The iSchools project spearheaded by the CICT is now on its implementation phase targeting different public high school beneficiaries across the country. The objective of this project is to enhance government computerization efforts to all public schools and to make it art of the curriculum. This is a great opportunity for the Filipino children to be more knowledgeable in manipulating a computer and to be globally competitive.
My role as a documenter of the project for the ISCAF cluster is very exciting since I am visiting different places located in either rural or suburban area. This is an opportune time for me to experience the life of those students in remote places who are learning only the theories of computers but could not see the physical features of it. This is one of the primary reasons why students in remote places could not compete to those in the urban areas in terms of information technology skills like encoding, web page design and even simple computer manipulations. This computerization project by CICT would at last eliminate the hesitation of rural students to join IT competitions.
Our group had to travel for around 150 kilometers before reaching ANHS situated at Jacmal, Aguinaldo, Ifugao. I decided to travel with my motorcycle since our Coordinator, Mr. Stardivary D. Caro informed me that we might trek from the poblacion of Aguinaldo going to barrio Jacmal for an hour and a half because it’s a very rough road. I was about to cancel my trip when I woke up at 3 A.M. on Wednesday due to bad weather condition with continuous rain shower. However, I do not want to disappoint our Coordinator because I already assured him my presence in the area so I have to prepare for my journey.
I started biking at 5 A.M. with my helmet, raincoat and boots running for approximately 50 to 60kph to avoid accidents due to wet road and almost zero visibility caused by fog. The temperature is so low that I can still feel cold especially when I was 50 kilometers near ANHS because of its elevated location. I also need to stop every after two hours for a rest and at the same time lubricate my bike’s drive chain and sprockets. While on rest, I received a text message from Mr. Caro asking for my location and informing me to go ahead since they are on the way.
I arrived at ANHS at 1:30 in the afternoon then after 30 minutes, Mr. Caro’s group arrived. The place is approximately 3,989ft. above sea level so normally, the temperature is slightly the same as in Baguio City Aguinaldo, approximately Aguinaldo National High School
We were warmly welcomed by the students, teachers and community leaders at ANHS as we arrived in their school at around 2 P.M. After a short deliberation with the school principal and other school officials, our group proceeded immediately to the computer laboratory and began setting up the computer tables in its appropriate position and afterwards unpacked the computers. After an hour, we were invited for late lunch in their home technology room to taste their native menu for the day.
I was informed that aside of us four members of the group who are employees of ISCAF, a technician from ProfCom will be accompanying us during the hardware installation. After our late lunch, we continued installing the computers for at least three more hours. I actually witnessed the shining faces of students and teachers at ANHS while we were installing the computers in their laboratory. I felt the inspiring effect of our work which is enough to fade away my wearying muscles brought about by 7 hours of long biking and 3 hours of hardware installation. Twenty one sets of computers were successfully installed and checked in the laboratory and after which, we transferred four sets of computers in the principal’s office, faculty office and to the library.
After dinner, our coordinator further advised the group to monitor the installed computers so we have to spend our night inside the laboratory. My ears and lips began exasperating due to extreme cold similar with my companions. We endured the freezing climate for the whole night although the school provided us pillows, blankets and mats. We even broke some paper packages to warm our body because our skin could not tolerate cold even though we have our jackets doubled.
We woke up at 4am in a foggy and extreme cold morning to prepare for our next mission, journey to Mayoyao National High School
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