November 02, 2022

Health, Education, Education, Social Inclusion and Equity, Peace-Building and Security, Governance, Active Citizenship, Environment, Environment

Hope Builders Organization Negros Island Inc. (HBONI), formerly known as Hope Builders Organization, is a non-profit, non-government organization for the youth collaborating towards addressing concerns and issues in the community and building hope for the children in the Negros. HBONI envisions a network of hope builders who can contribute to nation-building, and the organization commits to actively engage and provide services to the grassroots and marginalized communities. The organization also aims to provide educational services to the Filipino children; to capacitate the youth with necessary skills to lead and actively engage in a community; to create platforms for environmental awareness and protection; to empower the vulnerable children; and to build connections in achieving sustainable solutions. Rooted to the core values, Hope, Optimism, Passion, and Empathy of HBONI, members are committed to build more hope in Negros Island despite the challenges of resources. HBONI aims to provide assistance among grassroots communities and marginalized groups and to fuel volunteerism among Filipino youths. HBONI’s official logo represents the following: the PERSON in the middle of the letter O symbolizes the Hope Builder who is committed to upholding the vision, mission, and goals of the organization; the MOUNTAINS represent the grassroots and marginalized communities in Negros Island; the YELLOW RAISE symbolizes the hope that each Hope Builder is rooting for; the THREE BIRDS signify the three main foci of the organization: Education, Environment, and Youth Empowerment; the YELLOW & BLUE colors represent the main colors of the organization. In 2018, the organization was founded through a leadership training held at Brgy. Paglaum, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental on April 1st. In 2019, the organization was formally established in Himamaylan City and was recognized by the Youth Organization Registration Program (YORP) of the National Youth Commission and renewed its membership every after 3 years. In addition, the organization is one of the members of the Provincial Youth Development Council of Negros Occidental after granting the YORP recognition. HBONI is also a member of the Local Youth Development Council (LYDC) of Himamaylan and Kabankalan for two consecutive terms. On July 12, 2021, HBO became Hope Builders Organization Negros Island Inc. when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signed and issued the Certificate of Incorporation. Further, on January 5, 2022, the organization was registered at Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). On January 28, 2023, HBONI was a recognized member of the Positive Youth Development Network’s IMPACT CIRCLE. HBONI has its presence in different cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental with its own city/municipal councils. The area councils exist to allow the members in the locality to contextualize their initiatives. In the 5 years of organization’s existence, HBONI is one of the National Finalists (Top 20) to the 19th Search for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations in the Philippines (TAYO) in 2021. HBONI was also recognized by the Province of Negros Occidental during the SK Awards Night in 2023. Recently, HBONI was awarded as People Defender of the Year (Group Category) during the Young SDG Awards of the Global Institute of Youth Development (GYID). HBONI has its presence in 25 cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. The area councils exist to allow the members in the locality to contextualize their initiatives. In the 5 years of organization’s existence, various projects and programs were implemented in different areas of Negros Occidental. The following were the organization’s community initiatives: Pagbasa: May Pag-asa sa Pagbasa is a volunteer-based community service initiative in Negros Occidental that focuses on improving the reading skills of kids in rural schools and communities through weekend reading tutorial, storytelling, & values-formation sessions. From 2019-2023, there were 148 children who benefited from the project from the 3 communities namely: Brgy. 5 in Kabankalan City, Brgy. Talaban, Brgy. 3, and Brgy. San Antonio in Himamaylan City. Lead for Hope Project is a grassroots leadership training that aims to empower and equip youth leaders with the right skills and attitudes to carry out impact driven projects in their communities. From 2018, there were over 200 youth leaders in 7 communities in Negros Occidental who benefited the project. PagkaOwn is a nutrition and health education campaign rendered to the children at the grassroots level which focuses on recognizing the importance of food choices and developing physical activity habits. From July 2020, there were over 600 children who benefited the project from the 13 communities in different areas in Negros Occidental. HomeAid Project is a learning platform for the parents which seeks to strengthen parent’s involvement in children’s education in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental by introducing to them effective teaching strategies that they can apply in a home set-up. In the pilot implementation, there were 11 parents who participated in a 6-month project duration. ProSeed is a month-long seedling planting activities in Negros Occidental which promotes environmental awareness and protection. From June 22, 2020, over 7,000 seedlings were gathered, over 160 online participants in webinar series, and over 80 partner organizations participated in the project. ECO 143 Project is an environment platform that aims to increase the environmental awareness of the community about the importance of natural resources and conservation; to reinforce education about solid waste avoidance and volume reduction through source reduction and waste minimization; and to provide training on composting, recycling, reusing, and recovering, and creating waste material into something environmentally acceptable. Further, this project considers different factors in the community such as health, education, and livelihood which stand for ECO 1 (No Poverty), ECO 4 (Quality Education), and ECO 3 (Health and Well-being). ECO1 focuses on livelihood providing the community with a series of training and workshops on how they will be able to transform, upcycle, recycle, and craft different materials out of different waste materials in the community that could be a source of living or livelihood. ECO4 includes different symposiums, seminars, and training to re-inculcate the value of proper solid waste management and the importance of the environment. ECO3 encloses different seminars, training, and symposiums that tackles the harmful effects of a dirty environment and other practices that damage the environment to health. Project Tikang (Tikang is a hiligaynon term which means step) is a youth-led initiative that seeks to help children from Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs) from Sitio Madaja, Brgy. Buenavista, Himamaylan City to have access to alternative learning sessions for grade schoolers who are having a hard time coping up with their education utilizing the multi-stakeholders approach. E-skwela on Air Project is a radio-based instruction initiative that focuses on learning delivery through a radio broadcast and Facebook live. It aims to provide learning opportunities to listeners and viewers as supplementary learning in the absence of actual face-to-face interaction. Purok Bantolinawon, Brgy. Camingawan, Kabankalan City is presently the partner community of the project in which 35 children benefited from the project and other cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental and Oriental are reached by our partner radio station’s frequency - 100.5 CPSU Radyo Muscovado Sweet FM. ABC+ Project is a project of the Department of Education in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by The Asia Foundation, SIL Lead, and Florida State University. The project hopes to support the Department of Education’s (DepEd) priority to access quality education for children in the areas of greatest need. It aims to improve the access of educators, parents, and students to quality learning materials. As an implementing organization, HBONI focuses on Parent and Community Engagement (PCE), one of the programs of the ABC+ Project. Its purpose is to increase the involvement and capacity of parents and communities in early grade education. As the organization maximizes the potential of different youth sectors, its vision continues to build hope to every community in Negros Island.