RDC was created in 2009 and incorporated in Oregon in 2010 to apply for 501(c)(3) status in 2011. It collects discarded computers from colleges and universities and sends them to schools in the Philippines to support education programs for disadvantaged children. These programs teach computer skills and give access to technology. RDC's mission is to recycle educational materials to advance learning worldwide with a goal of making tools available to all, especially the indigent. Poverty in the Philippines remains high with lack of education perpetuating cycles of poverty. RDC aims to help break these cycles by providing education opportunities.
1. KAIBIGAN
Children of the Philippines
Filipino American Student Association
Portland State University
2. And
Recycling for Disadvantaged Children
RDC
Created at PSU in 2009, and incorporated in
Oregon in 2010
Applying for its 501 (c ) (3)
Federal Tax Exempt Status
In 2011
3. Introducing the CHANCE program
Children Helping Another Childs Education
CHANCE, collects computers from colleges and universities
(PSU) from the Untied States that are being discarded
because of upgrades and sends them to the Philippines to
support Angeles City National Trade School (ACNTS) and
Gawad Kalingas (GK), iGK Smart School Programs. The
individuals that it serves are the poorest of the poor in the
Philippines. Our programs main concern is teaching the
young Computer Information Technologies, and serves
children, adults, women, the elderly, and physically
challenged individuals. The target population is helped by
supplying them free access to computers, the internet,
and educating them in their operations and functions. This
helps the students and other indigent people of the
Philippines to gain an education and learn self-values and
self-leaning methods
4. Smart School Programs
We support ACNTS, Smart
Communications Inc, and
Philippine Long Distance
Telephone Company
(PLDT), Smart School
Program, and other
programs, we also assist
ACNTS new sister-sister
Adopted-A-Community
through Transformative
Education program with
GK’s, iGK program, which
also has a Smart School
Program at GK Pinagsama
village in Taguig City,
Western Bicutan. With this
support, RDC advances,
the education of the
indigent (poorest)
population of the
Philippines.
5. Children
of the Philippines
Our target population is
the poorest of the poor of
all ages and genders. The
Philippines had a
population around 90.3
million in 2009, and their
average family income was
147, 0000 pesos. which in
American dollars is around
$3062.00. The age
structure is 0-14 years:
34.5% (male
16,043,257/female
15,415,334) 15-64 years:
61.3% (male
27,849,584/female
28,008,293) 65 years and
over: 4.1% (male
1,631,866/female 2,128,953)
estimated in 2008.
6. Poverty remains a serious
problem in the Philippines,
which is the only populous
country in East Asia in
which the absolute number
of people living on less than
$1 a day remained constant,
according to figures
compiled by the World
Bank. That body estimates
that, even if the Philippine
economy posts a 6 to 8
percent growth , it will still
not be possible to bring the
poverty level below 15
percent. Economists believe
that it may take some 20
years of continuous
economic reforms and
implementation of social
programs before the country
can match the single-digit
poverty figures of it
wealthier neighbors.
7. A lack of an education leads
to continual cycles of
poverty in families. This
poverty leads to begging,
crime, violence, and
prostitution. With an
education, these cycles can
be broken with a new
generation of educated
children working as
responsible citizens of the
nation of the Philippines.
Poverty among children
shows that the incidence of
poverty among children
aged below 15 years is far
higher than the national
average. Poverty among
children aged between 6 to
15-years accounts for more
than 30% of aggregate
poverty.
8. RDC, is your organization
Our Mission: is to recycle
any educational materials
that can be used to advance
the education of
disadvantaged youth
throughout the world.
Our goal: is to make the
necessary tools available
and accessible to all
children, indigent
individuals, and the
physical challenged who
wish to gain an education.
9. Our Vision : That all children
of every nation receive an
education in order to be
good stewards of the world
that they will inherit.
We Believe: All Children
deserve a good home and an
education adequate to meet
the challenges of the world.
10. Poverty
Among the poorest
Filipinos, most family
income is derived from
entrepreneurial activities
such as selling food on
street corners or collecting
recyclable materials to sell
at the junkyards. Most of
the poor are lowland
landless agricultural
workers, lowland small
farm owners and
cultivators, industrial wage
laborers, hawkers, micro-
entrepreneurs, and
scavengers. Most poor
Filipinos live in rural areas,
where they are subject to
the low productivity of
agricultural employment.
11. Urban poverty is caused by
low household incomes and
the internal migration of
poor rural families to urban
areas. Poverty incidence
increased to 26.9% for
families in 2006 compared to
24.4% in 2003. This is,
however, lower than the 27.5
% poverty incidence in 2000.
In terms of poverty
incidence among a
population, out of 100
Filipinos, 33 were poor in
2006, compared to 30 in
2003. Preliminary indicators
showed no improvement in
the poverty rate in 2009 from
that of 2006, when the
poverty rate stood at 33
percent of the population,
said NSCB Secretary
General Romulo Virola
12. The proportion of the
population living below
US$1.25 a day in 2006 was
23 per cent or around 20
million people. At the
same time, about 44 per
cent or over 40 million
Filipinos were living on
less than US$2 a day. While
the Philippines was able to
reduce poverty incidence
from as high as 30 per cent
in the early 1990s, the
actual number of people
living in poverty has
increased over the last two
decades.
13. The global food and fuel
price crises in 2007 and
2008, and the global
economic crisis that
followed, are estimated to
have pushed even more
people into poverty. The
economy took a further
hit in late 2009, as the
worst typhoon season in
40 years devastated Metro
Manila and the
agricultural heartland of
the country.
14. Even during periods of
stronger economic growth,
such as 2004-2008, poverty
continued to rise. Various
factors have contributed to
the lack of progress on
poverty reduction in the
Philippines. Some of these
are:
An agriculture sector that
has performed weakly and
failed to raise the incomes
of the rural poor
Growth that is primarily
based on consumption and
not creating employment
opportunities for the poor
15. High population growth,
which averaged 2 per cent
annually over the past
decade, and places
additional strain on the cost
of household living and
demand for basic services
Income inequality, which
increased in the 1990s and
remains relatively high—the
poorest 20 per cent of the
population accounting for
only 5 per cent of total
income or consumption
Inability of the government
to provide sufficient basic
services, especially to
people in poorer remote
regions
Vulnerability of poorer
communities to natural
disasters and civil unrest
which adversely affects
livelihoods
16. Education
The Government of the
Philippines' Midterm
Progress Report on the
Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) shows the
country is on track to meet
2015 targets on reducing
child mortality, promoting
gender equality, combating
HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases, and
increasing access to safe
drinking water and
sanitation. However, the
country needs to increase its
efforts to meet universal
primary education and
maternal health goal
17. About 74% of children
not attending school are
found to be living below
the national poverty
threshold. This suggests
that children are not
attending school primarily
due to their lack of
resources to afford
schooling, directly or
indirectly, and due partly
to supply-side factors
such as unavailability of
nearby schools.
18. Several comprehensive
assessments of the
Philippine educational
system have been conducted
in the last decade. Most
notable of these are the
review conducted by the
Congressional Commission
on Education, the Philippine
Education Sector Study,
conducted jointly by the
World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank , and the
Education for All
assessments. A Presidential
Commission of Educational
Reform was constituted to
review these and other
similar studies and to make
recommendations for the
improvement of the quality
of education in the
Philippines.
19. All of these assessments have
characterized the Philippine
educational system as one in
crisis. Recurring themes 1)
the inadequacy of the
national budgetary allocation
for education; 2) the
inefficient management of
the educational system; 3)
poor infrastructure—lack of
school buildings, laboratory
facilities, libraries, etc.; 4) the
lack of qualified teachers—
this coupled with the lack of
classrooms results in class
sizes of up to 110, with 60
being the norm; 5)
deteriorating student
performance, most
significantly in science, math
and English; and 6) the need
for quality assurance in
teacher education
institutions and for improved
in-service training.
20. The Infocomm
Development Authority
estimates that PC
penetration in the
Philippines is at 1.9/100
persons, while Internet
penetration is at 6/100
persons (or 4,590,000 of the
76.5 million population) and
that only 2% percent of
schools nationwide have
Internet access. Of the
public secondary schools
with Internet access, only
9% use the Internet for
instructional purposes.
Furthermore, 44.5% of
public secondary schools
that use the Internet for
instructional purposes only
have one computer that can
access the Internet.
21. About half of these schools
access the Internet for an
average of less than an hour
per day. Most have a dial-up
connection with a maximum
speed of 56.6kbps.
Connectivity adds great
value to a school’s computer
resources. With email and
the Internet, teachers and
students can, among other
things, communicate and
collaborate with peers,
colleagues, and experts
anytime, anywhere and can
access a wealth of learning
resources online. Whether or
not a school has Internet
access therefore is another
indicator of how much
technology is being used to
enrich the learning process.
22. Only 13 out of the 100
respondent schools can
access the Internet and
even then only for a limited
time and not exclusively for
educational purposes. Of
these schools, only nine
and eight allow teachers
and students, respectively,
access to computers that
can go online. Three
schools dedicate internet
time to administrative tasks
while another has internet
access only for the personal
use of one of its staff. Only
one school uses its internet
time exclusively for
educational purposes. In
most cases, Internet access
is shared between
administrative and
educational use.
23. Respondents to a survey
were asked to rank what
they perceived to be the
five biggest obstacles to
their schools use of ICT
for teaching and learning.
Lack of enough computers
is the single biggest
obstacle according to the
respondents.
24. Lack of enough technical
support for operating and
maintaining ICT
resources and the lack of
teacher training
opportunities are
considered barriers to
change as well. So too are
the lack of space for
computers and the
general lack of funds for
operations, including
maintenance of
equipment, purchase of
supplies, and electricity.
25. Schools with Internet
access rarely employ a full-
time information specialist
who can provide support
to teachers and students
for online research. A
member of the teaching
staff, the principal or non-
teaching administrator, or
the computer coordinator
performs this function for
the school. Some schools
provide no research
support to their teachers
and students at all.
26. When asked to recall the last
time a computer in their
school broke down and to
estimate the amount of time
it took for the computer to
be repaired, respondents in
42% of the schools said that
it took a month or more.
19% claimed that the
computer has never been
repaired. The two most
common problems
encountered by schools
when computers or any
hardware breaks down is
first, the lack of funds to
pay for the repairs and
second, the absence of
anyone in or near the school
who has the expertise to
diagnose and fix the
problem.
27. In the Philippines natural
disasters are a real and
recurring danger. The
country is hit by frequent
seismic activity and by
around 20 tropical cyclones
a year. Typhoons Ondoy and
Pepeng, which struck in late
2009, were sharp reminders
of the high exposure and
vulnerability of the country
to the devastation of natural
disasters; directly affecting
9.3 million people and
driving almost 500,000 more
Filipinos into poverty.
28. The combined impact of
the storms left almost 1000
dead, displaced millions of
Filipinos, damaged
thousands of homes and
other infrastructure, and
destroyed crops. The
Philippines incurred a
damage bill equivalent to
2.7% of GDP; a substantial
set-back to the cause of
Philippine development
and undermined its
progress towards the
Millennium Development
Goals. The Philippines is
particularly vulnerable to
the impacts of climate
change.
29. Please Invest
By
Giving These
Children A CHANCE
If you give a child a home
you give them hope, if
you give a child an
education you give them a
CHANCE.
Volunteers and/or
donations can be made
through:
Kaibigan
Or
Recycling for
Disadvantaged Children
30. KAIBIGAN
Filipino American Student Association
E-Mail: kaibigan@pdx.edu
Phone: 503.725.2964
Office: Smith Memorial Student Union, Rm M103
Mailing Address:
Student Activities and Leadership Programs
Portland State University
P.O. Box 751 - SALP
Portland, OR 97207-0751
31. Recycling for Disadvantaged Children
175 North 13th
Saint Helens OR, 97051
(503)397-5844
Email: recyclingforchildren@gmail.com
Website: http://recyclingfordisadvantagedchildren.giving.offic
elive.com/
32. References
Music : Bring ME To Life by Various artist, A Tribute to Evanescence
ADB Economics Working Paper Series(2008). Ex-ante Impact Evaluation of
Conditional Cash Transfer
Program on School Attendance and Poverty. The Case of the Philippines No. 142.
Hyun H. Son and Jhiedon Florentino
Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Research Fund. INDEPENDENT SECTOR. United
Way of America
National Information Technology Council, “IT21 Philippines: Asia’s Knowledge
Center,” October 1997. Available online
http://www.neda.gov.ph/Subweb/IT21/it21.pdf . Accessed on 20 August 2002.
Castro, Lina V. OIC-Asst (2009). Secretary General National Statistical Coordination
Board.
Retrieved from:
http://www.nscb.gov.ph/poverty/2006pov_asof%2025jun09/Final%20-
%20presentation%20on%20the%202006%20basic%20sectors,%2025jun09.pdf
Encyclopedia of the nations, Asia and the Pacific, Philippines (2008), Philippines
Poverty and wealth,
Retrieved From: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-
Pacific/Philippines-POVERTY-AND-WEALTH.html
INCOME POVERTYAND INEQUALITYIN THE PHILIPPINES(2004).Mangahas The SWS
Survey Time Series on
Philippine
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY USE IN PHILIPPINE PUBLIC AND
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
(2000). Ma. Mercedes T. Rodrigo. Department of Information Systems and
Computer Science. Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City
33. References
MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF ICT IN EDUCATION PROJECTS. A Handbook for
Developing
Countries. Daniel A. Wagner Bob Day Tina James Robert B. Kozma Jonathan
Miller Tim Unwin. www.infoDev.org
National Statistics Office, Republic of the Philippines (NSO) (2009, May 12).
National Statistics Office of
the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved May 12, 2009, from Census Web site:
http://www.census.gov.ph/
New technology effectively addresses lack of computers in public schools
(2009).
Rhodina J. Villanueva
Poverty and Hunger, 1983–2003, paper presented at the BMZ/GTZ/CEPA/ADB
Regional Conference
on Poverty Monitoring in Asia, 24–26 March 2004, Manila, Philippines.
PHILIPPINES CHILD LABOUR DATA COUNTRY BRIEF (2006).In international Labor
Office Human
Development Report. Human Development Indicator.
Victoria L. Tinio (2002), Director for e-Learning, Information & Communication
Survey of Technology
Utilization in Philippine Public High Schools, Foundation for Information
Technology Education and Development, Commissioned by the
Center of International Cooperation for Computerization, Government of Japan
(March 2002)
Victoria L. Tinio (2004 ), ICT INTEGRATION IN EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES
VICTORIA L. TINIO is Director for e-Learning of the Foundation for Information
Technology Education
and Development (FIT-ED), a non-profit organization based in Metro Manila,
Philippines.