Website on small-scale mining wins grand prize

MANILA, Philippines - “Taliwala sa mga Gilak sa Bulawanong Yuta,” a website about small-scale gold mining in barangay Tambis, Borobo, Surigao del Sur, won the grand prize in the 3rd Doon Po Sa Amin (DPSA) Learning Challenge. 

Designed and developed by a team from Barobo National High School, the website presents the facts on the history of mining in the locality, the entire mining process and the problems associated with it. 

Moreover, it tackles related environmental concerns, particularly the present sorry state of the Tambis River, 80 percent of which has been contaminated with wastes and harmful chemicals from mining activities.

In two new DPSA contests, a team from Naga City Science High School came up with the winning video blog featuring the Bicolano dish kinalas for “Ano ang Kwento Mo?” while elementary students of Banaue Central School created the winning blog site on how junk food wrappers can be made into a variety of products.

Doon Po Sa Amin (DPSA) is a community service project of Smart Communications, Inc. that encourages schools to use computer and Internet technologies to contribute web-based information and educational materials about their respective communities. 

The DPSA Learning Challenge launched in 2008 is open exclusively to Smart Schools Program partner high schools and Online Associates (high schools) nationwide. It requires teams to perform basic community mapping exercises to generate local content which will help their respective communities be educated about and/or address pertinent local problems or issues.

It is the second straight year that Barobo NHS has topped the awards. Aside from the P50,000 grand prize, the team received an additional P30,000 plus a desktop for their school for being the winner in the Environment and Disaster Preparedness category.

In the newly introduced DPSA contest “Ano ang Kwento Mo?” Naga City Science HS bagged the P30,000 grand prize plus four other awards for their entry “Orgulyo Kan Naga, Kinalas na Kakaiba” to popularize the dish kinalas. These include Best in Travel and Cuisine Category with P10,000 prize; Best in Video Blog Site Design and Layout with P5,000; Best in Booth Exhibit, P10,000; and Best in Booth Exhibit Texter’s Choice, P5,000.

The first DPSA Quest open to the elementary level proved that even younger students can create interesting blog sites and share unique stories about their respective communities.

The grand champions from Banaue Central School showed how women organizations, housewives and even students have recycled junk food wrappers into useful materials to generate extra income while contributing to waste management in their community. For creating the blog site “Doon Po Sa Amin Pinakamahal Ang Basura”, the team received P30,000 cash and a desktop for their school.

“It is very inspiring.   I am amazed that even elementary kids are involved in projects which will promote their locality. This is a good endeavor,” notes Dr. Josette Biyo who is part of this year’s board of judges. The first Filipino woman to have a planet named after her also holds the honor of being the first Asian to be awarded the prestigious Intel International Excellence in Teaching Award in 2002 for her work as a Science Research teacher in the Philippine Science High School in Iloilo.        

Information about the other winners in the three DPSA contests are available via www.doonposaamin.ph.