When I was in high school, I used to attend a camp that was held yearly called the CLEAR Youth Network (CYN) Congress as a representative of the Friends of the Seven Lakes Foundation or FSLF.  This year, FSLF was represented at the 11th CYN Congress by members of the YES (Young Environmental Society) organization of the San Isidro National High School in San Pablo City, Laguna. The group was led by their Moderator, Ms. Suzeth Magdami and consisted of five students - Kharl Janzen Dimaisip, Shien-shien Banayo, Angela Marace, John Maxwell Alcantara and Janella Alcantara.

The CYN Congress is an annual youth camp which brings together students from towns and cities around Laguna Lake and the 7 crater lakes of San Pablo City. Campers come from the following cities and towns: Muntinlupa, Taguig, Pateros, Tanay, Angono, Binangonan, Los Baños, Pangil, Lumban, San Pablo, Siniloan, San Pedro, Sta. Rosa, Mabitac, Rizal, Pila, Morong and Calauan.

The theme of this year's CYN Congress is "Clean Rivers for Healthy and Safe Communities". On the first day of the two-day camp, they started with a lectures about river systems and tributaries of the Laguna Lake. They also had discussions about opportunities for youth to get involved in river conservation and management activities. They had special guests from England who presented about the Thames Estuary Partnership.  On day 2, they had a field visit to Tanay River and the Laguna Lake.  Later in the day, the eco-campers presented their Plans and Next Steps and had their Closing Ceremony.

The objective of this year's camp is to come up with a program on river conservation and management that the participants can implement during the year.  The CYN Congress provided the venue for an exchange of ideas and sharing of best practices.  The participants from San Pablo came home with many ideas they can share in the City among the different YES groups.