Monday, January 6, 2025

"In the Name of Civilization." We still ask today why we build beautiful things and destroy them.

    "In the Name of Civilization."

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]

Home, Sweet Home with Mother Earth

“The ultimate test of any civilization
Is not in its inventions and deeds;
But the endurance of Mother Nature
In keeping up with man’s endless needs.”
- AVR, Light in the Woods.

But what is civilization? Can’t civilization hear and heed the groaning of Creation?

1. It is civilization that wiped out the American Indians from the Great Plains, and plundered the Aztecs and Mayas Empires, among other cultures.


2. It is civilization that spurred the powerful West to "discover" and colonize the East for centuries.

3. It is civilization that resulted in the death of millions and the genocide of 6 million Jews in WWII.

4. It is civilization that built the atomic bomb – and dropped it in two cities of an "enemy."

5. It is civilization that made a clone animal, Dolly the Sheep (photo), and inevitably man in the near future.

6. It is civilization that threatens the whale and the Philippine Eagle, and resulted to the extinctions of many species.

7. It is civilization that is causing global warming and its untold consequences destroying lives and properties, and the environment itself.

8. It is civilization that is causing today’s fuel crisis and food shortage, drastic inflation and loss of currency value, the recession of America and consequently the world, ad infinitum.

9. It is civilization that gave way to excesses of living, from obesity to promiscuity, license to abuse of power and wealth.

10. It is civilization that allowed growing inequities in resources distribution, in bridging the rich and the poor.

But it is also civilization that brought us and our society to the highest level of consciousness no known species can parallel. It is civilization that makes the Earth a beautiful place to live in.

1. It is civilization that gave us consciousness as rational beings, guiding us to live peacefully as a group and with the things around us.

2. It is civilization that created our great institutions that bind us into a society.

3. It is civilization that made the greatest masterpieces in fields of philosophy, science and the arts.

4. It is civilization that gave us the greatest religions of the world that brought us closer to our Creator.

5. It is civilization that guarantees our basic rights as individuals and a people, and as a nation.

6. It is civilization that instills in us pride and dignity in our continuing accomplishments and discoveries.

7. It is civilization that prods us to explore the ocean and space, and the mysteries of life.

8. It is civilization that treasures knowledge and history in libraries, archives and multimedia, all ever expanding and mysteriously revealing.

9. It is civilization that inspires us all towards achieving our dreams and searching for a meaning in life.

10. It is civilization that gives holism to our existence as Homo sapiens (thinking man), Homo faber (man the maker), Homo ludens (playing man), and Homo spiritus (praying man).

It is civilization that makes nations great - big and small - equally proud of their culture, and contribution to the world.

It is civilization that brings us all towards universal brotherhood and globalization, shrinking the world into a friendly village.

It is civilization that makes heroes and martyrs that always prevail at the end in keeping peace and order here in our only home, The Planet Earth.

Civilization hangs on a precarious balance. We still ask today why we build beautiful things and destroy them. We are puzzled by the answer of the madman who destroyed the Pieta with a sledge hammer –“because I cannot own beauty.” So, if one man can’t, why should he deprive humanity?

Human Life and Environment, presented at the Capiz Archdiocesan Gathering of Priests, August 4, 2011

Meditation Moods in Photographs

                     Meditation Moods in Photographs  

Dr Abe V Rotor

Old fisherman mending seine net at Barangay Camindoroan, San Juan, Ilocos Sur.

 I wonder what his thoughts are at his age.  Could he be thinking like the old man in Ernest Hemingway's famous novel, The Old Man and rthe Sea?  Why, he is still hoping to catch the biggest fish in his life.  The fact is, he already did.  The biggest fish in life.  That is, peace of mind  (Circa 2002)


A centenarian Paulinian sister writing a diary 


I took this photo at the St Paul of Chartres Vigil House which was formerly on the St Paul University campus in QC where I taught for several years. She told me she was listing down her activities for the day.  Then in the afternoon, she says, she would check and record what she was able to do.  But more importantly she was writing a diary. (Circa 1996)

 Candid photograph of a student in a very sad mood.  

I learned that she was still adjusting to a new environment away from home in the province. Studying in Manila is indeed a great sacrifice and may take time for young people like her to cope up with college life and living in a big city. (St Paul University, formerly St Paul College QC, circa 1997)     

Moving to a new home with his pet bird

What will their new home be? We can only guess what's in the mind of this young boy. Apparently his concern for his pet is great, and full of anxiety. Reverence for life that starts at a young age actually builds strong character. (Circa 1980)   

Lady standing dangerously on a ledge  

I took this picture of a woman standing at the edge of a ledge over a river in Bangkok, in 2010.  She had been standing there for some time, apparently immersed in deep thoughts.  I didn't have the chance to know what happened afterward. ~

Sunday, January 5, 2025

International Mind-Body Wellness Day Mens sana in corpore sano* (A healthy mind in a healthy body)

January 3, 2025
International Mind-Body Wellness Day
Mens sana in corpore sano*
(A healthy mind in a healthy body)
                                               
                                            Dr Abe V Rotor
          Please visit avrotor.blogspot.com and Naturalism - the Eighth Sense

Part 1 - POM (Peace of Mind) Square
Part 2 - Meditation, Reflection and Relaxation
Part 3 - A Walk with Nature - Leisure and Therapy

"A healthy mind in a healthy body" is a Greek philosophy that expresses the idea that mental and physical health are interrelated and should be in harmony.

Part 1 - POM (Peace of Mind) Square

Of course you do not think of POM while you are running. Then you start to walk, exhausted, and you look around. You are back to your senses. You realize you have not been a “square”. Your sense of dimension is lost and you don't even care what shape you are in. Because you have lost the integrated balance of the four pillars of a happy, fulfilled life. Internet photo
  • Intellectual/mental
  • Spiritual
  • Physical
  • Psychological/Emotional
1. Physical – It's your health, body physiology, the machine and prime mover that keeps you going biologically. When was the last time you visited your doctor? Is your food balance? Maybe you are not getting enough exercise. Driving for hours does not constitute an exercise. Are you having difficulty to sleep, even only to rest? Imagine a machine breaking down because of strain.

2. Intellectual or mental – Your thoughts are assigned to two parts – the left for reasoning and the right for creativity. Either you have overtaxed the whole of your brain, or you failed to balance the two hemispheres. That's why it is important to attend to hobbies like painting and music (right brain) to balance the left which you use more often in office and home. As the body is subject to fatigue, so with the brain. A fatigued brain may lead to psychiatric condition that can not be relieved as easy as that of the body. Quite often extreme conditions are irreversible.

3. Psychological or emotional – Our psyche absorbs the impact of stress coming from the body and the mind – and from our spiritual being. Like a funnel the residues are accumulated here. Imagine a man staring at an artificial waterfall at a New York park. How many promising people are ruined by emotional problems? Jungian psychology explains that as we continue to repress our thoughts, our feelings, particularly those that are negative, the more we bury them deeper, storing them in our sub-conscious.

It means two things. First, we thought we have eliminated them. No, they come out in our dreams, they seep out into the unconscious in trickles that spoil many happy thoughts. Second, as we keep filling up the unconscious with more repressed thoughts, there comes a time that the tank so to speak, is likely to burst. There on a couch the potential victim, with the help of a psychiatrist, releases the pressure by withdrawing from the unconscious into the conscious chamber of the brain and flows out to his relief. Such rehabilitation requires rest and expurgation of the negative thoughts and experiences. It is only through this process that the psychiatric symptoms begin to cease.


4. Spiritual – The biblical Seventh Day is one for the spirit, a day of communication with our Creator, with Nature. It is a renewal of relationship between man and God, a re-invigoration of the soul. Emptiness can be easily felt, but quite often, it mingles with the kind of emptiness that is hard to fill. Our spiritual life suffers every time we act on something against our conscience. It becomes dull when we fail to do the things we should in accordance with our faith. I have heard of people complaining about the lack of “meaning in life.” For me, the answer lies not in our rationale thoughts, in our physical power or emotional or psychological makeup. In fact I believe that the lack of meaning is in the emptiness of the spirit. I recommend reading A Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, founder of logotherapy - a field of psychology which helped prisoners in German prison camps in World War II to survive.

As I continue to write this article at Room 3031 at the UST hospital (September 20, 2001) I glimpse upon a Newsweek story about 30,000 Japanese a year have been killing themselves. The title of the article is “Death by Conformity.” It is about an epidemic of young Japanese pulling back from the world."

Take the case of a 29-year old salaryman. He described how he secluded himself for three years after resigning from his company. “I didn’t even know if it was day or night,” he confessed.

Another case is about a “corporate warrior” who became a victim of economic slump affecting his company in the late 1998. He became “spiritually” weakened by an anxiety he couldn’t comprehend. This is how the report pictured the fiftyish company executive. Internet photo

“At first he couldn’t sleep. Then he grew physically weak each time the train neared the station nearest his office. On several occasions he rode to the end of the line. At one point, speaking on condition that he not be identified, he went to buy a rope, then put it in the trunk of his car to be prepared for the day when he would hang himself. Fortunately the day didn’t come. A doctor helped him in overcoming his depression.” ~

Part 2 - Meditation, Reflection and Relaxation

"When the sun is in its zenith, half the day is gone, half of the work done, half of life's stirrings over, yet the joy of living, its challenges and rewards are whole and forever." avr
Dr Abe V Rotor 
A Paulinian student takes time out to meditate over a landscape mural painted 
by the author for St Paul College of Ilocos Sur, February 26, 2018. 

W
hen things seem to be overwhelming, the road long and rough, the horizon far and dim, and you feel powerless under this situation, give yourself time to meditate;

When the wind stops to blow, the treetops still, birds no longer fly, the fields lay bare after harvest time, summer creeps in, and you feel the false calm of doldrums, meditate;

When the first rain is but a shower, shy and naïve over the parched landscape and the dry riverbed, listen to the distant thunder, watch the gathering cloud, meditate;

When the mountains are blue in the distance, as blue as the azure sky and the sea resting after tempest, the valley deep and green, be part of the scenery, meditate;

When the birds migrate to the south before winter sets in and return in springtime, imagine the magnificence of the view from above, the adventure of travel, meditate;

When the trees proudly stand together to form a living fort, bastion against the vagaries of nature, abode and domicile of creation to which you are a part, meditate;

When the habagat is in its peak with days and days of rain, the fields now a huge lake, joining the rivers and lakes, it's nature's process of dynamic balance, meditate;

When the amihan sets in, cold wind from the north sweeps over the ripening grains, golden in the sun, undulating, lilting with kids flying kites - you're with them, meditate;

When the world seems to be moving too fast, on a chartless path, you feel you are adrift and part of a bandwagon, move out before it's too late, meditate;

When the trees come alive with music at dawn, mists settle into dewdrops, sparkling like diamonds as the sun rises, the curtain opens a new day - awake, meditate; 


When the sun is in its zenith, half the day is gone, half of the work done, half of life's stirrings over, yet the joy of living, its challenges and rewards are whole, meditate;

When the sun sets, dusk the prelude to rest, Angelus prayer itself in silence, peace and harmony set in, be at the center of Home, Family and Creator, meditate. ~



--------------
Poetry reading is an art. In fact, poetry is intended to be read before an audience to fully appreciate it, its theme and message,  its rhyme and rhythm, style and meter cum expression of the reader. For this particular piece, the author suggests as a background music, Meditation, a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra. The opera premiered at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on March 16, 1894.

Part 3 - A Walk with Nature - Leisure and Therapy

Leisure and therapy. When was the last time you took a nature's trail? Camping in the wood? Walking down the beach? Nature invites you to relax, to find peace of mind - and to be healed.
Dr Abe V Rotor

Author walks among pine tree saplings. Tagaytay 2008

Walking is leisure and therapy when you combine and harmonize your body, mind and spirit with nature. It is an exercise that restores gait and adds strength, and it brings inner peace. The mind becomes sharper; sensitivity is honed. And just like what the Greeks believed to be the fountain of youth, it could be the missing key to “a healthy mind in a healthy body.”

They say that to keep yourself healthy and active you must exercise regularly. It is one way to keep yourself fit with their environment. But more than physical fitness, the psyche must be given equal treatment. They must be exercised altogether. And the catalyst is Nature.

This is particularly true to one approaching middle age or old age. It is important to slow down, harmonizing the body and mind. Slow down in the same way jogging comes to the pace of easy walking. Make exercise not as a task but leisure.

To achieve this, first you must condition yourself to

• have peace of mind,
• be positive,
• be keen with nature’s presence and rhythm, and
• remember, it’s your day.

While the body responds to the physical world such as the condition of the road, and presence of people and objects, the mind is keen with the beauty of the surroundings and creates images that only the person concerned personally experiences. Here environment and imagery become one.

Listen to the Songs of Birds
One morning on the grounds of the University of Santo Tomas I heard a Philippine black-headed shrike or tarat or panal (Lanius schach nasutus). Its crispy calls signal the arrival of the Siberian High. It tells of harvest time and kite flying. The chilly air is exhilarating to breathe. Listening to its rhythmic calls, I soon found out that its kin had arrived at the same tree, and soon I became an audience of their concert. I stopped walking to hear and watch them until they moved to another tree.

At one time I saw another bird – pandangera (Rhipidura javanica nigrotorquis), named after its tail that constantly moved and opened like a fan. I searched for it in a nearby fire tree about to shed its leaves, and while it sang and danced, sent showers of yellowing leaves to the ground. Happier and more musical than that of the tarat, it also came with the annual migration of birds as the Northern Hemisphere approached winter.

What an unusual experience to find these rare creatures in the heart of a crowded metropolis – indeed a sanctuary in a concrete jungle. To me there is nothing sweeter than recollecting of farm life, giving zest to urban living.

Take time to appreciate the creatures of the air - the epitome of freedom. Watch them soar and ride on the wind. Play hide-and-seek with them among the trees. Listen intently to their songs. Pick up a tune, imitate and put them into notes. Observe their kinship. Search their nests. Birds are among the most beautiful creatures, especially the males. Study their plumage. Marvel at how nature engineered them for flight and arboreal life. Reflect on this, “If I have wings, will I find freedom and peace?”

Understand the Ways of Nature
While strolling along the water edge of the man-made lake at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center, I stopped to rest beside a mudflat where water had earlier receded. Seeds had begun germinating while minute snails combed its the slimy surface, leaving trails glistening in early sunshine. Holes suggested there were creatures living underneath it. And yet the mudflat looked like a wasteland – a paradox, because there was much water around.

Not far away was another mudflat, much older than the first because plants have colonized it and were vigorously competing for sun and space. I saw grasshoppers trapped in spider web, a house lizard stalking for its prey, beneath it was a toad, eyes half open. It was a mini forest of sort.

Taking the same route in the weeks that followed, the bare mudflat turned into greenery, while the older mudflat become part of the lakeshore which was to become part of its bank. I pondered on the gradual transformation of the mudflats every time I took the same route.

The ways of nature are mysterious. Learn to adapt to its laws and order continuously and without end. While you will never fully understand them, you will find them useful to living in many ways, enriching it with so many blessings.

Some years ago I wrote a verse and I quote:

“You are alone at your lowest ebb.
At low tide the sea reveals her shore
That bathes under the sun to its edge.
Go to the sea and learn its chore.”
 - A.V. Rotor, Nymphaea: Beauty in the Morning

Learn the realities of life as may be gleamed from the mudflats – or from the seashore in this poem. You realize that renewal is a fact and is happening everywhere. There is renaissance everyday. The cycle of nature is dynamic aimed at rebirth and stability - so with your life.

The mudflat became part of the shoreline and soon enough, became strong to protect the lake from erosion and siltation. How do we compare this with life? Similarly the foundation of life undergoes an orderly process, seasoned with time, and aimed at a goal. Stop now and then, and reflect on the dynamic evolution of the landscape and life itself.

A Short List for Sharing
How do we share our experiences with others?

Take these practical clues. Take notes and seize the moment. A scribble here, a scribble there will certainly refresh thoughts and memories. They enshrine feelings and capture imagery. Here is a list I made from my observations on the UST campus and while strolling at the Parks and Wildlife Center.

1. I discovered germinating seeds along the sidewalk and under the trees, pale green in the early sun rays, shy and delicate but daring to meet the world. Get close to them and observe the beginning of life.

2. It is the olfactory sense that works this time: the white, clustered flowers of dita (Alstonia scholaris) are most fragrant at dawn and dusk. They are inconspicuous during the day. Stop and smell their fragrance.

As the mind keeps us up in our work, so does it makes walking with nature an enjoyable experience.

3. Nymphaea water lilies come in white, yellow, red and purple, and are most beautiful if they come out spontaneously in the same pond. The flowers open slowly with sunrise. Sit down by the pond and observe them. Bees hover and alight on the open flowers, taking time to gather pollen, and kissing the dew and nectar.

4. The fire tree (Delonix regia) casts a dainty veil in the sky. What a contrast with the fire it breathes in summer! Shy, the veil is the finest of all foliage, filtering the morning sunlight into long fine rays converging in the misty air below. Such are the contrasting characters of this tree – one associated with fire and blood, the other of calmness and humility.

5. The traveller’s palm (Ravenola madagancariensis) is supposed to guide a lost traveler, providing him direction and precious water. But the fan-like arrangement of its leaves are in disarray, apparently because it has lost its sense of direction in the crowded garden. How many of us have also lost direction in our lives in crowded cities?

6. A giant African snail (Achatina fulica) leaves a slimy trace during the night, and remains docile during the day. Introduced by the Japanese soldiers during WW II, it has become an orphan and a pest, an enemy of gardeners. What a way to live!

7. A house lizard darts on flies and gnats. Either it is a late or early feeder. For the house lizard is nocturnal and sleeps during the day. But early morning finds them still on their prowl. Creatures have different biological clocks.

8. Balete (Ficus benjamina) – I find it a villain, strangling its host tree with massive prop roots. The parasite uses its host as prop and trellis until it has gained enough body to stand by itself like any tree. Man can be as cruel as the balete. Don’t get within the strangler’s hold of the balete.

Being a biped is an advantage of man over all other creatures,
for at this level we are most keen to what is happening around.

9. The Philodendron is kinder, it is a soft vine, it snakes up into the branches to catch the sun, its roots clinging on its host, but not harming it. As summer arrives, it retreats, leaving but some stems from which new buds grow the next season.

10. Old camphor trees are as old as two generations, I saw them for the first time I came to Manila in the sixties. They were already mature trees then. Now they senile and dying. It is the polluted air that is killing them. So with the agoho trees (Casuarina equisitifolia). I don’t find the old ones anymore.

Oasis: Fancy or Myth?
It used to stroll at the Sunken garden of the University of the Philippines in Diliman. On a couple of occasions I conducted an on-the-spot painting contest for a summer workshop here. Even during summer this one place remains like an oasis in the desert. It is because it is the basin of the surrounding watershed. The ponds are always full. Ducks are friendly to picnickers, cicadas sing in the trees unafraid, and frogs even croak in the day. Some people throw something in the water, a coin perhaps, wishing for something.

I looked at the calm water. It was perfect mirror. I took a piece of paper and wrote my thoughts.

Tell me your throes,
Worries and woes;
And to the fishes
Your wistful wishes.

I laughed at what I wrote and threw a pebble. Ripples erased my thoughts.

Now and then you look for a “oasis” because there is drought around. Here you feel detached, even while others suffer, even if the world is in trouble. While you prefer the lighter side of life, you can’t remain in the comfort zone of the oasis forever. Otherwise you miss the many challenges of life that bring about its true meaning.

Walking is not a means of escape. It is not one when there is trouble at home, or when we want to evade responsibility. It is not recourse either. You simply can’t reason out, “Sorry it’s time for my leisure.” Even if it is in keeping with good health and groom. There must be something bigger that should aim at.
 Teachers on field trip follow nature trail on Mt. Makiling, Laguna

Keep on walking. Pass through the UST botanical garden, walk on the banks of the Parks and Wildlife lake, and promenade in lush greenery of the Sunken Garden. While you take time in these places, keep on walking into a bigger world to meet people, to share with them the great experience of walking with nature. It is yet the best walk you did on earth. ~

Six Habits to Keep a Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body 
(Acknowledgement Internet)
  • Meditate. Meditation has been around for as long as 3000 years. 
  • Exercise regularly. 
  • Foster creativity. 
  • Follow a healthy diet.
  • Connect with others. 
  • Focus on the bright side.
*January 3 is International Mind-Body Wellness Day, a time to recommit to loving both our bodies and minds by putting new strategies for development and wellness into action. "A .healthy mind in a healthy body," is a Greek philosophy. A proponent of the link between physical and mental health, Aristotle believed that sports and gymnastics were essential for developing the human body and achieving harmony between the mind and body.~

Thursday, January 2, 2025

USAPANG BAYAN: Open University and Development Communication must go hand in hand

USAPANG BAYAN January 3, 2025 Friday 2 to 3 pm
Open University and Development Communication must go hand in hand

          
 Ms Melly C Tenorio, host; and Dr Abe V Rotor, guest
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Please open avrotor.blogspot.com Living with Nature

Part 1 - STOU - First Open University in Southeast Asia 

                                         Dr Abe V Rotor
Lately Thailand was rocked by internal conflict, students protesting against the current leadership and other issues.

Having been in Thailand in 2015, I saw a different picture. Thailand which means "land of the free" is a peaceful and progressive country, which I can vouch from the fact that I have had the chance to be with Thais since my student days, in visiting Sokhothai Thammathirat Open University, among other institutions, and from the fact that the Philippines historically gets most of its imported rice from Thailand.

This series of articles is my humble way of showing my appreciation to Thailand or old Siam, truly the land of the free.
   
 
Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University campus, Thailand
 
Printed instructional materials; STOU professor on live television lecture.
 
A Visit to Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University
Nationwide radio and television centralized control panel.  Interview: Dr Abe Rotor (left) and Professor Suchin Phongsak. Dr. Abercio V Rotor, professor of the University of Santo Tomas (3rd from left) poses with STOU faculty headed by Dean Achara Cheewatragoongit (4th), and Prof. Sukanya Phromphon (extreme right) during a recent visit to Thailand’s second largest open university, which has a population of 280,000 students. Dr. Rotor is also head instructor of Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People’s School-on-Air) broadcast daily on DZRB network . Others in the photo (L to R) are Director Elvira Martinez and Director Cecilia R Rotor of National Food Authority, Prof. Suchin Phongsat (former STOU professor), Mrs Cora Rocero Phongsat, and a faculty member and coordinator of the group.

Ode to STOU - First Open University in Southeast Asia
Dr Abe V Rotor

Pioneer thou art, institution of the common man,
Beating hitherto a path unknown to deliverance
From the false gods, ruthless masters and ignorance,
Thousands at your bidding come at your command.

From Socrates to Plato, the university got its name,
Philosophy took root in wisdom and humanity;
Didn't Bertrand Russell say, "Away with aristocracy?"
And utilitarian education grew up to fame.

Called functional literacy that people most treasure,
Three Rs - (w)Riting, Reading, (a)Rithmetic - but not enough,
What these mean and what they do to one's life the key -
STOU brought knowledge to and from the shore.

Bridging disciplines together, amalgamating them
Like alloy, theory and practice, the heart and mind,
Psyche and spirit into holism of purpose and faith,
Into one nation, strong men and women at the helm.

To all walks of life, for a better life man has fought,
Who till the land, turn the wheel of industry,

Victims of circumstance, imprisoned by poverty,
Whose schooling fell short from skills they sought.

Globalization - the name of the game the world plays,
Homogenization of cultures and melange of races -
Are too far out, vague of purpose at the grassroots;
Education cautions the people from the race.

Here at STOU the beacon lives through night 'til dawn,
On the Information Highway, through walls hardened
By indifference and neglect, for hope has no dead end;
For here at STOU learning and living go on and on.~


*Dedicated to my kind host and staff of STOU.

NOTE: Please open also in this Blog: Thai Food - Unique, Irresistible (March 7, 2010); A Day with the Elephants - Beauty and the Beast (March 7, 2010); and Reclining Buddha (March , 2010).

Part 2 - Development Communication 
                      - Catalyst of Socio-Economic Change
Dr Abe V Rotor

What is Development Communication?
Development Communication is recognizing the power of communication as a catalyst for social development. it is also the utilization of existent communication tools and applicable theories for result-driven strategies for the advancement of society.

University of the Philippines at Los Baños: seat of the country's agricultural research and training.  
  • Development Communication is a type of marketing and public opinion research that is used specifically to develop effective communication or as the use of communication to promote social development.
  • Purposive communication intended for a specific target audience that allows for the translation of information into action resulting in a higher quality of life.
  • The improvement of a community using information and technology and the community's ability to maintain the created ideal state without compromising its environment and resources.
  • It is the voluntary involvement of a group of people in a development activity with full knowledge of its purpose that will allow them to grow individually and as a community.
  • The process of eliciting positive change (social, political, economic, moral, environmental, etc) through an effective exchange of pertinent information in order to induce people to action.
  • Development communication extends to include: information dissemination on developmental schemes/projects, communication for eliciting positive change, interactivity, feedback on developmental issues, feedback/reverse communication for eliciting change. On development side, sustainability issues need to be given proper importance vis-a-vis economic development.
  • The practice of systematically applying the processes, strategies, and principles of communication to bring about positive social change.
The term "Development Communication" was first coined in 1972 by Nora C. Quebral, who defines the field as "the art and science of human communication linked to a society's planned transformation from a state of poverty to one of dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equity and the larger unfolding of individual potential."

Original building which housed UPLB's Farm and Home Development program. Author was among the pioneers of this special graduate course in 1962-1963 under the leadership of  then Dioscorro Umali, Thomas Flores, Leo de Guzman, Roger Cuyno, Perla Tagumpay, Nora Quebral, Diosdado Castro, et al. 

 Some approaches include:

• information dissemination and education,
• behavior change,
• social marketing,
• social mobilization,
• media advocacy,
• communication for social change, and
• participatory development communication.


Different schools of development communication have arisen in different places.

1. The "Bretton Woods school of development communication" arose with the economic strategies outlined in the Marshall Plan after WW2, and the establishment of the Bretton Woods system and of the WB and IMF in 1944. Due to his pioneering influence in the field, Everett Rogers has often been termed the "father of development communication."
----------------------------------
Originally, the paradigm involved production and planting of development in indigenous and uncivilized societies. This western approach to development communication was criticized early on, especially by Latin American researchers because it tended to locate the problem in the underdeveloped nation rather than its unequal relations with powerful economies. There was also an assumption that Western models of industrial capitalism are appropriate for all parts of the world. Many projects for development communication failed to address the real underlying problems in poor countries such as lack of access to land, agricultural credits and fair market prices.
---------------------------------------
The world bank currently defines development communication as the "integration of strategic communication in development projects" based on a clear understanding of indigenous realities. Institutions associated with the Bretton Woods school include:

PHOTO: Dr Anselmo S Cabigan served as director for Research and Extension of the National Food Authority until he retired to join the academe. Extension draws the link between and among the stakeholders of the state agency in stabilizing price and supply of basic food. Similarly development communication aims at bringing in unity and understanding among various sectors of society.

• UNESCO
• United Nations (FAO),
• the Rockefeller Foundation,
• the Department of International Development of the United Kingdom, 
• the Ford Foundation.
                                                                    
2. Latin America
The Latin American School of Development traces its history back further than the Bretton Woods school, emerging in the 1940s with the efforts of Colombia's Radio Sutatenza and Bolivia's Radios Minera. These stations were the first to use participatory and educational rural radio approaches to empowering the marginalized. In effect, they have since served as the earliest models for participatory broadcasting efforts around the world.

3. India
The history of organized development communication in India can be traced to rural radio broadcasts in the 1940s. As is logical, the broadcasts used indigenous languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Kannada.

PHOTO: Dr Dioscoro L Umali 
(1917 – 1992) served as Dean of UPLB and became the regional Director of FAO in Southeast Asia. He continued to serve as consultant of IRRI after his retirement.

Independent India's earliest organized experiments in development communication started with Community Development projects initiated by the union government in 1950's. Radio played an equally important role in reaching messages to the masses. Universities and other educational institutions - especially the agricultural universities, through their extension networks - and international organizations under the UN umbrella carried the dev-comm experiments further.

4. Africa
The African school of development communication sprang from the continent's post-colonial and communist movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Development communication in Anglophone Africa saw the use of Radio and theatre for community education, adult literacy, health and agricultural education.

5. University of the Philippines at Los Baños
The systematic study and practice of Development Communication in the Philippines began in the 1970s with the pioneering work of Nora C Quebral who, in 1972 became the first to come up with the term "Development Communication." In at least some circles within the field, it is Quebral who is recognized as the "Mother" of Development Communication.

Aspects of development communication which the CDC has extensively explored include Development Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Development Journalism, Educational Communication, Science Communication, Strategic Communication, and Health Communication.

Mother of DevCom in the Philippines. She helped in launching DC as an academic discipline and she has taught many renown development communication professionals. Her academic base since the 1960′s has been the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). She coined the term “development communication”, which she defined as: “the art and science of human communication linked to a society’s planned transformation from a state of poverty to one of dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equity and the larger unfolding of individual potential.”

6. Cybernetics approach
Another area of exploration for the CDC at UPLB is the aspect of development communication relating to the information sciences, the decision sciences, and the field of knowledge management. In 1993, as part of the then Institute of Development Communication’s Faculty papers series, Alexander Flor wrote a paper on environmental communication that, among other things, proposed a definition of Development Communication expanded from the perspective of cybernetics and general systems theory:

If information counters entropy and societal breakdown is a type of entropy, then there must be a specific type of information that counters societal entropy. The exchange of such information – be it at the individual, group, or societal level – is called development communication.

7. The Participatory Development Communication school
Focusing the involvement of the community in development efforts, the evolution of the Participatory Development Communication School involved collaboration between First World and Third World development communication organizations.

Development communication is the scientific study of how to achieve and sustain positive change in individuals, groups, organizations, or communities. It involves applying the principles of scientific research, such as rigorous experimentation, data analysis, and evidence-based decision making to design and implement effective interventions. This field encompasses various domains, including project management, training, community engagement, and evaluation, all aimed at promoting understanding, knowledge creation, and effective action (Clarke & Gregory, 2001). Effective development communication aims to enhance the quality of relationships, empower individuals, and foster long-term success. Reference:Clarke, S., & Gregory, A. (2001). Setting theory: Explaining the conceptual foundations of success and failure in services and consulting.

References
1.Quebral, Nora C. (1973/72). "What Do We Mean by ‘Development Communication’". International Development Review 15 (2): 25–28.

2. Quebral, Nora (23 November 2001). "Development Communication in a Borderless World". Paper presented at the national conference-workshop on the undergraduate development communication curriculum, "New Dimensions, Bold Decisions". Continuing Education Center, UP Los Baños: Department of Science Communication, College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños. pp. 15–28.

3.Manyoso. Linje (March 2006). "Manifesto for Development Communication: Nora C. Quebral and the Los Baños School of Development Communication". Asian Journal of Communication 16 (1): 79–99. doi:10.1080/01292980500467632

4.Avrind Singhal, Everett M. Rogers (1999). Entertainment-education: A Communication Strategy for Social Change , Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0805833501.

5.Flor, Alexander (1993) (Monograph). Upstream and Downstream Interventions in Environmental Communication. Institute of Development Communication.

6.Thussu, Daya Kishan 2000). International Communication: Continuity and Change. London: Arnold.


ANNEX University of the Philippines Open University 

The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) has an average enrollment of 2,800 students per term. UPOU has been offering its programs and courses fully online since 2007.

UPOU offers 26 graduate and three undergraduate programs in the fields of Education, Information and Communication Studies, and Management and Development Studies.

University of the Philippines Open University

UPOU is envisioned as a leader in teaching and learning in the digital age, helping to equip Filipinos with the knowledge and skills they need for life and work in the 21st century.

Our mission is to provide Filipinos everywhere access to quality higher education through innovative methods of teaching and learning that are designed to be responsive to their needs as well as to national development priorities. We uphold the values of scholarship, academic excellence, academic freedom, humanism, social responsibility, and service to the nation.

UPOU is also mandated to contribute towards upgrading the quality of the educational system of the country by developing innovative instructional strategies and technologies and sharing these with other colleges and universities through cooperative programs. Republic Act 10650 (Open Distance Learning Law) has tasked UPOU to assist relevant national agencies, higher education institutions, and technical and vocational institutions in developing their distance education programs through training, technical assistance, research, and other academic programs.

We are the nation’s most comprehensive distance education institution, with 37 degree programs comprised of seven undergraduate programs, two graduate certificate programs, 12 graduate diploma programs, 13 master’s programs, and three doctoral programs. UPOU also offers certification programs, continuing education programs (CEP), and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). We have Mega Learning Hubs in the National Capital Region (Diliman) and the Visayas (Cebu). This, coupled with our ability to harness a wide range of digital technologies in education, has enabled us to build a global community of mostly Filipino learners in more than 70 countries.

UP secured the 336th spot worldwide, a significant improvement over its 404th spot in the previous year's rankings. Rising out of the challenging times during the COVID- 19 pandemic, this latest round of rankings indicate an upward trend for the university. Jun 5, 2024



USAPANG BAYAN 
January 3, 2025 Friday 2 to 3 pm
Open University and 
Development Communication 
must go hand in hand

          
 Ms Melly C Tenorio, host; and Dr Abe V Rotor, guest
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Please open avrotor.blogspot.com Living with Nature

A Visit to Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)
- First Open University in Southeast Asia