A THEATRE nurse at Letterkenny University Hospital is helping young, poor students in the Philippines acquire tablets for the upcoming school year’s blended learning system.
Aldrin Licayan (28) said he started his campaign after finding out on social media that many school children in his native country, particularly those living in the provinces, cannot afford to buy gadgets to adapt to a blended learning system.
Speaking to the Donegal News this week, Aldrin said that he has been ‘blown away’ by people’s generosity.
“I created a GoFundMe project in early June for these people and my story has since appeared on the front page of one of the biggest newspapers in the Philippines,” he said.
Initially, Aldrin raised enough money to send twenty tablets back home but the recent publicity has allowed him to buy another thirty.
Aldrin grew up with his grandmother, Josefina, after his mother died when he was 10.
“My granny was my inspiration. She was always a helpful member of the community and she always told me that it was a blessing to be able to help out other people. She passed away last year and I’m continuing her legacy as I do this campaign. I’m so happy and appreciative that, especially now, in this pandemic people not as well off as us have been given hope,” he said.
A native of Manilla, Aldrin has spent the past two and a half years working in Letterkenny.
“It’s so good here, except the weather. I love the people – the acceptance, the hospitality, the kindness and the respect. It’s amazing,” he said.
After launching the “Distance Learning Tablets for Filipino Youth” campaign on GoFundMe website on June 8, Licayan already accumulated more than three thousand euro – equivalent to some P54,000.
Because of this, he has already distributed 20 10-inch learning tablets for the first wave of his campaign after generating P70,000.
Most of the beneficiaries were aged 10 to 19 were from Quezon, Cebu, South Cotabato and Davao del Sur provinces.
“My priority are the poorest of the poor,” he said.
Aldrin spends his free time and rest days at an online Filipino community platform, where he livestreams to promote his campaign and raise more funds.
In the videos which he posted on his social media accounts, the students expressed their gratitude to him and the sponsors for fulfilling their dream and answering their prayers to have a tablet to give them a fighting chance in meeting the new challenges of blended learning for the upcoming school year amid the pandemic.
To donate go to https://ie.gofundme.com/f/online-class-tablet-for-unfortunate-filipino-youth
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)