In recognition of their selfless service to the Maguinda Community Telecenter (MCT) as volunteers, here they are with their story. Ordinarily, I would have traveled to Maguinda and endured the travel to the remote area to be able to write about them but thanks to the Intenet, I just emailed them my questions and they emailed back their responses. It helped, too, that I was able to personally talk to Danny Majait, one of the volunteers during his visit to Manila last month.
There are currently eight MCT volunteers, six of whom are high school graduates, another dropped out on her third year of high school, and one graduated with an Education degree but has yet to pass the Licensure Examination of Teachers. They were one in saying that the desire to learn how to use computers drove them to volunteer for the MCT and for that most of them it was Danny who encouraged them to volunteer.
Jesus U. Versosa is the youngest volunteer, who at 24 years old has been with the center for the last five years. Besides wanting to learn how to use a computer, he also wanted to learn how to search for information from the Internet. He works as a caretaker in the barangay and says that he’s happy with his volunteer work because he has learned a lot from using the computer and from reading from the Internet.
Besides doing volunteer work for the MCT, Diolita B. Cabiza, 27 years old, is also the focal person for the barangay’s Gender and Development (GAD) Program. She has benefited much from her 14-month stint at the MCT because she gets to share the information she gathers from the net, especially on farming technology, with her kabarangays. She admits, though, that her volunteer work at the MCT sometimes gets in the way of her work at the GAD, but does not regret serving both organizations.
A former Sangguniang Kabataan Chairman, Christopher T. Atabay is 29 years old. Aside from getting to learn to use a computer, he decided to volunteer to learn more about technology and be able to attend free trainings, seminars, and workshops; and be able to share his knowledge in return.
Marissa B. Efil, is the Education graduate who majored in Biology and has yet to pass the LET. Marissa is 34 years old, a housewife who puts to good use her teaching background conducting Non-Formal Education classes whenever a contract is available. In between, she volunteers at the MCT for the same reasons as the others and to be updated with the latest news and events here and abroad. With her work at the MCT, she has become computer literate and is now able to help farmers be updated with new technology in agriculture. For the past 14 months, she has been sharing with farmers stuff like the variety of palay that would yield a good harvest and how to farm it and how to control certain pests in their farms by directing them to particular websites. She also gets fulfillment from helping students with their research. Through the MCT, she got to know a lot of people who are helping their barangay. With the mostly theoretical concept about computers she learned from college, she’s glad she was able to get hands-on experience at the MCT.
Even if she was not able to finish her high school, Alma C. Espelita, 36 years old, is involved with development work for the barangay. Seeing the benefits of knowing about computers and technology, she volunteered for the MCT.
Sorina B. Majait is Danny’s wife. She is 36 years old and has been doing volunteer work for a year. Though busy with housework attending to the needs of her husband and children, she frequently drops by the MCT to work because it’s just nearby and admits that she has learned a lot from her experience at the center.
Genie C. Betonio, 37 years old, has been a volunteer for the past 5 years and works at his parents’ farm when not at the center. The desire to learn more about the technology involved in farming drove him to volunteer for the center and he hasn’t looked back since. Besides knowing the latest on farming technology, he has also learned how to use email for communication.
Last but not the least is Danny C. Majait, who like Genie and Jesus has been with the MCT for five years. He has been responsible for encouraging his kabarangays to volunteer for the MCT and it’s no wonder that he was able to convince them because he talks about his work at the center with so much passion. Like his fellow volunteers, he didn’t see his lack of a college degree as a hindrance to learn more particularly about computers and using technology to improve their lives. He divides his time between his farm and the MCT getting up very early in the morning to tend his farm, grabs some breakfast, then like most of us who are tied to desk jobs, reports to the MCT at around 8 o’clock and stays there until the last person leaves.
With his MCT experience, he has learned to run and manage the MCT, has met a lot of people, and has attended a lot of trainings.
The volunteers were one in saying that the local, provincial, and national government support the center and other similar endeavors to sustain the project and that they be given incentives for the services they render. They also wish that they be closely supervised to encourage the volunteers to be more active in the center.
Their wish lists include: a generator to power the center in case of brownouts; an air-con to protect the PCs and xerox machine from the heat; and projects not only for the residents of Maguinda but also for the neighboring barangays who can also benefit from the MCT.
If I had been with them to personally conduct the interview, I would have given all of them a hug for selflessly dedicating their time and effort for a worthy cause without being paid and for being lifelong learners. I hope you inspire others to do the same.
(For feedback, comments, suggestions email me at openingpagemb@yahoo.com)
