It'sMore Fun in the Philippines!

Iam Dr. Marivic Mapesos-de Vera, the Chief Science Research Specialist, of theLivestock Research and Development Division, Bureau of AnimalIndustry-Department of Agriculture.  I amone of the fortunate twenty trainees for the 2022 KAPEX ONLINE ACADEMY from thePhilippines.

Itis with great pride and honor to be asked to give an IMPRESSION for this year’sAcademy.

Onbehalf of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI), Iwould like to extend my deepest gratitude to the following:

● Ministry of Agriculture Food and RuralAffairs (MAFRA), Republic of Korea who funded this program

● Center for International AgriculturalPartnership (CIAP) in KREI

● Korean Rural Economic Institute (KREI),Republic of Korea

● Korean Agricultural Policy Experiences forFood Security (KAPEX) who steered this ONLINE ACADEMY

● I salute the very energetic andaccommodating Jeon Minkyung who answered all my queries through email evenduring weekends.  The said onlinetraining was much easier and enjoyable thanks to all the reminders and updatedinformation on how to go about completing all the requirements. Thank you for makingsure that each and every one of us participants would be able to attend all thepre-recorded lectures and field lectures required and submit all the necessarydocuments on time or within the duration of the training.

Also,appreciation is given to the management of the DA-BAI for allowing us to attendthis one month of online classes.

Letme now take you on the exciting journey that I have experienced for the wholemonth of February. 

Themoment I took a glimpse of this invitation, I was beyond excited as this is my1^st international training after finishing my graduate studies last2010 and upon my return back to my mother agency.  The impact of COVID-19 on global health madethe KAPEX Online Academy be conducted via a virtual platform to ensure thesafety of all the participants of the KAPEX partner countries.

Ihave attended all sixteen online Policy lectures and five Field lectures,submitted one Action Plan Report, and responded to the KAPEX Online AcademySatisfaction Questionnaire.

Itwas relatively easier to answer the post-quiz and lecture evaluation of thefirst two policy lectures. However, as I progress to Policy lectures 3 to 16,the questions did start getting harder to answer.  I really needed to have more than 100% focus.

Therewere inevitable distractions such as my day-to-day paper works related to beingthe head of my division, several meetings, and the recently conducted BAI 93^RDFounding Anniversary where I was the Chair of the Training/Seminar Committee.Even though February was very exhaustive with all the activities that needed tobe done, I can say that I have surpassed and fulfilled all my roles. Thanks tomy ever-dependable staff and co-employees.

Generally,the challenges that I have encountered include the llimited time in doing theACTION PLAN and the many distractions related to performing my daily tasks asdivision chief. It would be much easier if I were in KOREA where I could focus/devote all my time and attention to the KAPEX Academy. Face-to-face trainingis more beneficial. Trainees will not only be focused on the lectures andpresentations but would also have more interaction with the resource personsand the trainees. We can have new friends, encourage new networks with othercountries, and also enjoy the site areas of the field lecture.

Settingthese few limitations, I was very glad I attended this training.

Myparticipation in this course has been really rewarding as it broadened myknowledge on some policy and research areas in Korea some of which can beapplied in my country. I must also say that the incentives included in thisprogram were a good driving force for the participants but the most importantof all is the knowledge/learnings and insights gained from all the enthusiasticresource persons who shared their expertise and even provided valuable pointersto us. 

Letme take this opportunity to thank the organizer for choosing two (2) entriesfrom the Philippines for the Outstanding Action Plan.  Dr. Kwesi Ian Jay M. Junsan for his projectentitled “A Free and Open Animal Husbandry Education for All”.  He is from the Animal Health and WelfareDivision.  Another one is Ms. Andrea JoyceC. Arbues for her project “Improving and Sustaining the Honey Bee IndustryThrough Rural Specialized Business Development” a Pilot Project in Batangas andQuezon Province, Philippines.  She is mystaff under the Technology Packaging and Transfer Section of the LivestockResearch and Development Division (LRDD). 

Again,my sincerest appreciation and more power!

Ihope you will have a lot of trainings like this so more will benefit fromknowing how Korea progressed into being one of the prime mover countries in theworld.

Thankyou.

SALAMAT PO!

(Thank you!)

MarivicM. de Vera