ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan - Four Irish youth had beautiful memories of Alaminos City, especially the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP), when they came for a visit last July 30.

The four - Brian McCabe, Jennifer Walsh, Aoife Gortmally and Mairead Curran, were parts of the 16-man volunteers sent to the country by SERVE, a non-government organization based in Ireland, to see for themselves the broader aspect of development works in the countryside.

SERVE, founded by Irish adults and Redemptorists, implements worthy projects all over the world that address youth poverty and activities seeking to empower those who are defenseless and deprived sectors in the communities for them to become agents of their own transformation.

Mayor Hernani Braganza accompanied the four in their tour of the city’s pilot projects and programs.

Visited by them were the Alaminos City Recovery Center situated in barangay Cayucay, the Stimulated and Therapeutic Activity Center and Crisis Intervention Center, the Sasso Breeding Farm in barangay Bolaney, Goat Commercialization Project in barangay Poblacion, and the High Value Vegetable Farm in barangay Bued.

They capped their tour with an adventure trip to the Hundred Islands, particularly the Quezon and Governor’s Islands, where they enjoyed kayaking, bird watching, snorkeling and taking souvernir photos at the Pinoy Big Brother’s House, woodedn bridge and President Manuel Quezon’s monument.

Roy Ty, director of Center for Community Work and People’s Development who accompanied the four Irish youth, said the visitors enjoyed their brief stay here.

The four vowed to return to see what they could extend, said Ty, who is also with ‘Akap Bata’, based in Manila, one of the beneficiaries of SERVE in 2005.

He said the Philippines is one of the countries that will be financially supported by SERVE this year. The others are Thailand, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mozambique.

Projects that will be funded include slum community development, water systems, relief programs, support to school children and construction of rehabilitation centers.

Mayor Braganza said he hopes SERVE would be interested to fund some of the city’s important initiatives that are of great impact to the people.

“Alaminos is a very young city and we are just starting to realize our major programs for our city. We therefore welcome any assistance coming from our kind hearted foreign friends to improve the lives of our people,” he said. (PNA)