During the weekend (July 25-26, 2014) I was a Volunteer in the Enactus Philippines National Finals held in the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Metro Manila.  We started on Friday night with a Sponsors Night and a Students Night and had the competitions on Saturday.

Enactus Philippines is the national arm of Enactus International that is based in Missouri USA.  Enactus is an NGO that is in 36 countries all over the world with more than 66,000 participating students. It is an international organization that  brings students, faculty advisers and businessmen together to do entrepreneurial projects in poor communities. In the Philippines this year, there are 19 competing teams and a total of 70 participating schools.

Once a year, Enactus Philippines holds the National Finals where Enactus teams in colleges and universities from all over the country compete to show the impact they have created in the communities that they serve.  The Judges in the competition must decide ?which team most effectively empowered people in need by applying business and economic concepts and an entrepreneurial approach to improve their quality of life and standard of living??

This year, the top four finalists had interesting entrepreneurial activities that also considered the environment. The champion team, University of Luzon, worked on a project using aquaponics techonology (fish condominiums) and remodelled their hydroponics technology. This helped fishermen grow certain crops without environmental threat.  One of the projects of the 1^st runner up (Holy Trinity College of General Santos City) makes fashion accessories from paper waste. They also created an eco-tourism project for the community to earn.  The 2^nd runner up is the University of San Carlos which worked on rehabilitating the seaweed farms of the farmers after it was destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan. The 3^rd runner up is Sultan Kudarat State University Access Campus which introduced the Vermi Cast Fertilizer Production to its communities.

There were many other projects that would create great impact in the future. For example there is the Bag Ready Enterprises of Miriam College, which helps their community with a livelihood and at the same time creates a useful product. They created a multipurpose life vest bag with a detachable backpack and sleeping bag.  The idea came about after the Typhoon Haiyan devastation where many Filipinos became refugees in evacuation centers.