The iPad works perfectly as a tool for deaf children to communicate with each other, learn how to read and write in a more entertaining way; and these gadgets provide a specific skill-set which could prepare them in facing the tough world. However, iPads remain out-of-reach among deaf learners in the Philippines.

In the government-owned Baguio City Special Education (SPED) Center, deaf learners still use the traditional book and blackboard methods every day. These are more often than not, outdated. Lucky are those whose parents can buy updated learning materials and tech products that aid their children in understanding their lessons in school.

While the deaf learners are on summer vacation this April and May 2014, New Media Services would like to invite everyone who has just upgraded or replaced their iPad to donate their old or unutilized units for the benefit of these deaf learners.

The old iPad units will be installed with a list of education applications that can help the deaf learners in their Math and English subjects. We hope to have the first set of iPads released to third graders studying at the Baguio SPED Center as our primary beneficiaries.

In the past years, we already helped with “little miracles” to the Hearing Impaired Sequence of the school by renovating and refurnishing their classrooms, donating computers, sponsoring their Internet connection, providing learning materials- all things that the government could not easily provide as of the moment.

With your help, we can do a whole lot more good! You might think that the old iPad in the corner of your room collecting dust is just a simple gadget; but that old iPad can be a key to fruitful learning sessions that will change the lives of these deaf kids in the Philippines.

To donate, you can send your old iPad units to our Australian headquarters located at 4 Dundass Grove, Botanic Ridge, Victoria, Australia. We will handle the shipping expenses of the units to the Philippines.

You can also support the Hearing Impaired Sequence of Baguio City SPED Center by donating through this link: http://baguiosped.com/donate/donate/home. For questions and suggestions, email us at info@newmediaservices.com.au now.

New Media Services is not just Australia’s leading provider of end user support services and cloud-based messaging platforms. NMS is also the leading advocate of improved deaf education in the Philippines. For years, NMS has consistently supported the Hearing Sequence of Baguio City Special Education (SPED) Center and out-of-school youth in the Philippines. To know more about the charitable activities of NMS, please visit http://newmediaservices.com.au/nmscares or email us at info@newmediaservices.com.au now.

Certificate hows users how their $1  is making a difference in Bangladesh.

UNIQLO, a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under five brands, announces the release of The Value of $1 Android application for smartphones on March 29, the latest initiative in its growing social business program. This initiative extends UNIQLO’s partnership with social business pioneer Grameen by offering smartphone users around the world an opportunity to support educational programs for children in Bangladesh through a single US dollar or equivalent in local currencies.

The Value of $1 project is based on the concept of connecting people around the world through the value of investing one US dollar. By simply purchasing The Value of $1 Android application, smartphone users can directly participate in a social business in a new way. The app supports several languages including English, Japanese, French, Korean and Chinese (simplified and traditional) and will be available to smartphone users around the world for $1 via the Android Market online store.

All the proceeds from the first 10,000* sales of the app will go towards the production of fun learning T-shirts and study booklets designed to promote literacy among children in Bangladesh. Sales of the app will enable Grameen UNIQLO to sell learning sets worth $2 for the equivalent of $1 in local currency. The entire process from manufacturing to marketing will be handled locally and any profits will be reinvested by Grameen UNIQLO into projects designed to contribute to Bangladeshi society through the local production and marketing of clothing.

An App that teaches Bengali language

Smartphone users who register for the project through the app receive an electronic certificate of participation. The certificate will track the progress of the production and marketing process giving participants the opportunity to actually see their $1 investment at work. Users of the app can also download a fun electronic learning aid for Bengali--the official language of Bangladesh.

The pay version of The Value of $1 app is limited to first 10,000 participants. A free version of the app will be available for download after the project ends.  The app costs the equivalent of $1 US. Local currency conversion is calculated based on the exchange rates when sales of the app begin. If the local price after the exchange conversion is below the minimum price permitted on the local Android Market, the app will be priced at the lowest permitted price for that region. For more information about The Value of $1 Android app, please visit: http://www.grameenuniqlo.com

Send cash donation via text messages to Smart and/ or Globe

This year's holiday season will go down as one of the saddest Christmas to many Filipinos especially those living in the provinces that were affected by killer typhoon Sendong.

According to a report from Unicef, almost 200,000 children were affected by the flash flood brought by Sendong.  What's more depressing is the fact that more than a thousand lives were also taken and another thousand people are still reported missing.

I am just proud that I am part of an organization like People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) under the leadership of outgoing President Bong Austero who immediately released funds to help out affected employees of our member companies based in Cagayan De Oro and Iligan City.  It's our own little way of reaching out to them, especially to CDO who adopted us for a week during a PMAP event held in the city last October.

I was also inspired by friends and fellow bloggers based in CDO who has been active in conducting fund-raising activities for our kababayan in spite of the fact that they too are victims of Sendong.  One of them told me that "you'll be moved by the scenes when you are here.  You will feel that you're just lucky that you did not experience what they have gone through and that's my motivation to help them in the possible ways I can"

Yesterday, my family spent lunch at McDonalds in Proj. 4, QC and I consider it one special day not because of the holiday celebration but more on the joy that I felt when we brought something to donate for the victims of Sendong. It was the first time that I actually made extra effort to share something for the needy since I stopped doing a yearly gift-giving activity in 2007, the year I lost my daughter and younger brother in a span of three months.


Prior to that date, I've been organizing activities like feeding programs and donation drive for Christmas using a portion of my 13th month pay since 1997.  But I somewhat lost the excitement and the Christmas spirit when I got hit with a back-to-back personal tragedies.

Typhoon Sendong may have brought sadness to the lives of thousands of people but it's really amazing how hope can do wonders.  Hope touches even the heart of stone, uplift spirit, and unite a nation.  Personally, my heart was broken many times looking at the images of mothers cradling lifeless bodies of their children, people crying out for help and sad faces of children.  But I have to admit, it awaken me to relive a good deed that I should have not ceased doing in the first place.  I have just pushed the "reset" button and will do more action than just writing for this advocacy blog.  

For those who have old clothes, foot wears, bedding, canned goods and other useful things to donate, McDonalds outlets nationwide are accepting donations for the victims of Sendong.  Below are other organizations who have also offered their services and accepts your donations:

Inquirer Relief Drive
1098 Chino Roces Ave.
Cor MAscardo and Yague Sts.
Makati City

GMA Kapuso Foundatrion
2nd Floor GMA Netwrok Bldg.
GMA Drive, Diliman, QC

All LBC outlets nationwide.

For cash donations, you can visit any outlet of 7-Eleven or Cebuana Lhuiller or log on to www.worldvision.org.ph or www.unicef.ph.