Free computer classes for OFWs and dependents
FOR FORWARDING . PLEASE PASS
From: Susan Ople [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 3:42 PM
Subject: ople center press release on this morning's TULAY launch at OWWA
News Release
Blas F. Ople Policy Center
February 11, 2009
Free computer classes for OFWs and dependents launched at new Tulay facility
in Manila
Overseas Filipino workers and their dependents can now avail of free
computer training at the latest Tulay community technology learning center
(CTLC) launched this morning at the Overseas Workers’ Welfare
Administration’s Blas F. Ople Development Center building in Intramuros,
Manila.
This was the joint announcement of OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon,
Microsoft Managing Director Rafael Rollan, and Susan Ople, president of the
Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute during the blessing of the
TULAY-Intramuros Center today. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque delivered the
keynote speech which was followed by testimonials from successful TULAY
graduates from the CARAGA region and Davao City.
Labor Secretary Roque said the TULAY project which started in 2004 has
reaped several success stories. “It has led to the empowerment of thousands
of overseas workers and we intend to sustain and strengthen this computer
literacy program by constantly updating our software and hardware for the
benefit of our OFWs and their families.”Roque instructed OWWA to look into
how the Tulay facilities all over the country and overseas can also offer
animation courses for qualified students. "There is a huge demand for
workers who know how to do animation and this is one area that can be
included in the current Tulay program."
According to the labor secretary, the program was initiated in 2004 when
Susan Ople was then labor undersecretary while he was OWWA administrator. In
2004, Microsoft provided seed money to put up a Tulay Center in Singapore
and Malaysia. Since then, the TULAY program has expanded its reach to nearly
all regions in the country and in Riyadh, Milan, Hong Kong, Taichung, Kuala
Lumpur, and Singapore. Last month, a TULAY Center was inaugurated in Taipei
while the Hong Kong facility which has the longest waiting list of enrollees
will receive additional computers from the Blas F. Ople Policy Center as
soon as it moves to a bigger space.
According to Microsoft Managing Director Rafael Rollan the success stories
of Tulay graduates inspire the company to keep the program going and expand
it to even more locations. He explained that Microsoft has two major
programs to help OFWs, namely the Tulay program and Step-Up program that
seeks to provide computer training to victims of human trafficking.
To avail of the Tulay program, former and current overseas Filipino workers
and their families need only to contact and sign up with the nearest OWWA
regional office. OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon stressed, “This
computer literacy program is offered for free to OFWs, ex-OFWs, and their
families. TULAY exists and services our members and their families in nearly
all regions. Just as the digital world continues to innovate and expand, so
shall this program.”
“Based on our experience with the Tulay program, if you give an OFW family a
computer, a webcam, a digital camera, broadband Internet access and
sufficient training in computer and Internet use, you help empower them to
stay close, be informed and to think global instead of local. Their horizons
and opportunities to learn and earn immediately expand once they cross the
digital divide,” Susan Ople, president of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center
said.
The eldest graduate of the Tulay program is an eighty-year old woman named
Buhay Tan. Buhay said that age should not be a hindrance to gaining computer
knowledge.
“I want to learn more and more that is why I still go to the Tulay center
every Friday so my teacher can help me practice.” Mrs. Tan has nine
children, all degree-holders, with some of them working in the United
States, the Middle East and Europe. “I want to communicate with them that is
why I enrolled in the Tulay program.” According to Buhay’s trainor, Wadi
Mutia, his student now knows how to use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and MS
Publisher. She is also into social networking tools like Facebook.
Lilybeth Deronia, on the other hand, is the wife of an OFW based in Vietnam.
She said that her husband used to call her only thrice a week using his
mobile phone. With her knowledge of Skype and Facebook, they are now able to
communicate three times a day. “He would chat with me in the morning before
he leaves for work. Then we find the time to chat during his lunch break. At
night, we use Skype so we could talk sometimes until the wee hours of the
morning.”
Elisa Moran, a former OFW who worked in Saudi Arabia for 9 years, has a
small business distributing coco sugar and other products. Her application
to sell buco gelatin products at a chain of malls in the CARAGA region was
denied because her labels were not up to the management’s standards. After
enrolling in the Tulay program, she was able to make better product labels,
create her own business cards, and use Facebook as a way to promote her
products.
Paterno Santos worked in King Fahad Hospital in Saudi Arabia for fourteen
years. He opened his own Internet café in Mandaluyong City last December
after learning to use the computers through the Tulay program. His café has
four computers plus one server. Because of his small business, he now plans
to stay in the country rather than look for work abroad.
According to Ople, there are more success stories arising from the Tulay
program of graduates who were able to enter the call center industry or work
in computer shops and those who now own Internet cafes. “Technology has
become the OFW’s best ally especially in these difficult times,” Ople said.
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