1. List 10 things that make you feel human.
- Spending time with my family
- Helping people at the woodshop
- Empathizing with peoples’ life situation that are less fortunate than mine in terms of necessity
- Immersing myself in nature and forgetting everything around the world at the moment
- Having an honest talk with someone
- Learning sustainable practices to co-exist with the Earth/environment
- Hugging my friends and family
- Planting….or simply playing with soil
- Having a meal with a family or friend
- Giving someone a gift
2. Articulate your philosophy of engagement as it pertains to your work in GSIF.
My philosophy of engagement in my work as a member of the Plastikan team is to contribute as the product design lead as much as I can while keeping everyone else on track with their tasks. Combatting a large scale plastic problem in the Philippines is not something that can be achieved by one person. Confronting all problems together and supporting each other in the Plastikan journey for a unified goal of diverting plastics from our environment is a part of my philosophy.
2.1 Why should I engage?
Engaging myself in the Plastikan project is crucial to stay motivated and push the project forward. Engagement in Plastikan is a sign of understanding the significance of diverging plastic from the landfill in order to restore the opportunities of cohabitation with the environment to the current and future generations. Engagement results from seeing the potential impact Plastikan can create on a person, a community, a society, and the world. I should engage in Plastikan because I understand the significance and see the potential of the Plastikan team in changing our world’s current operating system into one where people cohabit with the environment.
2.2 How must I engage?
I must engage myself in Plastikan by fulfilling my role as the product design lead and engaging my teammates in our challenging journey together since the Plastikan project cannot be achieved alone. I will work on developing and refining the 4 products that were generated as a team: building system, rain collection system, and tiles/pavers in a timely manner.
2.3 With whom must I engage?
Together with my teammates, we must engage ourselves in the Plastikan project. In addition to my teammates, I must also engage the UPD team who is looking to combat the same issue in order to deliver a solution that will not only diverge plastics from the environment but also improve the well-being of Filipinos living in poverty. One last group I should engage in the project is the Filippino community that my team is trying to implement the change on. This engagement is crucial to understand the needs of the community and to make sure our solution is impacting the society in a positive way that is desirable to the community.
2.4 What kinds of challenges, opportunities, and approaches should I care about?
I should care about the challenges of developing products that not only meet the needs but is also culturally acceptable within the Philippino society. The awareness of the fact that an outsider is attempting to combat another nation’s issues needs to remain at all times. The norm in one country may not be the norm in another. The machinery that will have to be designed to create the products will also face challenges of meeting health and safety standards. In addition, the machines will have to be redesigned to be compatible with Filippino workers. There are three primary opportunities in the Plastikan project:
- Remove plastics from the environment
- Increase the value of plastic by creating value-added products made out of recycled plastics.
- Generate wealth for the community to increase the well-being of Filipinos living in poverty
2.5 What might my epitaph read?
“I have fulfilled my role and ambitions within the little dash.”