by Katrina Jabien

Samarโ€™s Provincial Youth Development Office (PYDO) was recognized twice as the ๐Œ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐ฌ at the ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐’๐š๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐š๐ง๐  ๐Š๐š๐›๐š๐ญ๐š๐š๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ. It highlighted its Purple Desk Programโ€”a mental health initiative that has reached over 18,000 youth since 2022 through 145 school-based desks that provide peer-led psychosocial support and early intervention.