The Four-eyed Journal » LCDC

Time to give back, Help the victims of Typhoon Sendong

jhay — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:08:46 +0000

With Christmas literally just around the corner, celebrations have been dampened by the recent devastation suffered by provinces in the southern Philippines when typhoon Sendong swept through this past weekend.

Scores have been killed with the body count still rising while millions worth of damages have been incurred. Our brothers and sisters in affected areas are struggling to put back together what’s left of their existence, this is the time we answer to the call of being a citizen and a fellow Filipino.

We must help out in any way we can. We are thankful for the many channels and means of helping out the typhoon victims, for Lasallians based in Cavite, the Lasallian Community Development Center (LCDC) will be accepting donations beginning today, December 19 – 22, 2011 from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and December 23, 2011 from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 nn. Specifically, we encourage you to bring the following:

1. Food items such as canned goods, noodles, coffee, sugar, milk, water, water and other ready to eat food and drinks (cup noodles, biscuits/bread, energy drink, chocolate/milk drink, etc);
2. old clothes, specifically children clothes;
3. blankets, sleeping mat (banig);
4. medicine.

For cash donations, you may send it directly to La Salle Academy Iligan through the following accounts:
BPI Account # 9353-0377-62 (LSA Savings Account )
or DBP Account # 016221-030

Of course, prayers for their recovery are much needed. The best way we can say thanks for the blessings we have this Christmas is to give what we can share. For in giving, we receive something more precious, something money can’t buy. For in giving, we affirm our faith and our creed; we affirm our Lasallian identity.

Thousands of families in Cavite affected by typhoon Ondoy

jhay — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:23:42 +0000

It’s because of insufficient media coverage that most people think that those in Central Luzon and Metro Manila were the only ones who suffered the wrath of typhoon Ondoy. With a much higher population density, meaning more people are living in particular area compared to others, and with prominent middle to upper class, star-studded villages in the Metro Manila hit by the floods, the public’s attention would undoubtedly be focused on it.

Unfortunately, the generous public’s resources and donations are seemingly focused only on Metro Manila. Here in Cavite, little has been reported that almost 80,000 families in the coastal towns of Kawit, Noveleta, Bacoor, Ternate and Cavite City have also been devasted by typhoon Ondoy.

Tragically, if there’s a sea of relief goods flowing into the affected areas and evacuation centers in the nation’s capital, there’s a shortage and slow delivery of help to the devastated families and communities in the Cavite towns I’ve mentioned.

I’ve come to know of this because I’m among the core volunteers that run the relief operations of DLSU-D and according to our own field inspections and ocular visits, Cavite has also suffered as much as Metro Manila.

Like in the town of Bacoor, which is a low-lying, coastal municipality 16 km south of Manila, neck-high floods has left nearly 2,500 families devastated in just two of the 73 barangays that make up the municipality. What’s more troubling is that according to the affected residents themselves, the local government has been very slow to provide them with the relief they so badly needed.

In Noveleta, a coastal town 26 km away from Manila, almost 3,000 families were devastated by typhoon Ondoy both by flooding and storm surges that caused the sea to swallow up much of the existing beaches and take away not only their houses but also their fish pens and fishing boats living them with nothing to depend on for a living.

It’s the same situation in Ternate were a barangay we’ve visited had lost all of their fish pens and entire houses when almost 500 meters of the coast was taken over by sea. We were told that there were more barangays that had taken a hit meaning more families were in need of help.

Sadly, we Lasallians from DLSUD could only do so much. We’ve been working very hard since last Monday and up to now, we’ve been able to provide relief goods to around 150 families in Dasmariñas. At present, we have almost 1,500 family packs on stock but after assessing the damages and families in need around Cavite, we’ve still got a long way to go.

That’s why we are still trying our best to reach out to the local community for donations, particularly for rice and canned goods because we have more than enough man power, student and faculty volunteers, to get the job done, but we need more resources to meet the demands of those devastated families in Cavite.

If you’d still like to help out, or know someone who would like to. Please get in touch with the Lasallian Community Development Office of De La Salle University – Dasmariñas through the following telephone numbers: (046) 416-4531 local 3068 (046) 416-4596 (direct line).

Donations of cash or in kind are very much welcome. We are prioritizing donations of rice & canned goods, food that they so urgently need. Of course, useful clothing and other basic commodities are also accepted. The families who will receive such help from you would be so grateful for your kind generosity.

DLSUD Launches relief operations for the victims of typhoon Ondoy

jhay — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:13:13 +0000

There’s little need for me to tell what has happened in the aftermath of Ondoy’s rampage through Luzon and Metro Manila. The mainstream media, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, blogs and online forums are flooded (no pun intended) with news, stories, videos, photos and commentaries about the ravages of Ondoy.

A quick round-up from my reading list, Gail has experienced the worst flood in their entire lifetime, Ade felt like he has been in hell and made it back safe and in one piece, Mikko has shared a good list of updates and ways to help out the victims of Ondoy and here’s a more comprehensive list powered by Google Spreadsheets courtesy of Jayvee. Gibbs Cadiz is among the lucky ones who happen to live on the floor high enough to escape the merciless flood waters that has ravaged the nation’s capital.

It’s something we residents of upland Cavite are thankful about. We live on a place that is too high to see any life and property threatening flood. Though if ever we experience such, it would only mean that the entire Metro Manila has been swallowed up by the sea! Hopefully, it would never come to that.

But we’re not just thankful we were not that severely affected by typhoon Ondoy, we like to view it as an opportunity to extend our helping hands and join in the efforts of assisting our brethren who have suffered the most because of Ondoy.

That’s why we Lasallians from DLSU-Dasmariñas have begun to mobilize our resources to gather relief goods and other donations to aid the victims of typhoon Ondoy.

Starting tomorrow, we would be accepting donations mainly of the following:

Medicines
Food (canned goods, instant noodles, rice, etc)
Useful clothing
Blankets

So if you’d like to do your share and you live in the towns of Dasmariñas, Silang, Imus, Tagaytay, GMA, Gen. Trias, Trece Martirez and other nearby towns, do drop by DLSUD campus.

We are accepting your donations at the Lasallian Community Development Office, located on the 2nd Floor, SBC Building, East Campus of DLSUD. The office would be open from 8am to 5pm and volunteers who would like to help out in the sorting and repacking of the relief goods are most welcome. You could get in touch via the telephone numbers:(046) 416-4531 local 3068 (046) 416-4596 (direct line).

The storms and floods may destroy our houses, flood our cities and wreak havoc among our people. But out of this tragedy, the spirit of endurance, hope and unity will keep us all safe and enable us to survive.

God Bless the Filipino people!

In photos: LCDC Blood donation & registry

jhay — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:06:05 +0000

Though it was a tiring day, it ended in success! Today we SERVE volunteers and our mother unit, the Lasallian Community Development Office held our very first blood letting activity for the school year in partnership with the De La Salle University Medical Center – Blood Bank.

The blood donation and registry project was entitled “Dugong Lasalyano: Sa sagip-buhay, maaasahan mo!” and was held at the DLSUD Lake Park, right smack in the middle of the campus.

We setup our tents and equipment early and soon enough the first batch of generous blood donors lined up, was screened by the health professionals from the University Medical Center and was soon letting their blood flow into bags ready for storage.

The screening was necessary because donors must be in good health and ideally of legal age so as not to waste their donated blood.

To qualify, donors must have a normal blood pressure, weighing no less than 100 lbs. or 50 kilos, free from cough, cold or fever, had not taken any alcoholic drinks at least a day before donating blood, females must not be pregnant or going through their monthly period and if there are any ear-piercings or tattoo, it must be at least a year old.

To attract donors, especially students, we deployed our beloved mascot, Dropee, who’s been given a complete new makeover. Making him cuter and a real chick magnet! A lot of students braved to get screened to see if they would qualify to donate blood, but unfortunately, they were either aged 17 & below or simply underweight. Seeing them getting frustrated because they were unqualified to donate blood only showed how eager they were to help the needy with such a sacrifice – their very own blood!

Those who qualified to donate blood ranged from the very calm and brave to the nervous wreck when placed under the needle, so to speak. It was also amazing to see a handful of first-time blood donors today.

The climax of the day was a short program to liven up the spirit and hand out certificates of recognition to the brave and generous Lasallians who donated their blood for such a noble cause.

On behalf of SERVE volunteers, the LCDC and the DLSUMC – Blood Bank, thank you to all those who donated their blood, the volunteers who helped out during the event and to mother nature for giving us a fine, rain-free day for this project.

If you’re interested to donate part of your blood, simply visit the nearest hospital or local blood bank. It may be nerve-wracking at first, and the pain is very minimal, but you’ll go home knowing that you have just helped save many, many lives.

Bente: LCDC 20th Anniversary Exhibit

jhay — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:36:42 +0000

Just this afternoon, the mother office of the student volunteer group I am part of, kicked off their 20th anniversary celebrations by opening the “BENTE: Dalawang Dekada ng Lasalyanong Paglilingkod” an exhibit which features the Lasallian Community Development Office‘s 20 years of history, origins, programs, achievements and awards.

I am part of the organizing team that spearheaded the exhibit. We spent the last two months of 2009 preparing everything for the exhibit from conceptualization, materials production and even the mounting itself. More photos of the launch here.

Along the way, I was able to put my novice Photoshop CS3 + photography skills to the test because I was assigned as the “lead graphics designer”. Would you believe that?! My task was to photograph each piece of memorabilia the office has under its roof and transform those images into exhibit-ready pieces using Photoshop CS3 and some inspiration from nearby calendars. It was a fun, challenging and learning experience as I was not only able to learn new things and be really creative with Photoshop CS3, but I was also able to learn a lot more about my mother-office’s colorful history and legacy.

DLSU-D students and faculty may visit the LCDC Bente Exhibit at the Aklatang Emilio Aguinaldo and it’s open during the library hours. Along with the exhibit, LCDC has also prepared “Sine Bente” a screening of selected documentaries about the environment, poverty, socio-political advocacies and many more.

With this, we hope that many more Lasallians will learn about the colorful history of LCDC and the Lasallian Mission of social transformation which we will continue to struggle for the next twenty years and beyond.