The Four-eyed Journal » SERVE

PhotoHunt: Fast

jhay — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:26:35 +0000

It’s been a long while since I last joined PhotoHunt. How I missed doing this every weekend. Well, here’s my contribution for this week’s theme: Fast.

It’s the human piggyback race we held as part of the team-building exercises of the 2008 Self-Awareness Seminar & Advanced Leadership Training for the SERVE Volunteers of DLSUD.

It was a fun-filled and learning three days wherein the student-volunteers were molded into a single body of Lasallian volunteers. Check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.

PhotoHunt

Celebrating National Volunteers’s Month in DLSU-D

jhay — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:28:16 +0000

Designated as the National Volunteers’ Month by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 55, December is a big month for us Lasallian volunteers, not only because it’s Christmas season but more importantly, it’s during this month that nation officially celebrates the spirit of volunteerism & service. This if further strengthened by the Volunteer Act of 2007 or R.A. 9418 which promotes the participation of various sectors of the public and the government in doing volunteer work and fostering the spirit of volunteerism.

That’s why at DLSU-D, the various student-volunteer organizations will gather today to celebrate the spirit of volunteerism, of the Lasallian kind. Volunteers from SERVE, LS Verde, Campus Peer Ministers, ROTC Officers, University Peer Counsellors’ Group, ULFO Volunteers, and the Friends of the Library will kick off the celebrations by offering a Holy Mass today at the University Chapel. This would be followed with a silent march in protest of the Maguindanao Massacre and to express our demands of justice for the victims.

To highlight our message, the Advocacy program of SERVE has put together a simple yet powerful slideshow about the gruesome tragedy;

After our silent march on campus grounds, we will all proceed to the Severino De Las Alas Hall for the program proper where all the volunteer organizations could get to know one another much better, share the best practices we have and plan for future joint activities to further our goals and missions, and to show the community that spirit of volunteerism is very much alive and is at work for their development.

Watch for photos and stories of the event.

Mabuhay ang mga Lasalyanong Boluntir! Mabuhay ang diwa ng bolunterismo!

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.