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PLDT Group to set up “Tony Blair computer lab” in Tondo school

The recent visit of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has delivered a computer bonanza to an innovative school in the heart of Smokey Mountain, Tondo.

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company, Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) and the PLDT-SMART Foundation will help set up a computer lab in Blair’s name at the Philippine Christian Foundation’s (PCF) school near the Pier 18 dumpsite.

The pledge was made during the Smart Infinity dinner held for Blair, who was in the country for a series of talks.

Now envoy to the Middle East for the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union, Blair spoke at the Ateneo MVP Center Sesquicentennial Leadership Forum on “The Leader as Nation-Builder in a Time of Globalization” and during the Leadership Conference Series at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza on “The Leader as Principled Negotiator.”

“You are the kind of leader your country needs – both successful and giving back to your community,” he told PLDT Board Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan during his remarks, referring to the community service initiatives of PLDT, Smart, and the PLDT Smart Foundation.

The school serves some 450 children from indigent families, with a faculty of 16 licensed teachers.

By supporting the PCF’s efforts at providing education to the poor, the PLDT Group is using its technologies and resources to help the foundation realize its vision “to free every Filipino child and their family from the effects of poverty”.

The initiative is part of the PLDT Group’s aim to provide ICT training to public school teachers under SMART’s “Internet for All” advocacy.

SMART will also be providing the school with free Internet connection for one year, teacher training in basic Microsoft Office and integration of Information Communications Technology in the classroom, as well as hosting services for the school website which SMART will also help develop.

It is a welcome assistance as Jane Walker, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PCF, herself admits that none of the children in their care are computer-literate and that most of the teachers while reasonably literate are usually self-learned without any formal training.

“No one can survive in this day and age without any knowledge of computers. They should at least know the basic. It would also be good for them to learn how to send email messages and do research on the Internet. The Internet, after all, is the biggest library we can offer them,” says Walker.

The computer laboratory will be put up at the new school building currently being constructed at Smokey Mountain, Tondo to replace the existing one. “It is going to be a four-story school that can accommodate more students. We have to transfer the students because the old school is too warm and is not conducive for learning,” says Walker. The new school is targeted for completion by the end of the year.

Those interested to help build the school and/or support the PCF’s other initiatives (www.pcf.ph) can inquire via email (info@pcf.ph) or contact the PCF at tel. 6356913. They can also deposit their cash or check donation to PCF’s HSBC account 000-07569-040. Checks should be made out to Philippine Christian Foundation, Inc.

The PCF was officially registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2003, but it has been working to uplift the standard of living for the poor in as early as 1998 when it first opened a day care center inside a cemetery in Navotas. PCF currently runs three of its own schools for children who live in the poorest squatters areas in their region. These include two schools located on dump sites in Tondo and Baguio, and another one in a cemetery in Navotas. It also funds one partner school in Bacolod City with the Assemblies of God Church.

Walker, a British National who initiated this project, is also helping obtain funds other PCF programs. These include education and adult literacy, health and nutrition, livelihood and skills training, family and community enhancement, spiritual care, and income generation programs.

 “All our programs are designed to keep the child in school and not go back to work as a waste picker. Because sometimes, let’s say, a parent gets sick, the child feels responsible for the family and so he stops his schooling to go back to work. So, our foundation supports both the child and the family,” said Walker.

“Without education there is no escape from the life of poverty. If these children remain uneducated and stay in the dumpsite, they will grow and then eventually have their own families there, and the cycle goes round and round,” adds Walker.

By extending support based on its key competence and resources, the PLDT Group hopes to contribute to the realization of PCF’s grand vision.