Medifund: Possible help for Medical students

We have heard of online fundraising sites to help fund medical expenses but during the second Startup Weekend Cebu, there is a potential fundraising startup that was formed to help medical students who have problems keeping up with  high tuition fees.

The startup which hopes to launch soon a site to raise funds thru crowdsourcing is known as Medifund and it is made up of a team composed of a Nigerian medical student studying in Cebu City, a Japanese and six Filipinos.

The idea for Medifund came up out of the desire of Nigerian founder Jossy Onwude to help a good friend who is struggling to pay for the medical school tuition fee. He combined forces with their current team members and Medifund was born.

The idea is that through crowdsourcing, benefactors, supporters or generous donors will be able to chip in until the financial goal is met much like other online fundraising sites except this is geared specifically toward medical students needing financial backing. In exchange, donors will enjoy rewards including possibly free consultation and the medical student finishes medicine in the process and potentially saving more lives.

Get to know more about their team and Medifund in this slideshare slide.

The first student they are helping out is Kristine Bless of MHAM-Southwestern University and here is her campaign page.

I am hoping that Medifund will indeed be formed fully and (hopefully also) succeeds in the future in achieving their goals so that many lives would be saved potentially by the future doctors that they will help.

Medifund fundraising site will soon rise here.

8 Things You Might Not Know about Senatorial candidate Teddy Casino

The Philippine Senatorial Elections 2013 is just weeks away and I am sure students during this summer vacation are researching on the different candidates as they try to get to know the possible future senators of the country.

When word came out of Congressman Teddy Casino's visit to Cebu, I also grabbed the chance to get to know him more.

Seeing him in person, he looks to be a simple man. He was wearing a blue polo shirt and was pleasant to talk with.

When he was asked by a reporter about projects planned for Cebu, he somewhat reminded the audience that in the Senate, it's more about legislation than projects (and he is right). People tend to forget that the Senator's job is to make legislation and only because of the pork barrel that these projects arose.

He thinks legislation regarding industrialization will benefit Cebu best since Cebu is known to be a manufacturing city in the 70's according to him.

On some people telling him he does not have the political pedigree, money and resources: "...This candidacy is not about me. It's about you and the kind of representation you want in the Senate. It's about what we are willing to do to bring that new voice in the Upper House."

Here are 8 Things you might not know about him:

3. His parents were devout Catholics. Casino was once an altar boy and he once wanted to be a priest or a La Salle brother. His oldest brother was the one who ended up in the seminary.

4. His political awakening so to speak came during his high school days at La Salle Green Hills when he volunteerd for NAMFREL in the 1986 snap elections.

5. He also has a love affair with writing and journalism. He had a brief stint as reporter for ABS-CBN's Hoy Gising and the Correspondents. He wrote columns for People's Bagong taliba, Frontpage, Pinoy Gazette and online newsmagazine bulatlat.com.

6. He was awarded one of the Ten Outstanding Congressmen for 2012 by the Publisher's Association of the Philippines, Inc.

7. He declined a scholarship in De La Salle University to study at UPLB where he became a student leader. Despite his extracurricular activities as student leader, he consistently made it to the honor roll.

8. He entered the UP College of Law in 1996 only to leave it for three days as it interfered with his work in the labor sector. According to Casino, "I said to myself, why spend another four years in law school when there are so many things that need to be done right now."

9. Changes sought if given the chance in the Senate: Lower prices of good and services, good governance, people empowerment, agrarian reform, national industrialization, respect for human rights in all aspects, truly independent foreign policy and comprehensive political settlement of the Muslim and Communist rebellions.

10. He is the principal author of the Rent Control Act of 2009 (RA 9653), Public Attorney's Act of 2007 (RA 9406), Tax Relief Act of 2009 (RA 9504) and Anti-Torture Act of 2009 (RA 9745). He is the principal author of the Whistleblowers' Protection and Rewards Bill, Freedom of Information Bill and House version of the Anti-Epal Bill.

Pre-algebra help needed? Eduboard to the rescue

This is a sponsored post. However, all opinions are 100% mine.

One should not ignore early life education. What we learn during our childhood could prove very useful later in our careers or profession, even in medicine or allied health science careers. One such subject that is very useful but is quite challenging in our early days of schooling is Math, specifically Algebra. And in order to understand Algebra, one needs to have a good background in Pre-Algebra.

Pre-algebra concepts include concepts such as:

• integers
• fractions
• factorization of natural numbers
• decimals
• absolute value
• square roots
• inequalities
• ratio, rates and proportions
• slopes
• basics of equations
• and many more

Remember encountering difficulties then? Well, I do remember some. It took practice and some help from those older than me. But the problem sometimes is, these people I asked for help do not remember already much of the basics since they are not professional tutors or teachers. These times, a reliable tutor may prove useful. 

Your child may encounter math difficulties also. Being part of the Net Generation proficient in computers and the internet, it is but natural that they seek help online. Why not guide them to the right website where qualified and reliable tutors can help with pre-algebra difficulties? Why not lead them to http://eduboard.com/math/pre-algebra/ for a complete study help from their online tutors?

With eduboard, they provide among many other nice offerings:

• 24/7 tutoring services
• assistance with preparing for quizzes and tests
• a comfortable online classroom environment so that learning is fun
• a choice of your favorite online tutor

Still having doubts? Pay them a visit and check them out at http://eduboard.com/math/pre-algebra/. Oh, by the way. Their online tutors also provide assistance for other subjects from elementary to university subjects.

Remember, early life education plays a role in your child's future.

Discovering your potential thru AIESEC, a global student organization

During my early college years in a university when I was still not connected to the healthcare field, a student organization caught my attention. It was very visible in that university and the members always had activities.

That organization was AIESEC.

AIESEC is a global platform for the youth to discover their true potential. It is a non-profit organization run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. When you talk of AIESEC, you associate it with leadership and management.

Watch the video below to know more about AIESEC...

Cool, isn't it? Perhaps you want to join this group. If there are still questions regarding this group, just visit the following links...

AIESEC website

AIESEC Cebu Facebook page

Email: rhyle.sayat@aiesec.net

RAFI, greening back Cebu, then the Philippines

Recent events have shown the vulnerability of the Philippines to the ill effects of climate change. Flooding and landslides have done considerable damage to life and property in various parts of the country. And the effects are worsened with continuing loss of forest cover.

According to the environmental science news site Mongabay.com, the Philippines lost a third of its forest cover between 1990-2005 endangering not just humans but more especially the indigenous wildlife that depend on it.

Luckily, an organization from Cebu is bringing back the green in the environment, taking the lead, not just in preserving our forest but in making them --- the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. or RAFI.

RAFI is a family-based social development foundation founded by Don Ramon Aboitiz in 1966. It began as a philanthropic undertaking supporting the causes of charitable groups. 

Continuing what Don Ramon started was Eduardo, Don Ramon’s son, who institutionalized RAFI, making it a people-oriented, social development organization.

RAFI's vision is “Touching People, Shaping the Future” and it is working towards “elevating lives through a comprehensive approach that champions best practices in community development. RAFI has five focus areas of its programs and services, namely, Microfinance and Entrepreneurship, Culture and Heritage, Leadership and Citizenship, Education, and Integrated Development.

The GREENIN Philippines Program of RAFI which stands for Generation Redemption and Expansion of Natural Resources Initiatives Philippines Program is geared towards the advocacy of protecting and rehabilitating the environment with Cebu as starting point. This program includes tree-planting activities however they are not of the traditional kind.

For one, the program uses native trees for forest development to help restore the country’s natural heritage, native wildlife species and local endangered tree species.

Prior to tree-planting, potential areas are surveyed and studied to determine which tree species would likely succeed to grow. With running as a sport currently popular in Cebu, tree planting activities have been preceded by a fun run.

To ensure that the planted seedlings grow to become forests, post-planting activities and follow-ups like the Run to Take Care were done with the guidance of forestry experts and the cooperation of local government units, volunteers and those who originally planted the seedlings. Others like Adopt-a-Mountain and the Tree that Binds, a social networking approach that gives “tree owners” the chance to communicate about their tree growing activities and progress are lined up as well.

For its efforts in restoring the health of the environment, RAFI has tapped various sectors of society.

It partnered with local government units (LGUs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), schools, youth leaders, hotels, mountaineers, bloggers, and business groups among many others to help develop forests in areas under the program. And many have responded to the call.

To support the forest development initiative, native tree nurseries are established where seedlings are maintained not only in RAFI’s main nursery but also in qualified satellite nurseries in the localities. These nurseries become sources of quality native tree seedlings for the different tree planting activities.

To encourage wider participation of the public in the conduct of seedling production and subsequent planting in the barangays even outside Cebu, RAFI has tied with the Department of Interior and Local Government’s Billion Trees Program. And RAFI continues to look for more partners in this particular advocacy as they upscale this collaborative program nationwide.

RAFI's advocacies including that for greening is worth the support of the students and the youth sector.

To know more about RAFI and its other projects and initiatives, visit http://rafi.org.ph/.

Cebu Blog Camp 3: Being Part of a Community

I have joined Cebu Blog Camp in the past. What is nice about the blog camp is that you get to meet other bloggers. I belong to Cebu Bloggers' Society and Cebu Blog Camp is an occasion where I have the opportunity to meet bloggers outside the Cebu Bloggers' Society. It makes me feel that I belong to a big community of bloggers.

This year, I expect to meet more bloggers and would-be bloggers. It is a holiday and the number of people appreciating social media even more (including blogs) is becoming larger.

And of course, the topics are always interesting. This year the topics center around the theme "Building Blogging Communities".

Included in tomorrow's program are the following topics:

• The Rise of Google Communities - Fleire Castro
• E-commerce and the community - Clarissa Briones
• Community Branding: Globe Tattoo Community - Coy Caballes
• The Extraordinary Individual - Anthony Gomez
• Empowering your Community - Ruben Licera Jr.
• Becoming a Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur - Janette Toral

Be part of a community. REGISTER NOW here ---> http://www.cebublogcamp.com/the-event/registration/

Join the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Cebu Run 2012

The above is the singlet for the GK Cebu Run 2012. Cool isn't it? But what is more cool is if you really get to join this running event on November 25, 2012 with the gunstart of the first category at 4:30 AM.

Perhaps you have heard of GK or Gawad Kalinga already. It is a "global movement that aims to build communities for the poor". There are currently 16 GK communities in Cebu and over 2,000 communities all over the Philippines.

In taking part of this run, you can help more communities and spread awareness of GK's cause.

The run will be held in Parkmall, Mandaue City with several categories like 3K, 6K, 12K and 21K with registration fees of P300, P400, P500 and P600 respectively. Below is the GK run route map:

Be a hero and run for a cause. Run for GK Cebu! Registration is from 1:00pm to 8:00pm daily at RUNNR, Ayala, right across Timezone/Sbarro, and TOBY’S, U/G Floor, SM, beside ACE Hardware.

You may check also out the fbpage at www.facebook.com/gkceburun2012 for more information.