There’s a bridge to a better tomorrow

The sun was beginning to break through the clouds on the Saturday morning we made it Carcar, Cebu.
The atmosphere was festive. Some school kids came prepared for a dance, others were dressed for some singing and even the teachers were ready for their own number. The grounds of Guadalupe Elementary School, Guadalupe, Carcar, Cebu were filled. And, just as it is in many big fiestas in the provinces hereabouts, so it was in Guadalupe.

Carcar is well known for its lechon. As we drove from Mactan, Cebu to Carcar, about a two-hour van ride, we noticed how many stores advertised lechon and chicharon as the specialty of the area. As we approached Guadalupe Elementary School, gone were the signs of "civilization" like the small sari-sari store or the tricycles plying the routes and even the houses were fewer and farther between. I wondered to myself how the kids made it to school there.

It surprised me – not that the school was all decked out for the big celebration; it was cause for celebration, indeed. After all, learning should always come first.

And so it is with Globe Telecom as it chose two public schools in Carcar, Cebu, Guadalupe Elementary and Maximino Noel Memorial High School to launch its Globe Tulong Eskuwela (GT Eskuwela), which is part of the Corporate Social Responsibility of the company.

"For us it is an honor to be in Carcar, Cebu because we will be able to serve a community with the donations we have. They consist of an EdTV package, which includes a 21-inch TV set, a VHS player, and 70 volumes of video programs on various subjects for all grade levels. We have also included three computers. The same package is what we have for Maximino High School. The elementary school has 800 pupils and the high school has 600," said a smiling Jones Campos, PR head, Globe Telecom.  "Here in the Visayas this is the first time that we will have a GT Eskuwela because our employees have committed themselves to see the project through."

GT Eskuwela is part of the Globe’s Building Communities (BridgeCom). The program is an integrated social responsibility project, which provides capability-building assistance projects in the field of community leadership and entrepreneurship, education and information technology. The BridgeCom project focuses mainly on two areas: education and entrepreneurship.

But what makes the GT Eskuwela program special is that it relies on employee volunteerism in order to survive. "One of the strategies for Globe to be able to help in education is to invite employees to use their expertise, their time, their resources or whatever they may be able to commit on a regular basis," said Jeffrey Tarayao, Globe community relations head. "This is why GT Eskuwela was formed, to provide a work-life balance through immersion in the communities where Globe operates. This is also Globe’s way of giving back to the community, by helping in education."

Tarayao added that it was in August last year that GT Eskuwela started in Quezon with two schools. After that they added another two schools, one in Payatas, Quezon City and the other in the Mangyan School in Mindoro.

"We have wanted to start the same project here in the Visayas. Yet we knew that it takes more than just being able to turn over the computers, TV sets, books and VHS tapes. Critical to GT Eskuwela’s success is the commitment of our employees to volunteer on a regular basis," Tarayao added.

The goals of a GT Eskuwela projects are to design a continuing employee volunteerism program which is sustainable and can be replicated in other areas where Globe operates; to give employees a chance to directly participate in the company’s community development efforts; and to strengthen Globe’s employee volunteerism program to get at least 50 employees to actively participate in the project.

And that is exactly what Globe got from its employees in Cebu. Fifty employees have committed to actively participate in assisting the two schools in Carcar.

The GT Eskuwela project follows a program in coordination with the school administration. Together, they come up with plans that will be most beneficial to the school. But, at the same time, they will not disrupt the normal course of the school activities.

The enthusiasm of the Globe employees that day was infectious. Cleofe Mendoza, HR manager for VisMin of Globe and Innove in Cebu, was all over the school making sure that everything was ready for some of the refurbishing that was the goal for the day.

"Before we started GT Eskuwela here we were inspired by the success of GT Eskuwela in Manila," Mendoza said. "With that inspiration we came up with a program that we could follow here in VisMin, starting with Carcar."

Mendoza added that the employees conducted a needs assessment of the schools. They asked what each needed and how Globe could help. The need for computers in these schools was a priority, and what the teachers asked for most. "We got the three computers for each school and hopefully to follow it up, we can assist in teaching the teachers and their students how to use the computers," Mendoza added.

Mendoza knows that in places like Carcar many of the students will not make it to college. This is why the Globe employees want to help them out now. Hopefully, the help they extend will prepare the kids for whatever work they may undertake in the future. Aside from the computers, Globe also brought materials for the science classes and equipment for a science laboratory. There was industrial arts equipment, which the schools said they badly needed.

Aldrich Paypon, engineer at Globe Telecom, serves as the team leader of the volunteerism Cebu. He, too, was busy making sure that everything was in place after the formal turnover was made. The employees of Globe were ready to do some serious painting of the school building.

"One thing about the Globe volunteers of GT Eskuwela is that they are very committed to this task," said Paypon. "The volunteers have been volunteers for other projects even before this one."

The challenge that GT Eskuwela faces is its sustainability. And that is only possible if the volunteers continue to dream big for the kids of Carcar.  Baycon added that the volunteers know how hard it is to help out during the workweek. But he said these volunteers see no problem in making time to assist in Carcar.

It was nearly noon when the formal turnover of equipment was completed. The fiesta was just about to begin. Here in Cebu that meant food galore. Three giant lechons, chicharon, pancit and bread awaited the community about to celebrate a great milestone for education in Guadalupe Elementary School and Maximino Noel Memorial High School.

All were invited. Kids, teachers, Globe and Innove volunteers, local government officials and us, too. In a community, no one leaves without something in their stomachs. But we left with more than tummies filled: our hearts were filled, too, because the kids and their teachers were eager to get started on their learning.

Indeed.

Globe sees that in an increasingly technology-driven environment, the role of their employees in society is greater than it was in the past. Globe’s employees see that they can help build bridges in communities by making quality education and technology accessible to all.