Problem Statement: Through ShaperCircles, the Manila Hub seeks to provide avenues to connect with marginalized Filipinos to inspire and enable Filipino young leaders working on different advocacies to contribute to nation-building in the Philippines.

Target Group: Marginalized Filipinos

Proposed Solution: The hub is running sessions to connect the community around different issues.

Hub Activities: 

So far, the Majnila Hub has conducted three initiatives as part of ShaperCircles project.

- On Upholding truth and justice in the disinformation era with Atty. Chel Diokno - December 2, 2022

-      Leading for Impact with Clarendon Cultural Circle at Roxas, Mindoro - April 30–May 1, 2023

-      Art x Climate with Baseco Community and the Dumagat-Remantado indigenous group - June 4-5, 2023

 

Short & Long-Term Goals/Results:

• To connect community members to advocates


• To connect the community with Shapers and partners who can impact lives


• To impart skills and experiences to community members


• To implement initiatives that will directly impact the community and its members

 1 -   Upholding truth and justice in the disinformation era

In this session, we discussed upholding truth and justice in the disinformation era with student leaders in the law, media, and social change spaces. Key themes of the session included dealing with disinformation at home and in the workplace, the media and legal sector's roles in combating disinformation, and national narratives for a just society. 

2 -   Leading for Impact

With this session, the hub aimed to help solve the lack of access to resources and networks for youth leaders in Roxas, Mindoro, in order to promote their respective advocacies effectively.

By providing an event for youth leaders to meet other leaders and advocates, the hub creates a space for these leaders to (a) connect and network with relevant people in their advocacy; (b) learn and develop skills and practices from said people; (c) ideate on tasks, projects, and initiatives they can do to push their own advocacies, and; (d) to connect the leaders with their local community by sharing the joy of sports.

The session included break-outs to discuss complimentary topics ranging from mindset, techniques, campaigns, and activities big and small that the youth leaders can implement in their own way. Attendees and Shapers reconvened after the session to play sports (basketball, volleyball, and badminton) with kids gathered by a local community (barangay).

The youth leaders and the local organizers (student council & school administration) were effusive in their praise of the activity. A clear culmination of this activity would be successful implementation of their pitched projects, hopefully partnered with the hub, but more importantly with their local communities. Many of the youth leaders who attended remain in touch with the Shapers and are free to ask questions and consult when needed.

 

The initiative reached 90 young leaders who participated in the activities.

3 -     Art x Climate

With this initiative, the hub aims to help solve the dwindling supply of clean water for communities in Manila. This project focuses on the community of Baseco Compound, perhaps the most infamously poor community in Manila.

By curating a walking tour and community of the community space, the hub could seek to (a) connect with and understand the most marginalized members of our community; (b) glean the day-to-day life of the community and identify approaches to enact change within influence; and (c) ideate on projects and initiatives to address gaps gleaned from the conversation.

The hub met with the partners (Urban Poor Associates and Kabalikat People's Organization) to probe topics that are pressing to the community, especially with regards to climate and water. The hub is working on supporting the community's business of local crafts and sustainability efforts through the upcycling of plastic waste.

Last October 20, Manila Hub, in partnership with the Austrian Embassy to the Philippines, engaged Kabalikat and the Dumagat-Remantados in a deep listening session to discuss the problems both groups face regarding water, a basic human need often taken for granted.