Tanglaw University Center

Tanglaw was flocked by some eight high school students last September 10, 2011 to relay their impressions and insights on World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain. These girls showed photos and shared their unforgettable experiences as they braved the scorching heat of Madrid from August 16 to 21, 2011. They all described the event as life-changing and fun. In fact, when asked “What is WYD for you?” towards the end, here are some of their answers:

Camille : It is where you really see that the Church is very much alive.
Isabelle : A gathering of the youth to show the world what we believe in.
Sheena : WYD is essentially praying and socializing. The two are simply inseparable there. (Sheena was
the only university student in the get-together).
Lilay : I agree with Sheena. The best part of WYD is that prayer was very much part of it, and the
entire thing really facilitated it.
Ina : WYD showed me the miracle of time and space, particularly during the Vigil .With such
discomfort- very little space to lie on and time to eat (during that time), we were still fast
asleep not minding the difficulties at all. WYD is penitential, but it is worthwhile.
Andi : Indescribable, specially meeting the Pope. The sight of him could really move one to tears.

And all said “YES!” in unison when asked if they would encourage everyone to go to WYD Brazil in 2013. “Take it from our experience!” they added.

Dr. Fe Gladys Golo of the University of Asia and the Pacific came to Tanglaw last August 27, 2011 to talk on Project Citizen, a program under the Philippine Center for Civic Education and Democracy (PCCED) which is a non-stock, non-profit organization dedicated in promoting good citizenship in a democracy through education.
Project Citizen, according to her, is an international program which seeks to increase active participation among high school students on societal issues. She added that the program believes how much the youth can do in society when they are made aware of its needs and if they are equipped with the necessary knowledge on how to address them. The program approaches this goal by training first, a handful of interested social science teachers from public and private high schools. In the training, these select teachers are introduced to the correct understanding of democracy, freedom, the role of civic education, etc. These teachers then tap students (from first year to fourth year) who are interested to venture into the task of identifying issues and problems which they think are relevant and at the same time willing to look into the things closely, and eventually, propose an action plan before local government officials.
Dr. Golo added that most of the student participants whom she had met were very much optimistic with the idea of working for their chosen community with the hope of being able to contribute, no matter how small, to society. In fact, she cited some groups whose proposed policies were adopted by their local government. One of those that she mentioned was the implementation of “plastic ban’ in Muntinlupa City, an idea which was first introduced by some high school students from Muntinlupa National High School. She also showed some portfolios that were submitted by the student participants.

WYD 2011 Madrid has ended but the memories are still fresh. Tanglaw’s group of 21 got to experience an adventure of a lifetime around the streets of Madrid – riding the Bus and the Metro everyday, seeing the Holy Father, meeting other young Catholics from around the world, surviving the heat and the rain, eating boccadillos for lunch, shopping at Sol, and following the footsteps of St. Josemaria in Madrid and across Spain. There was a lot to see, to hear and to learn.

The Holy Father’s messages during the WYD can be found in the Vatican website.

Next WYD: Rio de Janeiro 2013