Thirteen IPED students traveled to the Philippines over the winter break for the program’s annual immersion program in project monitoring and evaluation. The program was led by faculty advisors Dr. Henry Schwalbenberg and Dr. Booi Themeli and managed by Ms. Donna Odra.
While in Manila, the students took extensive coursework in project monitoring and evaluation. Additionally, guest lectures on the history, culture, economics and politics of the Philippines provided useful insights.
As a practical application of the coursework, students traveled to Calima, a small town in the province of Oriental Mindoro. Calima suffered significant damage in December as a result of Typhoon Nona. While in Calima, students stayed with local host families, and worked closely with the Calima Socio-Economic Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CASEMPCO).
CASEMPCO has a number of ongoing projects, and students split into four teams. Team 1 evaluated the production of turmeric-ginger tea production, Team 2 studied the goat and water buffalo dispersal project, Team 3 considered the issue of copra (coconut product) trading–particularly effected by the typhoon, and Team 4 analyzed the production of virgin coconut oil.
Tumeric Tea Production Project
Livestock Dispersal Project
Copra Trading Project
Virgin Coconut Oil Project
In addition to providing technical assistance to CASEMPCO, IPED students provided the community with a grant of approximately 90,000 pesos ($2,000).
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