Reflection after the Service Learning Activity

 

 

 

Last October 25, 2015. My group visited The Sisters of the Poor – San Lorenzo Ruiz Home for the Elderly. I didn’t know what to expect from the activity since it will be my first time to bond with the elderly inside a home for the aged. At first, I was hesitant to communicate with them but after a few small talks, I was able to see that they are very welcoming and eager to spend time with us.

I was able to talk with Lola Tina at the start of our outreach. She told me her life’s story and she also shared her reason why she herself wanted to go in the home for the aged. She doesn’t have relatives anymore since she is an only child and is not married. She also shared with me their schedule inside the home.

Aside from small talks, the group also prepared a program for the elderly. We encouraged them to exercise regularly by showing to them our own version of “mild zumba.” We showed them how to have fun while exercising. Laughing and having fun can make them feel younger.

We also participated in the mass since we went there on a Sunday. We joined the choir in singing the mass songs and one of our member also read the Prayers of the Faithful.

Our last activity was to feed and bond with them over lunch. During this activity, we sang to them Christmas songs while they eat and we also joined them after singing to further deepen our connection with them.

This experience opened my eye in the importance of caring for the elderly. We can show this care by taking care of our lolo and lola. They deserve to be treated with respect and with much love.

DuPont vs. the Environment

 

My group reported about DuPont and its battle against the environment. DuPont was placed into a hard position of choosing between its company’s profit or should it help the environment despite possible losses in the company.

From this case study, my group and I learned that in order to have a sustainable business, one should always care about the environment and the employees and not only on the profit solely. Sustainable development was also practiced by Dupont in the long run for them to meet the human development goals while maintaining the care for the natural resources. Companies should always practice sustainable development because their business always use raw materials that are directly from the environment. It is only fair to take care of them.

Enron -The smartest guy in the room

Enron is a story about America’s largest corporate failure at that point in history – and a story about human tragedy.

 

From the movie we can see that Enron’s early success and later failure offers many valuable mechanisms for managers and lasallian leaders to explore in building their leadership capacities and in developing the organization that they serve. Enron illustrates the tremendous leadership role that managers have in establishing the culture of the organization and in understanding the mechanisms for how organizational culture evolves.

The Enron case is a lesson for every business that in doing and making business decision we should always check if it is ethical. Ethics and integrity are the core values for a company to have a long-term sustainable success. Without incorporating ethics in our business decision no strategy can work as like what happened with Enron; they fail because they think they can beat everything because they are the smartest guy in the room.

The Enron case is very similar with what we are witnessing today our government. Graft and corruption has been a major problem in the Philippine government. Our leaders are being blinded by money and power which results to unethical decisions. Hopefully our government can learn from the case of Enron and choose what is the most ethical action to do.

Shell in Nigeria

Shell Petroleum reported a fresh spill from a key delivery pipeline in Adibawa delivery line southern Nigeria on November 12, 2011. The oil spill affected the whole community of Ogoniland, Nigeria. Even before the oilspill, Shell has already been the cause of suffering of the people in that community. Since Shell began drilling oil in Ogoniland in 1958, the people of Ogoniland have had pipelines built across their farmlands and in front of their homes, suffered endemic oil leaks from these very pipelines, been forced to live with the constant flaring of gas. This environmental assault has smothered land with oil, killed masses of fish and other aquatic life, and introduced devastating acid rain to the land of the Ogoni.

From this case, we can see that corporations should not be blind to see the negative effects they are causing to the community surrounding them. Corporations should take into consideration not only the welfare of their company but also the society and the environment. And if there will be unfortunate accidents like an oilspill, the corporation must act quickly to solve such problems to avoid bigger damage to happen.

The Silent Initiative

 

Cecilio Pedro head of the Lamoiyan Corporation, hired hired hearing impaired and mute employees in his company because he believes in the importance of treating each other with fairness in order to reach collective goals. He did this as part of the company’s CSR initiative and in line with the company’s value. Up to date, 35% of Lamoiyan Employees are hearing impaired. They also believe that corporations should not only focus in making profits but as well contributing with the environment and community.  Lamoiyan corporation provides an equal employment to the hearing impaired and mute employees and also a decent place where they can work and make a difference.

The initiative of Cecilio Pedro is very inspiring since it gives hope to those people with disabilities. It only shows that everyone has an equal right to proper employment. One being deaf or mute does not decrease their capability to work and succeed.

Bagyong Lando

Last October 19, 2015, classes were suspended because of the Typhoon Lando. Although Metro Manila was not hit as badly as others, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Lando as the worst storm to hit Philippines in 2015.

“Lando approached the country as a Category 5 typhoon—comparable in strength to Yolanda—but weakened into a Category 3 upon landfall. Although it continued to weaken as it marched across Luzon, it lingered on land for almost a week due to high pressure areas north of the country that kept it from leaving.”

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/541615/scitech/weather/typhoon-lando-was-the-worst-storm-to-hit-phl-in-2015-ndrrmc

Times like this, Filipinos unite in helping those areas that are greatly affected by the typhoon. Big companies help by donating money to different organizations while others personally visits the affected areas and contribute by helping rebuild their community. Everyone helped in their own way. As for me and my family, we helped by donating goods to the GMA Kapuso Foundation since we cannot go to the affected areas personally. We also called our relatives in Nueva Ecija and asked if they need anything from us. Fortunately, their houses were not destroyed by the typhoon and told us to help other people instead. There are many more companies and people who were willing to help and this only shows how compassionate Filipinos are. It makes me happy to see that the spirit of Bayanihan is still instilled in us.

Marketing and Advertising Gone Wrong

Commercials, Billboards, Flyers. We see different kinds of marketing and advertising materials in our everyday life. These are the tools used by different companies to reach their respective target market. Advertising and Marketing have become an essential element of the corporate world. These advertising and marketing campaigns sends messages to the consumers and therefore, companies must be vigilant in choosing the way they communicate with the world.

Unfortunately, advertisements these days uses women stereotypes. Products such as alcoholic beverages and cigarettes uses women with skimpy and seductive outfits to get the attention of the male consumers. Household products like dish washing liquids and laundry bars uses women as subject which enhances the stereotype that women are meant to be stay-at-home moms, and whose life goals are to cater to their families.

What worries me is the fact that people are becoming used to these set roles for women, and it rarely bothers or offends people when they see these marketing tactics. Companies should me more careful and sensitive in the way they choose to send their message to their consumers. It is part of their corporate responsibility to promote good and positive image to everyone especially the women.

Giving Back Thru Service Learning

My family has always been active with activities like the Service Learning Project since my mother heads an organization of housewives (Solid Ladies Club) and they do regular outreach activities like feeding the poor, orphanage visits, tree planting and their annual Christmas Wish Project. Being asked to do a Service Learning Project excites me because I am looking forward to having my own outreach activity just like that of my mother’s organization. With this activity, I know that I will be able to share my blessings to others and at the same time I can gain learning that can help me become a better Lasallian.

For my service learning project, I would like to focus on the elderly because I think they’re the most deserving people to be treated with respect and to be showered with love. Being raised by my lolo and lola, I’ve always had a soft spot for the elderly. I hate seeing old people in the street sleeping, begging for food or cold at night. I can’t imagine my own lolo and lola in that same situation. I promised myself that I will give them a comfortable life, and return the favor of caring for them just like how they took good care of me when I was young.

My group and I chose Kanlungan ni Maria, a home for the aged located at Antipolo Rizal. It was first founded way back 2002 by the Bishop of Antipolo, Crisostomo Yalung. It is the home of 25 elderly. For me, they are the perfect organization for my service learning because being a small community, my group and I can interact more intimately to the lolos and lolas. The community has also just transferred to a new home, I think this is an opportunity for us to help them settle-in and contribute by organizing their files and other furniture. We can also help expose their community in order to attract more people like us that are willing to help and spend time with the elderly.

Other options I considered for the service learning were the abandoned street children at Virlanie, Gawad Kalinga, and organization for animals like Paws. I chose not to push thru with these organizations because most of these organizations already have a steady benefactor and I feel that my group may not make an impact to them.

I am looking forward to get to know the elderly at Kanlungan ni Maria and learn about their stories.

DLSU vs. UST

October 11, 2015. Excerpt from The Lasallian

The DLSU Green Archers opened the second round of the UAAP Season 78 Men’s Basketball tournament with an 81-79 loss to the UST Growling Tigers earlier today at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Jeron Teng led the way for the Green Archers with 16 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Sophomore forward Prince Rivero finished with 13 points and seven rebounds on 67 percent field-goal shooting, while Josh Torralba and Thomas Torres added 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Green Archers now fall to four wins and four losses and are currently tied with arch rival Ateneo at third place.

http://thelasallian.com/2015/10/11/uaap-green-archers-stumble-to-ust-in-second-round-opener/

My brother and I watched the UAAP game last Sunday when our very own Green Archers faced the Growling Tigers for the 2^nd time this season. Being defeated by UST during the first round, everyone was expecting the Green Archers to give them a good fight. True enough, our Green Archers showed dedication and will to win the game by leading the game in the first few quarters but unfortunately the perseverance of the Growling Tigers brought them the victory.

Watching the UAAP game live is really a thrilling experience. Chanting and cheering for the team while they battle in the court makes me feel so alive. I admire UST’s unison whenever they cheer for their team. They don’t care whether their team is leading or not. They would all cheer loudly and passionately and it affects not only their team but also us who are at the opposite side of the court. It’s also good to see that the fans respect each other. During the singing of the school songs, each side respected and honoured the other team’s song.

I also admire the sportsmanship that our players displayed in the court. Sportsmanship is a great practice in sports and competition. It means playing clean and handling both victory and defeat with grace, style, and dignity. It’s nice to see our players and coaching staff approaching the UST team after the game and congratulating them. Some players were even laughing and talking with some of the UST players.

In the end, everyone accepted the result of the game with grace and respect. Instead on bashing the opposite team, all we can do is hope for a much better result in the other coming games our Green Archers will face.

Good over Greed

https://mayrsom.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ethical-decision-making.jpg

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”
Roy Disney

Business ethics is an important part of the business world as ethic play a significant role in our daily lives. We as a human being need to know how to behave as we do our business every day. Working in a bank, my colleagues and I are often responsible for managing large amounts of money. We cannot avoid temptations to take advantage of the situation.

Knowing my values help me choose to do what is right and ethical in my everyday life. I value honesty and integrity in my life. I would rather earn my money through hard work rather than the easy way of stealing and cheating. If I choose to do what is unethical, I would lose the trust of my employer and our customers. I believe in karma, an ethical decision can lead to good karma while an unethical decision can lead to bad karma and a lot more negativity.

It pays to be ethical. An organization’s positive reputation is the most important asset it has.