“Sa FC ako dati, sa Xerox, tapos nag-factory worker ako. Tapos dito rin pala ako sa Econ babagsak,” she said. Some alumni who have heard of Maribel’s story have actually lamented how Ecosoc has not done much for her. While her job is stable, it certainly is not the success story dreamed of by those who have devoted their college lives to CDC. But this forces us to rethink our objectives: after their Ecosoc experience, what do we want to happen to our CDC kids? For the ESSF, on the other hand, is it enough that our scholars finish high school? Should we be concerned if they went to college and finished with a degree, or if they found a good job and a good life after their studies? These, I guess, are measures of success because these correspond to opportunities for growth. It is possible for them to remain hard up after their Ecosoc experience since there are many factors that may
contribute to hardship; however, what is important is we gave them the opportunity to help themselves. Finally, Do our sociocivic programs really have objectives to follow? Why do we really do these things? It is in fact fulfilling to see that we are catering to less fortunate people; however we must have clear and concrete objectives so we know if our socio-civic programs are being effective and if they are worth continuing. If we do not have these explicit objectives, we will just tend to do these programs for tradition (‘past Ecosocers did it’), obligation (‘Ecosoc is a sociocivic organization’), or maybe even because we want to feel good about ourselves. The creation of these “clearer” objectives will make our programs indeed aimed towards helping our beneficiaries. To end, it is important for us to measure effectiveness—on the part of Ecosoc, it allows us to assess if our programs should be revamped.
But it’s also important for us to consider what our beneficiaries think of their Ecosoc experience. Seventeen years after being one of Ecosoc’s Grade Six tutees, Maribel still longs to reunite with her ates and kuyas in Ecosoc. “Sila Kuya Mark at Ate Candy yung may hawak sa amin nun, tapos tutor para sa karagdagang aral. Minsan, may nagyaya sa akin sa mga CDC ngayon, pero yung gusto ko talagang makita yung mga dating nagturo sa akin. Parang naging pamilya ko na rin kasi yung Ecosoc,” she admits. She ended her interview with only nice things about the organization. “Okay yung org na yan. Maraming natutulungan. Nade-develop yung talent ng mga bata. Siyempre pati yung mga tao, sobrang okay din,” she says about Ecosoc. Whether our programs are effective or not is something we will have to discuss for the years to come. As far as touching the lives of our beneficiaries are concerned, it is clear that we have done something for them.