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There’s nothing to lose. We just have to try.”
Being a youth-led organization, the YGOAL team were highly adept users of social media not just for personal use but even more for purposes of the organization. They believe that technology is a highly effective tool for creating awareness, magnifying advocacies, and finding opportunities for expanding their reach. And one such opportunity presented itself in 2017 when, while browsing through Facebook, Argie Aguas came to know about Voice and its call for proposals. For YGOAL, the journey with Voice started with finding the courage to write that project proposal. The team knew that the Voice project could help accelerate its social mission because of the number of RHGs they could reach if they were to be able to get the Voice grant. At the time, YGOAL was still very young in terms of experience and network of partners to back them up. They were just starting to seriously roll-out as a small social enterprise and felt then that the most they had going for them was their drive to succeed, though bolstered by their diverse yet complementary skills, experience, and expertise. And their constant determination to make a difference in the sphere of training, organizational development, and impact assessment. So, even with uncertainty in their hearts, they gathered their courage and determinedly pushed forward and designed a project focused on rightsholders getting to know one another and understanding the concepts of linking and learning while building the communities of practice and stakeholders. This was the design of the initial stages of project implementation because the team knew from experience that one sure way of sustaining projects is to create a sense of community and ownership among the rightsholders and stakeholder groups. And they were resolute with their goal of helping other organizations and rightsholders and building on their capacity and expertise. As JR Demecais said:
So, they gathered their ideas about how they understand Linking and Learning. It was a conversation amongst friends who have different ideas and experiences which they put together as their version of Linking and Learning, and wrote down and submitted as YGOAL’s proposal for the Voice grant in 2017.
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The opportunity given by Voice made a lot of impact to us as an organization… we knew that Voice would be a very good platform for us to be able to accelerate our social mission while implementing something that is very close to our hearts. We have been working with the marginalized sector in our previous jobs… So, it was not entirely new to us, but we still had to recollect all our experiences so we could propose a project that would allow us to work hand in hand with the different rightsholder groups.”
JR Demecais, Co-Founder and President, YGOAL Inc.
After submitting the proposal, all the team could do was wait. And pray. Pray that Voice would trust a little startup like YGOAL.
The prayers and waiting was worth it because now, after more than two years YGOAL celebrates...the end of the first funding phase with Voice from March 2018 to March 2021 with the beginning of a community of like-minded groups who are all one with the Linking and Learning principles of Leave No One Behind, Nothing About Us Without Us, and Putting the Furthest Behind First. I think it was our fate to be the Linking and Learning Facilitator, not just because we feel that we are the best ones to be in the position. But that we were meant to learn from the experience. And even now, we feel that there is something divine that actually helps us to push through.” Yani Alonto, Program Manager, Voice PH L&L Facilitator “
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