Center For Social Concern and Action - COSCA

[𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞-𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠] 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦

Students from the Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching (PRFACIL) course under the college of Br. Andrew Gonzales FSC College of Education, recently completed a meaningful service-learning partnership with the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of DLSU-Center for Social Concern and Action and Aurora Quezon Elementary School.

Taught by Br Hans Steven Moran FSC, the 134 students from three sections dedicated their time and skills to teach ALS learners in Math, English, and Science from February 23 to March 31, 2026. Each student facilitated a one-hour session, applying learner-centered strategies grounded in theory and practice. The engagement began with orientation sessions and discussions with the ALS Instructional Managers and ALS Learners. Using their inputs, the PRFACIL students designed lessons that were relevant, responsive, and engaging. As the sessions progressed, attendance steadily increased, with 15 to 20 learners actively participating in each class, demonstrating enthusiasm and genuine interest in the lessons.

Beyond teaching, the experience left a lasting impact on our students. Many have expressed their desire to continue volunteering in ALS, while others shared that this journey reaffirmed their commitment to the teaching profession.

This Service-Learning initiative powerfully demonstrates how education, guided by empathy and rooted in community, can create meaningful and lasting impact.

𝐄𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐎 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

This morning, April 19, 2026, our EHEMPLO 2026 volunteers joined community members of Brgy. Masalukot IV, Candelaria, Quezon for a cleanup activity, working side by side in the spirit of the Lasallian Mission. 💚

With shared effort and simple actions, the morning became a reminder that care for our surroundings is also care for one another. In sweeping, collecting, and restoring spaces together, we lived out what it means to be present to the community.

𝐄𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐎 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

As part of EHEMPLO 2026, our volunteers spent April 18, 2026 with the children of Brgy. Masalukot IV, Candelaria, Quezon for a storytelling session featuring Sandosenang Sapatos, a story that speaks of a parent’s love in the most quiet and sincere ways. This aims to promote literacy and love of reading among the children.

After the storytelling, the children created murals on illustration boards, drawing what they see and value in their community. In their own way, they shared pieces of their everyday lives - what matters to them, what they notice, and what they hold close.

Last March 25, 2026, Mr. Jon Alcazar from SLIFE facilitated a meaningful Lasallian Leadership session for our CORE and Team Leader Formation. Grounded in the Lasallian Formation and Action (LFA) Framework, the session invited us to reflect on what it truly means to lead in the context of the Lasallian Mission.

More than skills or roles, we were reminded that leadership calls us to become compassionate in understanding others, empowered to take initiative and act with purpose, and collaborative. As we embark on this journey, we continue to form ourselves to be leaders for others.

𝐄𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐎 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

From what seems like “nothing,” life finds a way to grow.

On April 16, 2026, as part of EHEMPLO 2026, participants gathered with our farmers in Brgy. Masalukot IV, Candelaria, Quezon for a meaningful afternoon session on Permaculture with Ms. Nenieveh ("Weng") Glinoga. From 2:00–5:00 PM, we explored how all things are deeply connected - how the land, people, and resources around us (even the ones we often overlook) can work together to create something abundant and sustainable.

It was a reminder of a way of living with the following concepts:
✨ Care for the Earth
✨ Care for People
✨ Fair Share for All

Permaculture teaches us that we already have what we need, we just need to see it, nurture it, and trust in its potential. Truly, it is about making love out of nothing at all.

𝑪𝑶𝑩𝑪𝑺𝑹𝑮 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑼𝑵𝑩𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑫 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚 𝑬𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒔, 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒛𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚

On March 11, 2026, the Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance (COBCSRG) section K39 students completed their Service-Learning (SL) engagement in partnership with the UNBOUND Lucky Enterprise of Payatas, Quezon City, in DLSU. Guided by Ms Marissa Marasigan as the course faculty, the students conducted three impactful projects that engaged 30 officers and members from the assigned course partner organization.

The first project, The Eco-Bayong Project, drew inspiration from online tutorials teaching audiences of all ages how to make simple, easy-to-design bags from second-hand or old T-shirts. The group also provided introductory modules on costing and marketing strategies.

The second project, NANAYPreneur, taught the participants who own small or home-based businesses. The project's main goal was to improve participants' digital marketing skills, especially in using Facebook Marketplace to advertise their goods and boost revenue. The third group taught the participants to make graham balls as an additional source of livelihood. The SL group taught them as well as costing and marketing techniques to make their products unique.

COBCSRG is a foundational course for the DLSU Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business students. As an SL course, it equips students to design and implement socially responsible, business-oriented, and SDG-responsive projects that address the environmental, social, and economic contexts, the three pillars of sustainable development.

EHEMPLO: The Lasallian Immersion Experience begins

We officially sent off our participants through a meaningful Mass celebrated by Fr. Viel Bautista, marking not just the start of a journey, but a calling to serve with purpose.

Our Director, Ms. Anna Bandagosa, reminded us of what it truly means to be EHEMPLO:
✨ Empathy
✨ Humility
✨ Engagement
✨ Mission
✨ Passion
✨ Leadership by example
✨ Openness

More than volunteers, they are called to be true examples, living witnesses of Lasallian values and strengthening the core of who we are as a community.

Ms. Fritzie, Vice President for Lasallian Mission, shared how this immersion opens a space for both students and staff to journey together, deepening a culture of encounter with the poor and a stronger appreciation of our Lasallian identity and the values shared by St. John Baptiste de la Salle

We send off 18 students and 1 faculty member with our prayers and full support. They will be in Candelaria, Quezon from Apr. 14-20, 2026. Let us continue to pray for them as they go forth. May they be guided, protected, and transformed, and may they become true witnesses of faith, service, and communion in every community they encounter.

[Service-Learning] Children's Rights through Play!

On March 28, 2026, an activity took place as forty children from Barangays (village) 708 and 712, Malate, Manila, engaged in a culminating activity organized and implemented by our Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino Psychology) students under the DLSU Department of Psychology. With the guidance of their faculty, Mr. England Danne Castro, in the See-Experience activity, students reflected on and analyzed the daily lives of these children, including the challenges they faced, their coping methods, and their aspirations. The insights gathered form the basis for their final Service-Learning project, which emphasizes the importance of amplifying children's rights.

During their reflection, the students realized that children carry the weight of stress from their surroundings. Thus, play became a means of increasing their understanding of their rights as children, boosting their confidence and resilience, and bringing joy using shared experiences.
One group used flashcards and play-based discussions to promote mental health and awareness of disaster risk reduction. Another group used traditional Filipino games (Laro ng Lahi) to raise awareness, strengthen social bonds, and limit gadget use. A playbook was also created to help barangays and other facilitators use Laro ng Lahi as icebreaker games, aligning with Filipino cultural values.

Students' reflections revealed the emergence of Filipino principles, including pakikipagkapwa (common identity), pakikiramdam (sensitivity), pakikiisa (solidarity), damayan (mutual support), patience, and resilience in every challenge. This project, therefore, validates Sikolohiyang Pilipino as a liberating movement, embodying the essence of this enduring pursuit.

This approach is the core of Service-Learning in Sikolohiyang Pilipino, focusing on building relationships to encourage collective action, ultimately aiming for a future that better supports children.

[𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲-𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴] 𝗖𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱: 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲

The Analytical Chemistry students from the DLSU College of Science developed innovative products from cacao husk and other byproducts to support cacao farmers at the Luisiana Cacao Growers Cooperative located in the Municipality of Luisiana, Laguna. Often discarded as agricultural waste, cacao husks are now being reimagined as valuable raw materials through careful laboratory analysis and research.

Guided by their faculty, Dr. Mariafe Calingacion, students’ research and experimentation led them to the development of Service-Learning projects based on practical innovations such as cacao bean shell-infused ice cream, edible cutlery, moisturizer, chocolate shots, activated carbon, bioplastic, dyes, parchment paper, cacao pod-based toothpaste, hand cream, and insect repellent. Cooperative leaders stated that these promising new products can be further developed, and some may be adopted.

These innovations reflect the services provided by students' service-learning projects, which can support local cacao farmers to turn agricultural waste into opportunities for economic growth and a sustainable cacao industry.

[REPOST] Artistic expressions and solidarity as SE of our partner unit, De La Salle University Libraries, to highlight the advocacy and journey of uplifting youth and adults who are finishing their Alternative Learning System (ALS) program here at DLSU. No one left behind! Access and quality Education for All!

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