12/04/2023
𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓
𝐀 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐋𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Education is a powerful tool that can help a person strive for a better tomorrow. With it, dreams that were once unreachable now become within one’s reach, possibilities shine brighter, and it turns the uncertainties of the future pieced together. As Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. puts it, “A man’s mind, stretched by new ideas, may never return to its original dimensions”. Through learning, every individual’s ideas, aspirations, and dreams expand. Allowing anyone to explore perceptions and grow from different lenses. It becomes the key to opening the passageway for critical yet imaginative thinking, making the sky the limit. However, keeping our reality checked, everything has a limit. But through someone’s helping hands, this limit can be extended.
Julianna Rose Galiza finished her final year in junior high school with high honors and went to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines for senior high school. She was elected as the District Interact Representative of RID3780. However, she encountered difficulties in fulfilling her functions given that she lacked devices. In light of this, the Rotary Club of Ayala Heights promptly responded by providing her with a laptop, which enabled her to fulfill her duties both as a student and as the DIR. As for her, the laptop served not only as a tool for her studies but also as a motivation to do better. This initiative motivated her to give back by helping more people in the future. She was the very first beneficiary of the laptop donations and for that; she was thankful. It has been a year and four months and she still uses the laptop.
On the other hand, the virtual class setup also proved to be challenging for a teacher like Ms. Sherry Ann Jove. An educator herself highlighted that the pandemic challenged her techniques of using different applications to incorporate different styles of teaching to make her class more engaging. In addition, it became a struggle because her laptop limited her from exploring applications. Receiving the great news of the laptop donation, she felt so blessed when the laptop was turned over. She described it as a precious gift that will help her with her online work and will allow her to provide a fun-filled virtual class discussion and atmosphere for her students. She was grateful for all the assistance of the Rotary Club of Ayala Heights. To her, the lessons and the pieces of advice they are imparting, especially to the youth servant leaders, will surely be lived. To show her appreciation, she wrote, “Rotary Club of Ayala Heights has a great set of people who always look for the welfare of everyone. I can see in them the power of service over the club’s recognition. They have a great impact on continuing my passion in shepherding both the Interactors and Rotaractors.”
Raisa Tunay is a college student and an active leader in the community. She is also the current president of the Rotaract Club of Culiat. The commitments she has requires her to use a laptop to accomplish tasks. Her school works alone consume most of her time, but the struggle was further amplified for her since she and her siblings take turns in using their one laptop. When she was chosen as the recipient of the laptop donation, all she felt was gratefulness since she no longer wait for her turn just to start her work.
Having the same situation as Raisa, Pauline Star Gamboa struggled to keep up with her requirements. She only had one family computer that they shared with her siblings. Her course demands her to learn and navigate the tools they needed for the software. The laptop helped her to have personal storage and management of her files for the convenience of her learning. She was glad and thankful for the gadget.
Rotary Club of Ayala Heights has always been generous in extending help to those who deserve it, may it be for Rotaractors’ academic concerns or a chosen community's needs. The Rotary Club of Ayala Heights laptop donation project provided their four beneficiaries hope, paving a way for achieving the Rotaractors’ dreams. This only shows how Rotarians of Ayala Heights are an embodiment of service above one’s self.
