The School of Computer Studies (SCS) in partnership with the Life Project 4 Youth Hear Us Program conducted the ICT Training for the Deaf at the SCS Software Engineering Computer Laboratory on May 5-16, 2014. During its opening program, the OVCRE Director for Research Dr. Franco G. Teves lauded the relevance of this extension program for its unique impact in society.
Led by SCS Dean, Prof. Alquine Roy Taculin, and Training Director, Prof. Lemuel Clark Velasco, the training focused on basic graphics and multimedia using the following authoring tools namely MS PowerPoint, MS Publisher and Adobe Photoshop.
This is the fourth year that the SCS has conducted the ICT skills training. In the previous years the focus was on modules for Internet and Office Applications, Computer Hardware Servicing and Consumer Electronics Servicing. This time, the outputs of the trainees were a collection of presentations, flyers, posters, invitations, brochures, and business cards.
At the same time, many of the deaf youths improved their visual sense as evidenced by their creative designs.
During the closing ceremony, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Dr. David Almarez reiterated that “the mandate of MSU-IIT is not just to focus on instruction and research but also to extend its resources through relevant programs in extension.”
The series of ICT trainings has provided job opportunities for deaf youths according to Hear Us Program Coordinators Chelsea and Dave Frehulfer.
We can see what the deaf youths are capable of in Information and Communications Technology if we give them the opportunity, reiterating the theme of the closing ceremony, “I can’t, but together WE CAN!” – contributed news for OC-OPI
Exploratory talks regarding the development of barangay Rogongon through a beneficial partnership was held between leaders of Iligan’s Higaonon community and a team from the MSU-IIT on April 25, 2014 at the Rogongon Barangay Hall.
MSU-IIT Vice Chancelor for Administration and Finance, Dr. David Almarez, and other representatives from MSU-IIT: Cecile Tangian (Department of History); Arnold Alamon (Department of Sociology and of the Department of Extension); Alrey Eya (College of Science and Mathematics); Phyllis Marie S. Teanco (Legal Office); and Rex G. Ortega (Office of the Chancellor) met with members of the Higaunon Tribal Council led by Rolando So-ong, together with the Barangay Council of Rogongon led by Barangay Captain Rudy Pugoy during exploratory talks for a possible institutional collaboration between the MSU-IIT and Barangay Rogongon.
During these talks, the Higaonon community leaders made clear their intention to donate five hectares of land to MSU-IIT in an agreement to be hammered out by both parties wherein the Institute would assist in the protection and preservation of the Higaunon tribe’s culture and traditions through the establishment of something like a School of Living Traditions in the area.
This envisioned school would be similar to the ones in Lantapan, Bukidnon and Lake Sebu in South Cotabato that have greatly benefited the Talaandig and T’boli tribes living in those places.
So-ong, who is also known as Datu Diamla in Rogongon, said they need help in documenting their oral history, material culture, and living traditions.
He decried the loss of their specific identity as members of the Higaonon tribe of Rogongon as, according to him, they are now regarded by many as members instead of the Talaandig tribe in Bukidnon.
So-ong, said that they are looking forward to establishing a heritage school where the young Higaonons can learn about their culture “so that they can continue to practice and preserve it.”
Speaking on behalf of the tribal council, So-ong said that they were also willing to grant usufructuary rights over an additional 15 hectares of their ancestral domain to MSU-IIT.
A usufructuary right is a right that allows one to use and even profit from property belonging to another as long as the land is not damaged or destroyed.
The initial discussions also explored the possibility of MSU-IIT assisting deserving Higaonon youth get a college education from the Institute.
So-ong said that the Higaonon youth have difficulty getting a college education in Institutions like MSU-IIT because they cannot pass its entrance examination.
Almarez for his part said it is about time that the Institute makes its presence felt in the nearby IP community of Rogongon considering the proximity of the marginalized sector to the City of Iligan where the MSU-IIT campus is located.
He also said that there are resources of the Institute that can respond to the needs of the Higaonon community. For instance, the Department of Political science can help in codifying their system of customary laws while the Department of History can help in the documentation of their culture.
In a separate interview, Chancellor Sukarno Tanggol said that the planned development program in Rogongon is a collaborative effort of constituents of the Institute who may conduct studies to further spur its development: the environment, its flora and fauna, language and culture, the socio-economic, gender and health concerns of the area.
Rogongon is Iligan’s largest barangay with a land area of 35,555 hectares of largely unexplored hinterland bounded by the provinces of Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur.
Barangay Captain Pugoy also expressed his full support to the possible collaboration between the barangay, the tribal council, and MSU-IIT. He had always respected the culture and system of political leadership of the indigenous culture, he said, and he looks forward to the benefit that the whole community will gain with the planned partnership.
The meeting ended with the agreement that the two parties would proceed in drafting a Memorandum of Agreement to be shown to the constituents of each party for consultation by mid-May 2014. for OC-OPI
The Baylan and datus of the Higaonon Tribal Council of Rogongon offering a ritual for the successful partnership of the Barangay, the tribe, and MSU-IIT. (Photo: Arnold Alamon)
The MSU-IIT team and the partners in Rogongon. (Photo: Arnold Alamon)
Vice Chancellor Almarez and Datu Diamla surveying the 20 hectares that the tribal council plans to donate to the Institute. (Photo: Arnold Alamon)
A five-day training for the out of school youth of Barangay Tibanga hosted by the Faculty members and staff in cooperation with the Department of Extension of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension on April 21-25, 2014 at the Electronics Engineering Technology (ESET) Laboratory of the School of Computer Science (SCS).
The trainees were given lectures about the different computer hardware and software and their purposes and functions. They were taught how to manipulate and configure computer hardware and software through hands-on activities.
At the end of the training, the trainees were expected to learn how to assemble, disassemble, maintain and troubleshoot computer devices. The overall training could prepare the trainees for the TESDA’s national certification Computer Hardware Servicing NCII.
Aside from the training, the Institute provided additional support to the trainees to enable them to take the TESDA assessment for Computer Hardware Servicing NCII for free.
Quite a few pass the assessment given by TESDA despite trainees being taught a 320 hour lectures and lab exposures condensed into a training of 40 hours. The trainees, armed with their national certificates are expected to make a living and to share their knowledge and skills to their own community
MSU-IIT conducted the 2nd Level Training Workshops on Disaster Risks Reduction Management (DRRM) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) from Feb. 12 to 15, 2014 in the Provincial Capitol Complex of Tubod, Lanao del Norte.
The workshops were facilitated by the Institute’s Department of Extension (DE) of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Extension (OVCRE) and Department of Sociology.
The activities were conducted in partnership with the local government units (LGUs) of the province of Lanao del Norte, and in compliance with the Institute’s agreement with the Australian National University.
The Alternative Learning System (ALS) extension program of the Institute dubbed School by the Sea for Bajaus launched on May 13, 2011 celebrates its third year this year with wider support from the local and international communities.
The Department of Sociology, College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) and the College of Education ( CEd) that launched the ALS in 2011 has sustained the program and continues to make its presence felt in the Badjau community by bringing new partners from within and outside the Institute.
Its main aim is to provide alternative education to the Bajau youth living in Purok 4, Tambacan, Iligan City.
This commitment by the Institute was formalized in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Institute and the Bajau community partnering with the Barangay.Tambacan LGU, the Medical Center College, Friends of Bajau Inc .-Iligan (FBII) which is an NGO supporting the Bajau, and the Community Development Department of MSU.
With nothing to start with, the School by the Sea’s ALS has increasingly generated support from local and international donors over the years. Infrastructure support for the construction of the first Bajao ALS Center was provided by FBII and FEMPOV-Philippines. Tanging Yaman Foundation and the Association of IIT Alumni Foundation, Inc. ( AITAFI) provided funding for the school that could accommodate at least 2 grade levels.
Dr. Nimfa L. Bracamonte, Director for the OVCRE Extension Department in a paper entitled “Evolving a Development Framework for the Sama Dilaut in an Urban Center in the Southern Philippines” published in the Borneo Research Bulletin in 2005 said that the Bajau are nomadic, ‘maritime people’ “who are culturally separated from mainstream Philippine society [and] have moved to urban streets to beg for survival.”
Of about 110 ethnic groups in the Philippines, the group known as Sama Dilaut is likewise known by other names in Southeast Asia. The group is a Sama speaking peoples commonly known as “Bajau”, (alternate spelling is Badjao) a pejorative term. It is the most marginalized group in the country according to researchers.
They are known to live along the coastal areas of the Zamboanga Bay and throughout the Sulu Archipelago and around the islands of Tawi-tawi. Indigenous to Southeast Asia, the Sama Dilaut is found in the coasts of Sabah, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and eastern Indonesia and among the islands of the Celebes Sea.
Today, Bracamonte said various civic organizations, private individuals here and abroad, and religious organizations like the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritan) have provided assistance in livelihood, health, and other forms of support for the Badjaus during several occasions.
Through the initiative of the Spiritan missionary sisters for instance, a newly- inaugurated health center funded by Eugenie Caps of Spain is now available for the use of the community.
The ALS program has since registered a total of 55 school age enrollees and adults. They are being taught by 12 volunteer mastals/teachers mainly coming from the CASS and CED faculty members with support from student volunteers. The program also solicits funds to assist the 15 pupils enrolled in the Tambacan Elementary School.
On January 20, 2014, more than 70 Bajau children from the community with some adults had an Educational Exposure Trip to the Spiritan Learning Center at Pindugangan, Iligan City, an upland barangay that provided the children of a change of scenery, flora, and fauna, different from what the Bajaus, accustomed to living in coastal areas are used to. Contributed by the OVCRE Extension Department for OC-OPI
The “School by the Sea” in Barangay Tambacan, Iligan City
Dr. Sol Ponce, MSU-IIT coordinator for the ”School by the Sea”
Bajau children perform for visitors at the “School by the Sea”
Bajau children watch a film as part of their Educational Exposure Trip to the Spiritan Center in the upland Barangay of Pindungan, Iligan City on Jan. 20, 2014.
The Bajau children during the Educational Exposure Trip
