Our Stories

Youth leaders commit to uphold the coalitions built through the Local Youth Assembly.
To support and strengthen the youth’s civic participation, the RAFI Center for Leaders (CFL) partnered with The Asia Foundation and US Agency for International Development through their initiative, Youth Leadership for Democracy (YouthLed) for the implementation of YouthLed’s Local Youth Assembly (LYA). LYA is a one-day event that serves as a platform where youth can proactively engage with each other and form networks and coalitions around issues that matter to them.

Three runs of the LYA were successfully implemented by RAFI CFL, which drew 164 young changemakers from Cebu, Samar, and Leyte. The session for Central Visayas took place at Kool Adventure Camp in Balamban, Cebu, while the session for Eastern Visayas was held at the Summit Hotel in Tacloban, Leyte.

RAFI CFL designed and delivered powerful learning activities that sparked meaningful conversations, collaborations, and commitments among the participants, while also bringing community challenges and realities to light.

“One of the highlights was meeting people from other municipalities who were able to share their advocacies that they think would impact their communities. The activity (K-Pebble) was my highlight as it was able to help create a connection and a coalition between youth leaders,” shared Sherwin Noval from Cebu Normal University who joined the session in Cebu.
Each session concluded with a message from RAFI CFL’s Program Officer-in-Charge and a Youthled Steering Committee representative.

“If I were to describe the whole event, it was excellent and awesome at the same time. Being in Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) – handling funds and dealing with different think tanks, I encountered what I had experienced in reality here at LYA, and I saw how the organizers let us learn how to handle those kinds of situations,” shared Ness-Lei Lagrimas, Local Youth Development and SK Federation President of San Roque, Northern Samar.

YouthLed revealed that there will be another big assembly of all LYA participants soon as part of their initiative for continued collaboration.
–
The RAFI Center for Leaders provides learning and development programs that equip leaders and enable communities through world-class, safe, powerful learning experiences. The RAFI CFL headquarters are located in the scenic mountains of Balamban, Cebu at the Kool Adventure Camp, the country’s first and fully-dedicated adventure education facility.