(Editor’s Note: from “A Development Worker For All Seasons” by Milwida C. Sevilla-Reyes).
For the most part of the Marcos years, Nestor M. Pestelos was an activist. In the late 70s, he left the underground movement and worked in a public relations firm which specialized in raising funds for civic causes (e.g. improving facilities for tuberculosis and cancer patients; campaigning against drug abuse; supporting government programs in nutrition, family planning and backyard gardening).
Starting in early 1975, he worked for Project Compassion, an NGO which was field-testing approaches to improve the delivery of basic services to rural households. The project operated in 11 provinces with a unique system of combining efforts of community volunteers with those of government functionaries.
Subsequently, the project became a model promoted by UNICEF in other developing countries.
As Project Compassion’s Special Assistant to the President on Planning and Operations, Nestor coordinated the designing, implementation, monitoring and documentation of project activities and making lessons available to government agencies, donors and NGOs involved in community development work. UNICEF supported his work by sending him to the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development and the University of Bradford in Yorkshire, England in the early 80s.
While studying, he proposed an alternative concept of community organization called “Ilaw ng Buhay” (Light of Life). Instead of relying on a sole fieldworker, it organized 20-family units and strengthening neighborhood associations. He eventually became the Director of the Ilaw International Center in November 1982. This unique approach to community development attracted participants not only from other provinces, but also other countries, such as Bhutan, Thailand, Pakistan, Yemen and Indonesia.
During these years, Nestor led the staff in developing the core courses and carrying out an action research program based on problems encountered in field operations. Under his leadership, the Ilaw International Center (IIC) was able to secure a training and recruitment contract from the World Bank-funded Central Visayas Regional Project. This project, carried out in several provinces, used the Ilaw approach in organizing communities and mobilizing Local Government Units (LGUs).
In 1986, he pursued advanced studies at the Asian Institute of Management and eventually earned a PhD at the University of Bohol with dissertations based from his experience at Ilaw International Center.
In 1989, he was recruited by UNDP South Pacific based in Suva, Fiji to serve as community development specialist for its integrated atoll development project. He was sent on countless missions to remote atolls and outer islands in 7 countries (Kiribati, Palau, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands) and in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean.
After seven years in Fiji, he was assigned to Solomon Islands to serve as the Chief Technical Adviser to the Solomon Islands Development Association and Participatory Planning Program (SIDAPP). Prior to his departure from the Solomons, Nestor succeeded to package projects valued at over a million US dollars to rehabilitate the schools damaged by the ethnic conflict; provide water supply systems to coastal and island communities; and train volunteers in community work. He was also able to organize an NGO, the Rural Development Volunteers Association, which now serves as partner of Government in carrying out development initiatives in remote communities.
He retired in December 2001, but after some time decided to get back to work as a consultant for the Bohol Provincial Planning and Development Office. While at PPDO, he founded the Bohol Local Development Foundation as a partner organization and continues to implement the Bohol Poverty Reduction Program (2002-2015).
For the most part of the Marcos years, Nestor M. Pestelos was an activist. In the late 70s, he left the underground movement and worked in a public relations firm which specialized in raising funds for civic causes (e.g. improving facilities for tuberculosis and cancer patients; campaigning against drug abuse; supporting government programs in nutrition, family planning and backyard gardening).
Starting in early 1975, he worked for Project Compassion, an NGO which was field-testing approaches to improve the delivery of basic services to rural households. The project operated in 11 provinces with a unique system of combining efforts of community volunteers with those of government functionaries.
Subsequently, the project became a model promoted by UNICEF in other developing countries.
As Project Compassion’s Special Assistant to the President on Planning and Operations, Nestor coordinated the designing, implementation, monitoring and documentation of project activities and making lessons available to government agencies, donors and NGOs involved in community development work. UNICEF supported his work by sending him to the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development and the University of Bradford in Yorkshire, England in the early 80s.
While studying, he proposed an alternative concept of community organization called “Ilaw ng Buhay” (Light of Life). Instead of relying on a sole fieldworker, it organized 20-family units and strengthening neighborhood associations. He eventually became the Director of the Ilaw International Center in November 1982. This unique approach to community development attracted participants not only from other provinces, but also other countries, such as Bhutan, Thailand, Pakistan, Yemen and Indonesia.
During these years, Nestor led the staff in developing the core courses and carrying out an action research program based on problems encountered in field operations. Under his leadership, the Ilaw International Center (IIC) was able to secure a training and recruitment contract from the World Bank-funded Central Visayas Regional Project. This project, carried out in several provinces, used the Ilaw approach in organizing communities and mobilizing Local Government Units (LGUs).
In 1986, he pursued advanced studies at the Asian Institute of Management and eventually earned a PhD at the University of Bohol with dissertations based from his experience at Ilaw International Center.
In 1989, he was recruited by UNDP South Pacific based in Suva, Fiji to serve as community development specialist for its integrated atoll development project. He was sent on countless missions to remote atolls and outer islands in 7 countries (Kiribati, Palau, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands) and in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean.
After seven years in Fiji, he was assigned to Solomon Islands to serve as the Chief Technical Adviser to the Solomon Islands Development Association and Participatory Planning Program (SIDAPP). Prior to his departure from the Solomons, Nestor succeeded to package projects valued at over a million US dollars to rehabilitate the schools damaged by the ethnic conflict; provide water supply systems to coastal and island communities; and train volunteers in community work. He was also able to organize an NGO, the Rural Development Volunteers Association, which now serves as partner of Government in carrying out development initiatives in remote communities.
He retired in December 2001, but after some time decided to get back to work as a consultant for the Bohol Provincial Planning and Development Office. While at PPDO, he founded the Bohol Local Development Foundation as a partner organization and continues to implement the Bohol Poverty Reduction Program (2002-2015).
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