From left to right: Rosario (Rosie) Mata Castro, Cristina (Tina) Ignacio Abutal, Leilani (Leni) T. Fernando, Ligaya (Lily) L. Javete, Lani P. Arcangel, Rowena (Weng) H. Lee, Nora Castro Bautista.

Seven new members were inducted to the club last September 11, 2005 at Marikina heights at residence of new member birthday celebrant Lily Javate who hosted the affair. Inducting officer was Past National President Di Baluyut.

New inductees taking their oath of membership (Soroptimist pledge)

Souvenir photo, members of the club with new members

An Empowerment Story

Someone said, “the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.”

The Soroptimist International Founder Manila (SIFM), in partnership with the Mega Group, believes that the Club has given 26 young ladies from a depressed community a goal when they graduated from a 3-month computer education course last October.  With a seed money $5000 coming as a grant form SIA, President Minda Garcia offered as the Club’s counterpart the facilities, computers and services of her business office in Mandaluyong to kick off a series of two classes  on free computer education.  The first batch started on August 6 and ended last October 15, 2005.  The second batch, which will have a bigger number of students and an expanded curriculum, is scheduled in January, 2006.

For 11 Saturday s, from 8:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the afternoon, the students went through a comprehensive training that did not teach them only the use of softwares and programs but a thorough understanding of the computer hardware.  The participants were taught how to handle technical problems and this was an additional skill that boosted their capabilities. What made it possible to undertake the comprehensive training was the availability of expert IT trainers and sufficiency of computer machines lent to SIFM.  To make their education worthwhile, the Club is now linking up the students for possible employment.

In the beginning, we were told of the lukewarm attitude of some people in the community where participants came from.  They looked at the project as one of those “ningas-kugon” (non-lasting/no impact) programs.  When the students started demonstrating their learnings, many signified their desire to join the next batch. Most of the participants are residents of a depressed area in Sta. Ana where the Club’s adopted barangay is located.  In line with the Club’s internal development program, two additional participants who had zero computer knowledge joined the training.  They are now expecting to troubleshoot their grandchildren’s computer units.

The proposed expanded curriculum for next year will include some ‘soft skills’ such as personality projection, communication and social etiquette.  The Club will likewise grab the opportunity to integrate in the training values formation which will influence the quality of their contribution to society.

SIFM would like to believe that it has given 26 young women the ability to define much clearly a goal in their lives with the empowering effect of their recent computer education.

Barangay 877 women observing the BANGUS deboning at the barangay with SIA Founder Manila members.