Written by: Aliah Nicole C. Brillante
Photo courtesy of Paul Carreon, Yoshio Lazaga, and Ralph Noche
April 15, 2020 – Students from the UST Faculty of Engineering embody the Thomasian core values of competence, compassion, and commitment as they engage in voluntary works for frontliners in their respective areas.
Initiatives include preparation and distribution of food packs, and raising of funds for the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
One of the volunteers is Maria Allysa Obrador, a Civil Engineering student, whose family prepares daily lunch reaching out to their local church and to the front liners, i.e. medical staff and checkpoint personnel. In an interview, she urged the financially capable to donate to different organizations, local or international, to help resolve hunger and lack of PPEs amid the pandemic.
In Oriental Mindoro, Civil Engineering student Ralph Vincent Noche, assists in packing vegetables for the residents of their barangay. This is part of the project led by their Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials. Noche stated that his mother inspired him to volunteer as she was also a former barangay official, who is aware of the importance of conducting such work.
Noche, together with SK officials and locals, sorting vegetables.
Mechanical Engineering student Yoshio Joshua Lazaga took fair advantage of his family’s connections with a food supplier, and the possession of a personal 3D printer, as he aided in the preparation and delivery of baked and fried siopao to local hospitals, and printing of face shields for the village guards, barangay personnel, and medical staff.
“Other students can take advantage of whatever resources they currently have to aid in the situation,” Lazaga expressed.
Fried siopao prepared and delivered by the Lazaga family.
PPEs produced and distributed by the Lazaga family.
Meanwhile, a movement called “Project Protect EV” was established by Civil Engineering student Erielle Ayuson, together with her high school friends, which aims to provide PPEs for front liners in Eastern Visayas, especially in Tacloban City. At present, they already distributed 600 face masks and are in the process of making hazmat suits. She emphasized that she and her friend, Zoe Capungcol, who initiated the project, were inspired by their parents to help protect their region’s frontliners.
“If a project is for the marginalized and socially isolated, then I would most likely be there. Volunteering helped me be more grounded and thankful of what I have and where I am right now,” Ayuson remarked.
Nueva Ecija’s Doctor’s Hospital was also fortunate to receive assistance from Civil Engineering student Paul Carreon, together with his family and friends. Carreon raised funds to produce PPEs, made possible through social media. They were able to deliver 100 face shields to the said hospital.
When asked about what inspired them to do such work, Carreon said, “We were driven by empathy… The effort is still nothing compared to the work our frontliners are doing every day, to which they aren’t only risking their own, but their families’ lives too.”
Medical Staff from Nueva Ecija’s Doctor’s Hospital receiving the donated face shields.
The aforementioned volunteers have a common appeal to fellow students, that is to practice social distancing, stay at home, conduct fact-checking before sharing any content, and apply proper hygiene. They said that these are simple yet best actions that each one can contribute to the flattening of the curve.
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