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Jordan is a Technical Communications Coordinator with YCI’s EMBRACE Project in the Philippines. She recently shared some stories about her day-to-day life in Camarines Sur and provided some insight on how the EMBRACE Project is working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Read the full interview below!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you start volunteering with YCI?

A few years ago I graduated from McGill University, where I studied political science and history and was also involved in student and freelance journalism. Before coming to YCI I was working in the coffee industry, which I loved, but I was at a crossroads and looking for a change. I am passionate about reproductive healthcare and rights, and was drawn to the EMBRACE project because it seemed to be an atypical development project – the work on the ground was community driven, sustainable and grassroots. Being given the opportunity to leap into the EMBRACE project has been an amazing chance to do something different and be a part of a project I am passionate about. I hope to continue working to make reproductive healthcare more accessible, especially back in my own community.

What is your role with the EMBRACE project? What does a typical day in your life look like?

My role at the EMBRACE project in the Philippines is the Technical Communications Coordinator. I create materials that highlight and promote the activities that are currently underway in the project and help build awareness about the project goals in general.

In general, there isn’t a typical day for me. I would say half my time is spent in the local country office, editing interviews and photos, crafting stories, and creating additional content needed by the local team. I also spend a lot of time at our project sites, where I observe activities and get to know project participants and their stories. Spending time in these communities is always incredible, as some of them are fairly remote. It’s amazing to get to know these communities first-hand and watch the amazing work that they are doing with maternal and newborn health.

I am not the one who is doing the work here – I collaborate with the EMBRACE team and community leaders to capture and share their stories. I think it is also important to showcase life in the communities outside of Manila because there is so much happening across the country, much more than what typically makes the headlines back home.

How is the EMBRACE project working towards the Sustainable Development Goals? 

The EMBRACE Project works to address a variety of the Sustainable Development Goals. Our primary goal is to reduce maternal and child mortality rates, but this goal is intersectional. The project understands that to achieve this goal, we must work in several different areas, including access to safe water and sanitation, increasing consumption of nutritious foods, working to end severe acute malnutrition in children under five, and increasing sustainable, agricultural practices. The project is also working at the intersection of gender and the environment, which is very unique.

To learn more about our EMBRACE project, and upcoming volunteer opportunities, visit our project page.