Second year BA Communication Students of Saint Louis University were among the 42 teams from different Southeast Asian countries that participated in the Youth Across Southeast Asia (YASA) Project of 2022 which was held from 9 November to 9 December 2022. The Yasa Project is an annual event that aims to expose students to a multicultural environment and shed light on issues that Southeast Asian countries face.
As a response to various ASEAN issues, student participants produced campaign videos within the month-long timeline that was done in phases:
- 9-20 November: Individual Orientation Phase
- 23 November: Project Launching (Project Opening, Team Workshop with Coaches)
- 23-26 November: Team Introduction and Initial Submission of Video
- 6 December: Final Submission of Video Campaign Project
- 9 December: Closing Ceremony and Awarding
The faculty members from the participating universities conducted coaching sessions with each group as the production progressed.
The project concluded last 9 December 2022 and included an awarding ceremony for students who won awards for Best Video. Two groups with members from SLU were declared winners including Joanne M. Sabaiton and Lois Francesca L. Roque who were teamed up with the Singapore team in producing a campaign video on Racism in Singapore; and Shane Marc T. Gamboa and Katrina Isabel S. Garcia, who were grouped with Thailand for their video on Thailand’s Educational Students.
To be well-equipped for the campaign project, the students attended online lectures on Social Issues in ASEAN that included Education, Employment and Opportunity, Health and Well-Being, and Participation and Engagement. These topics centered on the role of the youth in terms of leadership development, ASEAN awareness promotion, volunteerism and participation, and entrepreneurship.
Through the YASA Project 2023, student participants from all over Southeast Asia were given the chance to raise awareness on pressing societal issues through each group’s campaign video.
