ABOUT JEEP/INAF

What is JEEP?

By  Jope Guevara

   There is a reason why Junior Engagement Program is called  JEEP  even  if  it  lacks the other E. As you know, JEEP is from the ordinary mass transportation, jeepney. And I dare say that the jeepney and then JEEP, is a microcosm of our society. That is what we want you, our students, to see however short your area visits will be.

What is this parallelism? 

   Let's start with what's inside the jeepney: two benches facing each other. This is very telling of our  relationship with each other. Very  Filipino. With no partitions separating each passenger, we are skin-to-skin with the other, we breathe the same compact air inside the jeepney, we are automatically involved with the other. And perhaps this  proximity makes us faithful to the  unwritten rules in riding a jeep. We follow them not out of fear of judgment but out of concern for ourselves and our co-passengers. We can see this in two jeep practices: (1) One moves to give space to a new passenger. A seat for seven remains a seat for seven regardless of the hip sizes of each passenger. Amazingly, each passenger voluntarily slides forward or slips back so that everyone can sit snugly on  the non-expandable bench.  (2)  When it comes to paying fares, one is sensitive to pass the fare of an unknown seated away from the driver and to return  that person's change if he/she has some.  No one checks on the payments made or the sukli (change) but everyone pays and gets his/her change even if that person gave a huge bill. Why is that? The cramped space and the long ride bring the passengers to a  certain  kind of relationship with an unknown.  Because they  are in one ride, they enter into a quiet mutual responsibility.  Free of charge, full of empathy.

   The JEEP program, like a jeepney ride, makes us aware of our being together with others. You will be given tasks which you will accomplish on your own.  But you will also notice how others affect your performance and you to them.  Two  things:(1) On relating with people. In your areas, you will meet people from all walks of life, from different sectors. You will encounter different personalities:the type who needs-to-be-needed, the power-tripper, the mind-your-own business kind, and the gregarious. You will deal with them and ironically, you will learn a lot about yourself from them. You will be placed in conflict situations and you will have to learn to deal with them on your own  as an adult. You may be successful, you may get hurt. There are tasks and persons involved, like in a jeepney ride, there are persons you must be  sensitive to and purported destinations to be reached. You will have to  weigh things to protect your own goals and achieve the group or institution's interests. By participating actively in what our JEEP partners/clients do, chatting and working with them, it is our prayer that you are able to build relationships, that is, with yourself, your co-workers, and the institution. (2)  On other people affecting you, and you them. Your success in your JEEP tasks relies highly on the relationships you have built. As in a  jeepney  ride,  how fast you can get to your destination is dependent on the speed of the  jeepney  (traffic situation included) and the idiosyncrasies of the people in the  ride--how fast one gets in or alights from the jeepney, how many short stops the jeepney must indulge its passengers, and the like. 

  The driver, passengers, and the jeep plus a whole lot of environmental factors, will have an impact on your schedule, composure,and general disposition for the day. Through your JEEP experience, the web of relations you are talking about in your philosophy classes will become more real to you.  The productivity of employees are affected, if not defined, by company values and policies. That the life stories and directions of people are limited by the scarce resources. That the success of an individual is closely related to the movement and pattern of choices of the collective from which one belongs. Quite bitter to swallow but that is the reality.  And JEEP is a great chance for you to assess the situation and do something about it.

   The 16 hours of JEEP area engagement is not designed for you to feel trapped and helpless.  On the contrary, these are 16 hours of making a lasting impact on others and the institution.  Again I go back to the jeepney as our metaphor.  True that most of our jeepneys are old and run-down.  Their black smoke pollute the air.  The irresponsibility of their drivers pollute the roads with traffic and a ghastly sight of their rusty or over-the-top body works.  Yet these are cosmetics which can easily be fixed by the drivers and riders themselves.  If drivers follow traffic signs, if passengers will load and unload in designated places, if operators take care of their engines, if government agencies provide proper support. . .  The point is, arriving at our destination as a people is dependent on what people do to achieve their goals.  The jeepney tells us how limited we are, yet at the same time, it shows us what we can do by making us aware of our goodness as Filipinos and our negligence as operators.  In as much as we are affected by the jeepney, we likewise can affect the jeep and the passengers in it by harnessing our individual goodness and focussing  on our collective goals.  JEEP, as part of the formation program of Ateneo students, provides the students the opportunity to effect change in the society by fixing and/or deepening the relationships they are involved in. 

   In sum, the JEEP program is about our relationships--how these form us and how through them we can build the whole.  And so, when you go to your areas, bring with you your whole self.   Literally, see everything there is to see; listen, smell, touch, taste!  Be sense-itive to cues and patterns, stories and dreams, your thoughts and feelings.  Use the following as guide:

1.What did you see/hear/learn about your co-workers in the area?
        - How long have they been working in the institution?
        - What brought them there?
        - What problems/difficulties do they have?
        - What joys/pleasures do they get from their jobs?
2.What did you feel about these?
3.What are you moved to do? What do you plan to do about your realizations?

   It is our hope that your JEEP experience can mutually be beneficial to you and our partner institutions.  This, of course, should be appreciated within the purview of the greater whole, our society, the nation.  We are in a relationship with ourselves and others, because we are in a relationship with the nation.  JEEP is not only for you, but also for them, for us.  


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INTEGRATED ATENEO FORMATION

The Integrated Ateneo Formation (InAF) Program is a deliberate and systematic approach to student formation. The InAF makes sure that formation happens both inside and outside the classroom. It seeks a unifying thrust and framework for academic subjects and non-academic programs in line with felt needs, social realities, and the personal context of the student of today.

The goal is to provide holistic formation to students, i.e., students who are not only good in their academics but have also been honed in the spiritual, personal, social, and cultural.

INAF PROGRAMS

First Year
Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Traditions (InTACT)

The InTACT is a year-long subject for all freshmen of the Loyola Schools, which hopes to develop self-awareness and eventually self-acceptance and self-empowerment. The students are provided a glimpse of Ateneo culture and traditions and equipped with skills that they can use to cope with the demands of college life.

Second Year 
National Service Training Program - PLUS

NSTP is a legally-mandated 1-year program for college students aimed at enhancing civic consciousness and defense preparedness in the youth by developing the ethics of service and patriotism as they render literacy, civic welfare, or military training service.

Third Year
Junior Engagement Program (JEEP)

The Junior Engagement Program (JEEP) is an integral part of the third year college life of Ateneo Students. Through JEEP, students are able to engage the people from various sectors and communities by stepping into their shoes and experiencing their way of life.

JEEP is intended to provide students a wealth of concrete experiences that will help awaken in them the need to grow in social engagement and responsibility and to develop the capacity for critical thinking.

JEEP is part of the Integrated Ateneo Formation (INAF) program of the Ateneo. INAF is designed as a four-year formation program which is geared at enriching what the students learn in the classroom by providing experiential and “hands on” learning opportunities.

Fourth Year
Senior Integration Program (SIP)

The Senior Integration Program is the synthesis program of the 4-year developmental programs of the Loyola Schools. The program aims to put into practice the students’ technical skills and competencies to respond to the call of service.