PART 1: ESSENTIAL PROTOCOLS WHEN VISITING COMMUNITY

Immersion
- Immersion, as a methodology used in NSTP training, is a mode of bringing NSTP student trainees to the
field for them to have a feel of real-life situations, living with the less – fortunate segments of the society
and of the people especially in the deprived, depressed and underprivileged communities with the end in
mind of involving them into an endeavor that is envisaged to alleviate poor and distressed living conditions
in the improvement of the communities and their people.

Community Immersion
- Community immersion is vital to the development of the trainees’ knowledge, skills, vales and attitudes
in realizing the penultimate ends of NSTP, that is, enhancing the civic – consciousness and defense
preparedness in the youth by developing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing citizenship-
centered training.

Should and Should Not Be Done in Community Immersion

 It is a basic rule that trainees (NSTP students) must be well-versed with the area, skilled to communicate
with the community people. Prudence orders that community-immersionists must be well-informed of
the prescriptive and proscriptive norms in the conduct of community immersion.

Before the Conduct of Community Immersion

Things to Remember
 Familiarize yourself with the basic information and theories regarding community life. At this stage,
you must at least have in your mind a community you intend to immerse at. Ask around for
information about this community.
 Secure a waiver from the NSTP office prior to the visit and have it signed by your parent or
guardian.
 Be armed with background information about the area of immersion. This will be helpful in
locating resources, and site entry and exit points which will make your travel more convenient.
Background information will enable you to anticipate the general characteristics of the people in
that area.
 Pay courtesy call to community leaders, whether formal or informal. Be sure that the people who
will be helping you in your project and the key informants of the community are informed of your
every visit. Provide them a copy of the schedule of your activity.
 Secure documents like a letter of acceptance from the community and other documents pertinent
to your conduct of activity in the partner community. (Example. Permission letter from the parents
of minor participants). For projects with minor beneficiaries, secure letter from the participants’
parent or guardian to ensure that they are permitted to attend the activity. Do not accept minor
participants without permission from their parent or guardian.
 Bring your own personal provisions like water, snacks and shirt

Things to Avoid
 Never forget to inform and get the consent of your parents / guardians about the activities lined
up. (Always coordinate with the local/barangay officials)
 Do not go directly to the community without determining the background information about it.
 Avoid bringing original copies of signed documents in the community.
 Whenever possible and not offensive, decline in receiving gifts from the community.

During the Actual Community Immersion

Things to Remember
 Be courteous to everyone- whether to a vendor or a community official. Remember that you are
there to work with the community.
 Act properly and discretely. YOU ARE REPRESENTING DLSL! Act in a responsible manner while
representing DLSL at the CAPSTONE service‐learning activities. Abide by all rules and regulations
that govern the partner community. Observe proper decorum and behavior while in the
community.
 Wear proper attire and IDs. Do not wear shorts or slippers during the conduct of activities.
 It is highly advised to keep your valuables secured to protect you from unnecessarily attracting and
distracting the community people.
 Activities shall be done according to the action plan submitted. Changes in scheduled activities
should be communicated ahead of time to your NSTP teacher and to the partner community
concerned. Community partner or the participants must be informed of the date and time of your
next activity.
 Always document your visits. Do not forget to write the date, the narrative of important event
that happened and your reflections toward these.
 Always ask for permission from concerned people when you have to take pictures. It is best to take
pictures that show you “in action” and working with the community people as these can best
illustrate your experiences in the community.
 Respect the privacy of your participants. If you are privy to confidential information with regard
to the persons with whom you are working (i.e., organizational files, diagnostics, personal stories,
etc.), it is vital that you treat this information as privileged and confidential.
  Do the assigned task, stay on task, review and understand the task, work to complete the task and
be proud of the outcome of the task. Be flexible. The level or intensity of activity is not always
predictable. Your flexibility to changing situations can help in working smoothly and producing
positive outcomes for everyone involved.
 Contribute/share relevant ideas and listen carefully to other group member’s ideas.
 Encourage participation from community members.
 Inform your NSTP teacher if your encounter problems/difficulty immediately.

Things to Avoid
 Avoid labeling and naming people with politically incorrect terms. Try to be more discreet in your
use of words to avoid offending other people.
 Do not tolerate verbal exchange or engage in behavior that might be perceived as discriminating
against an individual on the basis of their age, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or
ethnicity. Shouting and using profane language is prohibited. Smoking and engaging in drinking
session and gambling are prohibited.
 Do not show off in terms of get-ups. You are there in the community to help. Avoid drawing
attention.
 Never bring out your valuable things like cell phones, jewelry and money in public places.
 Never promise and commit to a task that is beyond your and your school’s capability. Never go
beyond the activities in your project proposal to avoid false commitments and dependency of the
community.

After community immersion

Things to Remember
 Validate and evaluate if the programs and activities were conducted appropriately and as planned.
 Provide copies of your final documentation output to the NSTP Office by submitting it to your
NSTP teacher and to the community where you conducted your immersion for record purposes.

PART 2: PROGRAM/PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

- Project Implementation deals with the actual execution of the plans. This phase of project development
includes making of the final agreement with the target community partners and officials involved in the
activities, right schedule of each event, day to day activities and needs of the community partners,
manpower each day of the program, monitoring and evaluation plan and other requirements like social
and recreational activities and culminating activities of the project. The following flow of activities will
guide NSTP trainees in the implementation of their project:
 Pre – Immersion
o Preparation of project proposal based on community needs
o Approval of the proposal
o Once the project is approved, the trainees will prepare all the requirements.
 Letter of request regarding their immersion to the partner community signed by the
NSTP teacher
 Community responds to the request by signifying their acceptance through a letter.
 Trainees, based on the identified needs, submit a project design to the community
for approval.
 Once approved, trainees will submit a detailed program schedule of action.
o Based on the detailed program approved, the NSTP trainees will implement the specifics of
the activities designed. The actual immersion time will last for 8-10 meetings with the
beneficiaries or partner community. It may also depend on the design of the project.
 Actual Community Immersion
o In the course of the actual work, coordination, monitoring and evaluation is done to give
immediate action to problems encountered and make necessary adjustments if needed.
o During this stage, trainees are required to make and complete their journal of events which
serves as a reference in finalizing their tasks. Photos are also required to support the activities
undertaken.
 Presentation of Community Service Outputs
o Each student will make a narrative report. The presentation of documents during post –
evaluation of the program is about community service activities conducted during the
immersion time.
 Monitoring
o Continuously done to measure effectiveness of the activity
 Evaluation
o Each student will be rated. Implementation of the project ends by the time all requirements
have been satisfactorily done.