Before we went to the barangays for our PBL to gather different kinds of data we had to make a goal which is to answer the driving question “How can we make a strong, safe and sustainable San Juan City?” and in order to this we had to use our knowledge to gather data like measuring the diversity of a certain area, to observing our surroundings, interviewing the barangay leaders and recording all the information we gathered. We did this to find out the answer to our goal and so we can help San Juan’s environment to prosper for the sake of the citizens living there. To be able to be aware of the things happening around the barangay it is essential for us to be honest with our feelings whether the environment on that barangay is really clean or not or on what we truly feel what the problem is there. Questions that we felt was needed to be ask were if the barangay was a residential area or a commercial area to know if which area is more diverse and the projects implemented that contributed to the barangay’s environment. Personally, I felt that this project was significant to me because even if I do not live in San Juan, my school is located here and this means that San Juan’s environment still affects me and the environment on where I educate. When given the task, I had a feeling of a sense of duty and motivation to be able to complete this task for the good of others and for my sake to have a proper environment to be educated. I also felt excited of doing this task with a group and for having an opportunity to learn a new experience.
We were assigned in barangay little baguio and I observed barangay little baguio to be a residential area and that it wasn’t very diverse due to the fact that it is an area with a lot of houses. I also observed that in the area was a mix of poor and rich people, the rich people lives in the the middle of the barangay while the less fortunate folks live in random places all around the barangay, they were mostly composed of iskwater areas while the rich folks live in townhouses and individual houses. A project like the implementation of mini gardens in front of the residential houses is an example of a condition that contributed to the barangay’s environment. Another example is the no littering rule that the barangay also implemented and these affected the environment of the barangay to be cleaner due to less waste found in the area so as not to corrupt or poison the species living in the area and implementing mini gardens help the species in the environment become more diverse. I believe that the barangay made a good attempt of making the condition of the barangay better but the present condition is still bad and this is because the barangay made a decision that was not prudent which was to prioritize handling criminality in the community too much while their environment in the barangay is slowly deteriorating. Dealing with criminality is not bad but it is not right to just ignore the environment of their community and implement little rules about the environment. Between these two goods I believe that using the way of Discernment of Meaning can help them achieve the right choice because the discernment of meaning is to understand the true meanings of significant events that are happening which the barangay failed to understand that the environment of their barangay is in need of help.
To be able to achieve our goal and answer the question of “How can we make a strong, safe and sustainable San Juan?” in the given situation it is a must to implement more projects or activity about keeping the environment clean in the barangay such as having planting projects or environmental awareness posters. This also means that the barangay should not ignore its environment. I felt a little bit of anger after finding out how little things the barangay did to improve the barangay’s environment and also on how the condition of the barangay is now. I also felt confidence that we can find a solution for this by gathering the data and to show our plans to the barangay soon. Lessons such as discernment was needed to make the decision of which between the two goods of solving crimes and cleaning the environment is the right choice also prudence for making the right judgement on what the situation in the barangay needs the most. Prudence was helpful to make us realize that the environment was a big problem in our community and that in needs change, discernment was needed in order to choose between what to prioritize more on the decisions of the barangay. My understanding of prudence and discernment was deepened in this task because I felt that it was essential to make decisions while on the task and without the help of prudence and discernment we might have chosen the wrong decisions which will ultimately leave bad consequences for the environment. I found out how important it was to know these terms and apply it in real life situations such as these.
I felt that our solutions may address real life situations and problems as well because these solutions are small things that affects big changes depending on the number of people willing to follow. The more people who are informed about environmental awareness the more changes will come for the betterment of the environment. It will surely impact the citizens of the barangay because once they live in a better environment their lives will improve as well due to lessened pollution or clean air. Goods that were encountered were choosing between prioritizing dealing with criminality or helping the environment and discernment was needed to help choose the decision of what was truly needed. Our advocacy is also a fruit of prudential judgement because we believe this advocacy is what was most needed in the present situation of the barangay now.
Some of the most interesting discoveries we made was how the barangay really didn’t care much about their environment and personally I found out how the barangay’s environment is really in need of help due to the many residential houses taking up space for species and cars that produce pollution in the community. I believe I helped others by cooperating and following whatever my leader tells me to do so to keep team harmony, for example I was instructed to take pictures of the place so I followed. But I also felt that I hindered others by talking to them a little bit too much that was not related to the matter at hand. Some of my most challenging moments were finding the right spot to record our data because finding the wrong spot means that we can get a low grade for recording data in a bad spot. One of my most powerful moments were interviewing the barangay captain because I have gained the most information from him and was really essential in our task. I will use my cooperation and teamwork in the future to be able to achieve goals which are way harder than this goal by using this experience and with the right mindset of discernment and prudential judgement.
GREEN LIFE SAVES LIVES 