gave them direct exposure to the production of relief goods, including family food packs, from preparation of individual components to final packaging.
“Iba kasi ang fulfillment at learnings kapag ikaw mismo ang nasa site. Through this initiative, mas ma-appreciate ng mga bata ang power ng volunteer coordination and resource management na siyang present sa LDRC,” Dumlao said.
According to the DSWD, 190 GIP participants are currently deployed at its Central Office in Quezon City. The participants were divided into five batches, with deployments scheduled on July 8, 9, 10, 14, and 17.
During the tour, the interns will be assigned to the warehouse hotel for vacuum packing, and to warehouses Eco and Delta for quality control and family food pack repacking.
Cristian Rotia of Quezon City University, one of the participants in the first batch, said the activity provided him with a meaningful learning experience despite his prior work-immersion experience at another organization.
“Natutunan ko ngayong araw na malaking tulong ang pagre-repack sa mga Pilipinong posibleng maapektuhan ng kalamidad. Important din yung experience ng mga volunteers ngayon dahil di lang sila nakakatulong sa community, pati na rin sa family nila na maaaring maging biktima ng kalamidad balang araw,” Rotia said during the tour.
Mica Ella Mariano, a participant from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, also expressed gratitude for the opportunity, saying it was her first time joining volunteers in disaster operations.
“Super thankful po ako bilang GIP. Thankful po ako sa opportunity na ’to dahil, in the future, ang course ko po ay Public Administration, I feel na magkakaroon ako ng knowledge na puwede kong i-apply [sa work and life] dahil sa opportunity na ’to. Thankful din ako sa mga co-GIPs ko na nakasama ko dito,” Mariano said.
Pursuant to Kabataan 2000, the GIP seeks to expose youth participants to public service, promote community volunteerism, and equip them with workplace and life skills.