IN THE far-flung town of Sadanga in Mountain Province, synergy is not at all farfetched. The townspeople even have a name for it, “og-ogbo”, which literally means “working together.”

Local officials, media practitioners, students and teachers did just that when 32 campus journalists of two high schools in Sadanga attended a three-day training on the basics of journalism last July.

The workshop carried the theme: “Working Together to Enhance Young Minds towards Social Consciousness and Free and Responsible Journalism.” The training was funded by UNICEF, with the support of the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID). NZAID helps in building a Child-Friendly Movement in Mountain Province.

The workshop is one of many activities which are implemented in the province to promote the rights of children and to equip young people with skills, preparing them as productive citizens.

“We learned to write not only about our school but also about our community,” 16-year old Vivian Galingan says.

Vivian, a senior at the Sadanga National High School, is the chief editor of the Ayyeng, the school newspaper. “Ayyeng” refers to the act of producing a sound using an indigenous flute.

To the Sadangans, this is not just any sound. “It is a sound that floats in the air, drifts with the wind, reaches every corner of the community,” says Leticia Pangket, secretary of Mayor Gabino Ganggangan. Leticia is also Ayyeng’s adviser on news and public affairs.

Unlike other school papers in the Philippines, “Ayyeng” is now a joint publication of the school and the community. With a wider circulation, stories about the school become stories of the community. Issues of the community become issues of the school.

“We get to talk about a world outside our school walls. We have more readers now,” says Vivian. “The training made us feel like real journalists.”

Associate editor and third year student, Jeryl Galingan, 15, adores the paper’s editorial section. “The editorial is the heart of the paper. On this page, we can express our opinions,” says Jeryl.

For a child growing up in the Mt. Province, expressing an opinion is not easy. “I am still not very confident in saying what I think,” admits Jeryl.

Indigenous traditions do not encourage children to speak up and be vocal about what they think and feel. Tribal elders place a premium on unconditional obedience from younger people.

“But adults are not the only ones who have something to say. We have the right to express ourselves,” says Jeryl. She also recognizes that with this right comes a myriad of responsibilities.

“We still have to be polite and respectful.” Vivian plans to write a story about the children who carry heavy sacks of gravel and cement. “I see them when I go to school,” she says. “They should be in school studying not doing back-breaking labor.”

Jeryl prefers to do editorial pieces on the basic needs of school children. In the August issue of Ayyeng, an editorial about the unfinished construction of classroom toilets was printed. Work on the structure started in 2001. The piece questions: “Shall we have to wait for another four or five years before we can find comfort in a facility with walls, roof and all?”

The editorial alarmed the local government and civic groups in Sadanga. The Rotary Club of Sadanga met with the municipal engineer to help in the completion of the toilet facilities.

Jeryl is amazed that it took only one editorial to get things going. “We were finally heard,” she exclaims.

For Vivian and Jeryl, Ayyeng has truly become their voice, the sound that floats in the air, drifts with the wind, and reaches every corner of the community.