Creating a better tomorrow with Microsoft Citizenship Asia Pacific

In today's world, having the ability to use technology is not enough. Students must be empowered to use technology to learn, analyse, and innovate. For a low-cost private school like Mano Amiga, the latest technology is a luxury we do not always have access to.

Thanks to the Microsoft Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners (SMS&P) team, our students had the opportunity to explore various gadgets, and experience the power of technology to enrich and transform people's lives.

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Engaging Young Minds through Technology at Mano Amiga Academy By Cheryll Ann Selda, Citizenship Specialist, Microsoft Philippines

On 7 August, our Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners (SMS&P) team, together with Director, Diana Tibbs, held our best Financial Year Kick-off Activity at Mano Amiga Academy.

The Mano Amiga Academy is part of a network of over 30 Mano Amiga schools across seven countries, with a shared mission of providing education and development services tailored to the needs of local communities. In Taguig City, the Academy works with the underprivileged, serving students from the most deprived sections of the community. I have to interject with pride here that Lynn Pinugu, who founded the Academy in the Philippines, is an alumna member of Microsoft’s Innovate for Good programme.

For the one-day volunteering activity, the organisation and our team decided that it would be most useful for us to engage with the Grade Four students in play activities. We brought our personal devices, including Microsoft Kinect and tablets, for them to have a go. It was quite a sight to have over 30 adults teaching digital games on a work day.

It isn’t every day that the children get a chance to try their hands on the latest technologies and gadgets, if at all. Being able to experience the devices allowed the children to understand how to use the technology and the ways in which technology can serve them. Hopefully, this would be a useful step for them in learning ‘vital 21st century skills’ and content.

We had our share of learning to do as well. Diana remarked, “Seeing how excited the children were made me realise I have been taking technology and gadgets for granted. I am more aware now how digital access is such a privilege.”

Joel Garcia, Server and Tools Business Group Lead, Microsoft Philippines, commented, “I don’t know who was more immersed in the experience — the children or me cheering them on when we were playing our games!”

Joel Garcia, Server and Tools Business Group Lead, Microsoft Philippines, playing digital games with the students of Mano Amiga Academy, Taguig City

Connecting with the children at Mano Amiga Academy represents a key step towards Diana’s goal of inculcating a ‘Culture of Service’ within SMS&P. Diana shared, “We hope to put in place a ‘Culture of Sharing’, with ‘Service’ forming the core of our efforts.

Our team plans to repeat this event at least once a year, and will also pursue other volunteering opportunities throughout the year. We are also looking at how we can provide capacity-building support for the academy. I’m very excited by these plans, for they show that technology can contribute to empowerment, especially when it comes with a human touch. #

* The article was taken from Microsoft Asia Citizenship blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_citizenship_asia_pacific/archive/2014/01/07/engaging-young-minds-through-technology-at-mano-amiga-academy.aspx 

Mano Amiga community helps in the Yolanda relief efforts

Days after Typhoon Yolanda struck the country, Mano Amiga Academy community organized a relief effort to help the victims of the super typhoon. Despite of their limited resources, the Mano Amiga scholars and their parents extended their sympathy by donating their hard-earned money, as well as  relief items such as used clothes, books and food packs. The students prepared prayer cards and included them in the relief goods to help bring smiles and hope to the survivors.

Bistro 3846 also joined the effort by donating proceeds from the snack sales to purchase medicine for the Yolanda victims. In just two weeks, the team was able to raise over 3,000 pieces of needed medicine which were brought to survivors living in Tacloban, Malapascua and Coron.

The spirit of compassion, love, and camaraderie brought everyone together. Everyone worked hand in hand in the hope that their simple help would help alleviate the suffering of the survivors and bring them hope and peace.

A simple prayer was prepared by the principal and teachers which they offered for the special intentions of those who were affected by the storm:

Loving Father, you are our shelter and our hope. We come to you with hearts full of trust in your love and mercy.

We pray for the victims of tropical storm Yolanda. May those who have lost homes and properties find shelter, enough food and clean water.

Comfort those who are traumatized and those who are grieving for the loss of their families, neighbors and friends. Bless those who are sick and those who are injured that their health may be restored and their wounds cured.

May you lead all who are stranded or lost back to those who love them. Guide the hands of the rescuers, the doctors and nurses and other volunteers and give them strength as they serve others with joy.

May this calamity bring people closer together, to help each other and to care for the environment. Give us the faith, hope and love to carry on. This we ask through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.  Amen

THANK YOU SO MUCH Advance Paper Corporation!

Photo shows (L-R): Ms. Kris Garcia from Mano Amiga Academy, Mr. Keith Bryan Haw the Vice President of Advance Paper Corporation, Ms. Rev Tria Siasoyco, Mano Amiga Principal and Mano Amiga kindergarten scholars

Mano Amiga scholars received an early Christmas treat from Advance Paper Corporation!

Last October 3, Mr. Keith Bryan Haw, the Vice President of Advance Paper Corporation, one of the leading paper product companies in the Philippines, visited Mano Amiga and graced the turnover of more than 1,300 notebooks and other office supplies for Mano Amiga  Academy and it scholars. Mano Amiga Academy is a non-profit foundation whose mission is to help underprivileged children from low-income families lift themselves out of poverty through quality education and holistic formation.

“We are very grateful for the generosity of the Advance Paper Corporation, especially Mr. Haw who in spite of his busy schedule found the time to visit the school.  We are very excited about the new partnership and we are looking forward to strengthening our collaboration.” said Mano Amiga Academy Institutional Development Manager Kris Garcia.

The donation will help provide 109 Mano Amiga scholars from kindergarten to Grade much needed school materials to help prepare for another year of learning and discovery! This effort is part of the Advance Paper Corporation’s initiative to give back to the community by sharing its high quality, affordable and innovative products to provide the children an optimum learning experience. #

Richelle's Run for a Cause

Richelle May Penalba, a Fil-American based in California is running 13.1 miles at the Long Beach Half Marathon for the first time to raise funds for education scholarships.  Her goal is to raise $1,200 from pledges to be able to send two children to Mano Amiga Academy for one whole year!

 In 20 days, 23 people have already supported her cause enabling her to raise $751 about a month to go before the marathon won October 13, 2013. She plans to visit the Philippines this coming December so she could personally meet the Mano Amiga scholars she'll be helping. 

Please spread the word and support Richelle in her endeavor to finish her first ever marathon and to provide two deserving children a full scholarship in the school.  

You may learn more about her project at: http:///gofundme.com/richellerunsLB  

Michael Kors and SSI conducts feeding program in Mano Amiga

Michael Kors in action

The article below found on the website of SSI, talks about their experience with our Mano Amiga scholars in a partnership feeding program with Children’s Hour.

More than just being a market leader in the world of fashion, Michael Kors, the premium lifestyle brand that has brought classic pieces of timeless elegance, has also been exerting tremendous efforts to alleviate the issue of world hunger. Stores Specialists Inc. (SSI), the exclusive distributor of Michael Kors in the Philippines wholeheartedly supported the brand’s global movement through partnering with Children’s Hour.

The long-standing value of SSI for social responsibility is alive through its continuous efforts to organize outreach activities that address different social issues.

Through the company’s CSR effort, aSSIst, “SSI always finds a way to do its share in helping out and giving back to the community,” said Michael Huang. This is also why joining Michael Kors’ fight against hunger was a natural response to them. “The issue is not something invisible to us here in the Philippines. It’s sad that this is a big issue but the hunger problem is not unsolvable,” Huang added.

Kors cares

It was a meaningful experience as SSI employees gave their time to prepare healthy lunches and meet the bright and active children of Mano Amiga Academy in Taguig City this July. Founded in Mexico in 1963, Mano Amiga Academy’s mission is to offer high-quality education to underprivileged children. The school’s specially-conceptualized curriculum aims to provide children with an education that is at par with the best private schools in the world, to widen their horizons and effectively motivate them to have higher aspirations in life. Through the non-profit organization Children’s Hour, SSI has been sponsoring the 27 kids from Mano Amiga’s second-grade class since 2011.

The volunteers from SSI visited and engaged the kids of Mano Amiga in a series of activities that included fun storytelling, educational games, and personal one-on-one time as they shared the hearty, healthy lunches they prepared. On the final day of activities, genuine smiles were abound despite the rainy weather as the 109 kids of Mano Amiga Academy each received two bags filled with a carefully-selected assortment of nutritious groceries to take home to their families.

The kids thanked SSI and Michael Kors through a feel-good performance of the song “Lean on Me”. They also expressed their sincere gratitude with artwork which they personally created during their art class, thanking “Mr. Michael Kors for feeding the hungry around the world.” On behalf of SSI, Michael Huang received the precious gift, together with a banner that read “#WatchHungerStop,” the campaign’s official social media tag, signed by SSI’s 27 Mano Amiga scholars.

United Nations World Food Programme for this mission, the brand released the “100 Series” watch as part of its WATCH HUNGER STOP campaign. For each watch sold, 100 children in a hunger-stricken area will receive a nutritious meal. The watch has a detailed map of the world etched on the colorful dial, along with the words “100 Series.” Michael Kors’ signature is engraved on the back, as is the campaign name, WATCH HUNGER STOP, and the message “1 WATCH = 100 MEALS.”

The collaboration of SSI and Michael Kors was indeed an inspiration to urgently and consciously address the world hunger crisis. July being Nutrition Month, the endeavor was also quite timely and apt. Geenette Garcia, Assistant Executive Director of Children’s Hour, commended this movement and said, “For us, they become stronger champions of Children’s Hour. They become stronger champions of children.”
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