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| PE Jocelyn Mosquete, Pres. Mark Catahay and Rtn. Rey Alovera |
"Roxas City School for
Philippine Craftsmen is the perfect recipient for our Global Grant,” said Pres
Mark Renier Catahay of the Rotary Club of Roxas during the Governor’s visit to
the Club, the mother Club of Rotary in the Northern Panay Zone (Zone 4, D3850
Philippines), last September 4, 2015 at the Roxas City School for Philippine
Craftsmen (RCSPC) in Barangay Lanot, Roxas City, Capiz. Several members of the Club were present
together with the teaching and administrative staff of RCSPC headed by Mr.
Rodrigo Jeremias, the Roxas City Schools Division Superintendent Mr. Roel
Bermejo and the student body of the said school.
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| The students of Architectural/Drafting Design |
It was an auspiciously joyous day for the City because
two Global Grants of the Club were recently approved and presented to the
public. Global Grant GG1525989, a
partnership of the Club involving two Rotary Districts in Korea (D-3590 and
D-3690) and two of their Clubs, and GG1422122, involving a District in Sweden
(D-2390) and another in Spain (D-2203) and 15 of her Clubs, enabled the Club to
donate US$ 134,917.00 for “Technical-Vocational Equipment for Roxas City School
for Philippine Craftsmen,” care of The Rotary Foundation. These grants shall bestow on RCSPC tools and
equipment for Architectural Drafting and Shielded Metal Arc Welding (GG1525989)
worth US$ 51,511.00 and Dressmaking, Food Trades, Electricity Installation
Methodology, and Cosmetology (GG1422122) worth US$ 83,406.00. In pesos, that’s a total of PhP 5,453,805.00!
The Rotary Foundation is a World-Class world-wide vehicle
of Rotary International of changing people’s lives in all corners of the globe
through Rotary Clubs such as the Rotary Club of Roxas! Clubs invite international partners (mainly,
Clubs and Districts from other countries) to embark on meaningful projects in
their localities and with their pool of resources, namely their Districts’
District Designated Funds (DDF’s) and their cash contributions, The Rotary
Foundation either doubles them as with the DDF’s or matches 50% of the amounts
as with the Clubs’ cash contributions.
The two Global Grants were one year’s worth of patient
proposal writing, massive document gathering, tireless emails, numerous texts,
and authoritative signings, across land, sea and air. It all started with Past District Governor
(PDG) Mark Ortiz of Philippine Rotary District D-3850 contacting his classmates
PDG Jin (D-3590) and PDG Wooam (D-3690) of Korea and PDG Birgitta Arnving (D-2390)
of Sweden and PDG Graciela Waen (D-2203) of Spain, after Super typhoon
Yolanda/Haiyan devastated Capiz, together with many major parts of Eastern and
Western Visayas. The desire to help
outpoured and all five DG’s, then, worked hard to put the two Global Grants
together. PDG Mark had a lot of help
from his Club and RCSPC Principal Rod and his staff. PDG Wooam contacted the Rotary Clubs of Geoje
Big Dragon and Sae-Bucheon. PDG Graciela
called on the Rotary Clubs of de Marbella, Alicante, Mallorca, Mahon Mo, Palma
Bellver, San Pedro de Alcantara, Inca, de Sevilla, Palma Junipero Serr, de Cartagena,
de Almoradi, Elche Illice, Castellon, Torrepacheco, and Estepona. And, last July and August 2015, the Global
Grants were approved one after the other!
Soon, appropriately timely for the K-12 kick-in by School
Year (SY) 2016-17, students of RCSPC will be trained using state-of-the-art
equipment like GTAW welding machines worth PhP 100,000.00 and CAD-enabled
computers and printers worth PHP 250,000, not your ordinary school of arts and
trades! Enrolment is expected to
increase, including enrolment for adults and women who would like to finish a
highly employable high school degree. As
part of the Stewardship component of the grants, the Rotary Club of Roxas will
be assisted by RCSPC in monitoring the results of the project and reported
periodically to TRF until the project’s completion and even beyond. A super typhoon may have destroyed the City
but Rotary will help bring it back up by empowering its citizens, especially
the young ones!
Such is the world of Rotary in Capiz, in the Philippines,
in the world! There are so many
possibilities of “doing good in the world!”
And, the Rotary Club of Roxas shall continue to be “serving above self”
in this corner of the globe and “Be a Gift to the World!”
Note: This article was also published by The Guardian.
