Heavy rainfall, long rough roads, and a topsy-turvy travel while observing fasting never slowed down the DOST 12 Regional Director Sammy P. Malawan, CESE together with OIC-Provincial Director For. Nabil A. Hadji Yassin in giving ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐-๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ฌ-๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฆ (๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ข๐๐ฆ) computer units personally to Blโaan residents in Purok Datal Salvan, a community in Brgy. San Jose, General Santos City under ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ-๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ (๐ก๐ง๐-๐๐๐๐๐) areas.
San Jose is a barangay located in the outskirts of the city of General Santos. Comprised with approximately 14,000 residents, most of the settlers belong in Blโaan tribe. Although existing for many years now, some of the areas in the barangay are not yet blessed with good internet connection and enough gadgets for students. Added with the simple back-country lifestyle and an apparent inexperience to latest technologies, students find it hard to be engaged in โcyber-learningโ, a new trend in our countryโs education. Students would go to the barrioโs central town to connect to โpiso-wifiโ or to poor-to-moderate cellular data to gain access to learning resources, which is a chore for them since the sittios are several kilometers apart from each other and transportation is difficult.
Knowing these, even though it was way past his official hours of duty courtesy to their celebration of Ramadhan, RD Engr. Malawan did not hesitate to visit the humble town of Datal Salvan, one of the Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA). In his mind, a 30-minute exhilarating travel is nothing compared to what would be the impact of STARBOOKS in the community – an improvement to daily classes of the students and teachers, an advancement towards technology-driven education.
The DOSTโs prime mover led his team from PSTO-SarGen to introduce the all-in-one โ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ง๐ฎ-๐๐ฃ-๐-๐๐ค๐ญโ to the teachers, students and parents during the ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฃ-๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐ฎ held at Datal Salvan High School, Purok Datal Salvan, Brgy. San Jose, GSC with the Teacher-in-Charge Michael A. Adam, HT III and Ronald T. Visaya, Principal I in Datu B. Balunto National High School, an adjacent school and also a recipient of the program.
โMaayo gyud kaayu nga naay STARBOOKS diri, kay makatabang kini sa inyung mga estudyante na maka research na dili na magkinahanglan ug internet connectionโ, the brilliant director quoted in vernacular as he told the attendees that the technology doesnโt require internet connection in doing research and accessing learning materials. He also added that โnot only for education, but STARBOOKS is also a good source for livelihood ideas and tutorials through audio-visual presentationsโ, he told the parents.
On behalf of the Blโaan parents and students, Mr. Adam and Mr. Visaya extended their thanks to RD Malawan during the event. The two reassured the DOST 12 that STARBOOKS will be used to its maximum utilization, with their schools as the venue for usage and access. The locals were overjoyed as the event closed, evidenced by their smiles and laughter as they took group photos culminating their open-armed reception of the DOSTโs flagship program.
When asked what would be the best description to what rose to the forefront of RD Malawan and DOST 12 that day, the Bโlaan parents said โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎรช ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ขรดโ โ a Bโlaan term for ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ. โNever in our minds that the DOST would think of Datal Salvan and other sittio of Brgy. San Jose as one of their recipients. Thank you so much DOSTโ non-verbatim, said one of the parents who witnessed the turn-over knowing that her sons and daughters will greatly benefit in this new technology.
Community empowerment at its finest. Indeed โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎรช ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ขรดโ was shown by RD Malawan and DOST 12 in bringing Science, Technology, and Innovation to the community. It is the singular goal of the agency to continue the โkafakgisโ or effort to implement programs even to the farthest places in Region 12.
#ScienceForThePeople
#DOSTSarGen
#dostPH
#STARBOOKS
Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=311366744462568&id=100067677332511
