Cebu Normal University (CNU) has launched a new initiative under the Innovative CNU Assistance and Relief Effort (iCARE) Program called Adopt-a-Student to assist students who are stranded in Cebu during the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).
iCARE: Adopt-a-Student was officially launched last Friday, May 1, 2020 online through the University’s Public Information Office (PIO) Facebook account.
The initiative calls for donors to provide stranded students with basic needs or financial assistance while they cannot return to their homes yet due to the ECQ.
The iCARE: Adopt-a-Student project is facilitated by the CNU Office of Student Affairs (OSA) in coordination with the CNU Supreme Student Council (SSC).
According to Mrs. Gwendelina Villarante, Dean of Student Affairs, there are 131 reported cases of stranded CNU students as of May 1, 2020. As of May 4, 2020, 79 students have already been provided assistance.
She said that the administration became aware of the situation of stranded students through the concerns forwarded by the iCARE Student Communication Center (SCC).
Villarante said that most stranded students reported to prefer staying in the city because of the fast internet connection used for school works and were not able to anticipate that the lockdown would be extended.
She said that other students had difficulty getting a ride home, while others expressed having financial constraints in doing the same.
“Most donors of the program are teachers,” Villarante said. There are also non-teaching staff, while some are friends of faculty members tapped by the teachers themselves to help the students.
She said that they individually called those students who were stranded to identify their location. The location of the students were used to connect them with possible donors living near their area to provide them with their needs.
Villarante said that they are thankful to those people who helped the stranded students. She said that they have been receiving gratitude messages from the students expressing how happy and grateful they are to be taken care of by the school. (JDF)
Cebu Normal University (CNU) educators utilized 3D printers in the University to make face shields donated to health workers and medical frontliners in the city.
Ms. Clare Maristela Galon (left) and Mr. Allan Roy Elnar (right) poses a wacky photo wearing the PPEs. (Contributed photo)
Physics teachers Ms. Clare Maristela Galon and Mr. Allan Roy Elnar, both from the Chemistry and Physics Department of Cebu Normal University (CNU) made use of the 3D printers in the school’s Physics laboratory to make frames used in making face shields.
Galon said that they thought of maximizing the two 3D printers in the Physics laboratory to make Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to be donated to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) frontliners.
Galon said that she and Elnar are assisted by their co-teachers, Mr. Gibson Maglasang and Mr. Carl Patrick Casas, both from the Physics Department, in making the face shields.
She said that they
have been using Polylactic Acid (PLA), a formula used to create plastic films,
food containers, and the like to print the shield frames. The shield frames
were designed using an Auto Computer Aided Design (CAD), a software application
for modelling, Galon said.
Acetates coming from
the University’s Supply office were used as the actual face shields. Galon
shared that they first utilized rubber bands for the retainers but soon
upgraded it into garters with the aid of donations coming from the Innovative
CNU Assistance and Relief Effort (iCARE) Donation Center.
“However, it really
takes time to finish printing,” she said.
Galon said that it
takes approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes to make one shield frame.
Ms. Clare Maristela Galon waits for the frame to be finished on the 3D printer. (Contributed photo)
She said that it was
on the last day of March that she and Elnar had calibrated and troubleshooted
the 3D printer. It was on April 3, 2020 that they finally started producing the
shield frames, the same day the iCARE Ride started to operate.
Galon said that the
printing of shield frames is still ongoing. They have created about 100 face
shields and have already donated 50 to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center
(VSMMC). She said that they are planning to produce another 50 more in a week
to give to other medical institutions. She said that they are also eyeing to
give face shields to the Rural Health Unit (RHUs).
“Pero mao lage, time
constraint,” Galon said, admitting that the time in making the shield frames is
a challenge.
(left to right) Physics teachers Mr. Carl Patrick Casas, Mr. Allan Roy Elnar, Mr. Gibson Maglasang, and Ms. Clare Maristela Galon at the CNU Physics laboratory. (Contributed photo)
The face shields made by the teachers from the Physics department were distributed during the third week of April along with the other PPE’s accumulated through the iCARE Donation Center.
Galon said that going to CNU to print the shield frames at the Physics laboratory is a sacrifice they are willing to make for the COVID-19 frontliners. (JDF)
Cebu Normal University (CNU) has given transportation assistance to the employees of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) as part of the Innovative CNU Assistance and Relief Effort (iCARE) program of the University during this Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.
CNU named its transportation assistance iCARE Ride. CNU’s iCARE program
originally had three services, namely iCARE Student Communication Center (SCC);
iCARE Telecounseling Services; and iCARE Donation Center. Two more initiatives
were later conceptualized and added to the iCARE program which are iCARE Ride
and iCARE Pedagogical Connect.
Cebu Normal University (CNU) bus / Photo by Levy Tipon
iCARE Ride started to operate last April 3, 2020. Drivers from the University’s General Services Office (GSO) were deployed to operate the University vehicles with the assistance of maintenance personnel to ensure safety measures for the drivers and passengers. The bus operates during weekdays, from Mondays to Fridays at 3:00 to 5:00PM.
Dr. Joseph Sol Galleon, Presidential Assistant for Disaster Risk
Reduction, said that the iCARE Ride follows the “No mask, no ride” policy for
the safety of its passengers. He said that social distancing is strictly
observed and that only 15 persons at a time are allowed to ride the bus.
Levy Tipon, one of the drivers of iCARE Ride, said that they also
operate the bus in duos so that the other personnel can check the passengers’
temperature through a thermal scanner and spray disinfectant on their hands as
part of the safety precautionary measures.
“Ako gipanumpaan before ko nisulod sa gobyerno nga moserbisyo gyud ta
bisan og unsa pay sitwasyon ug para man sad ni sa atong kaayuhan ug tabang
nalang sad ni nako sa atong mga kaigsuonan labi na ang atong mga frontliner (It
is my pledge even before I started working in the government to serve whatever
the situation may be for the good of all. It is also my way of helping our
brethren especially our frontliners),” Tipon said.
He said that all drivers from the GSO have a chance to operate the bus
with their given schedules.
CNU has also provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)’s to the
health workers of VSMMC and other external partners of the University through
the donations accumulated by the iCARE Donation Center that includes liquid
soaps, head caps, hazmat suits, face mask and shields, gloves, and others.
Professors from the Physics department have also produced a number of
the face shields being donated utilizing the 3D printers in the University’s
Physics laboratory.
VSMMC is the only accredited COVID-19 testing center in Cebu and is one of the two accredited testing centers in the Visayas. (JDF)
Cebu Normal University (CNU) launched a program to assist its students,
faculty, office personnel, and other stakeholders in the time of health crisis
brought by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The program is called Innovative CNU Assistance and Relief Effort (iCARE). The creation of iCARE was conceptualized by CNU President Dr. Filomena Dayagbil and was established through the help of the CNU Administrative Council and some faculty members.
iCARE was launched last Monday, March 23 online through the University’s official Facebook page.
The iCARE program initially has three services: iCARE Student Communication Center (SCC); iCARE Telecounseling Services; and iCARE Donation Center. Later on, the iCARE Ride, iCARE Pedagogical Connect, and and iCARE Adopt-a-Student were conceptualized to add to the growing list of services under the iCARE initiative.
“Innovation breeds because of a need,” Dayagbil said on how
iCARE sprouted because of the COVID-19 health crisis.
“I am thinking of how CNU can best respond and be significant for
both our internal and external clients as gestures of love and care,” she
said.
“With the suspension of classes and declaration of community quarantine, CNU has to attend to the needs and concerns of the students and keep the line of communication open to avoid confusion,” she added, explaining how iCARE SCC came about.
iCARE SCC is facilitated by the CNU Supreme Student Council (SSC) where students who wish to express their concerns, challenges, and difficulties related to the ongoing community quarantine may contact the numbers provided in the SSC and CNU Facebook pages.
The concerns received by the SSC will then be directed to the Office of the Student Affairs (OSA) or Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) Office and will be forwarded to the concerned offices for appropriate action.
The iCARE SCC has started operating since the launching of iCARE and is available daily from 7 AM. to 9 PM.
iCARE Telecounseling
Services is also provided for CNU students, faculty, and non-teaching staff
wherein guidance counselors and Psychology professors are made available to
those who need a listening ear, Dayagbill said.
“This is one way of protecting our mental health in this new normal we are experiencing,” she said. Telecounseling hotline numbers are found in the CNU Facebook page which are directly connected to counselors/coaches and are available from 6 AM. to 9 PM.
The iCARE Donation Center is an effort aimed at providing Personal
Protective Equipment (PPEs) for health workers who are part of the University’s
external partners like Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC),
Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), and Barangay Police Officer (BPO) or police
officers within the vicinity of CNU if supply warrants, Dayagbil said.
According to VPAA Dr. Daisy Palompon, the iCARE Donation Center is a way of institutionalizing the fund donations of the Administrative Council officials in response to the donation campaign of CNU-CN Batch 1994. Interested donors may check the CNU Facebook page for the details.
iCARE Ride is CNU’s way of answering Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC)’s request for transportation assistance for its health workers.
Drivers from the University’s General Services Office (GSO) are deployed to operate the University vehicles with the assistance of maintenance personnel to ensure safety measures for the drivers and passengers.
VSMMC is the only COVID-19 testing center in Cebu and is one of the two testing centers in the Visayas.
iCARE Pedagogical Connect is an effort of the College of Teacher Education (CTE) which offers free online services to students, teachers, administrators, and parents from different levels where facilitators engage themselves to different stakeholders by answering queries on different areas of concern in line with education. Stakeholders who are interested may register through this link: https://bit.ly/2UAdegP
iCARE Adopt-a-Student is facilitated by the CNU-OSA in coordination with the CNU Student Supreme Council. This initiative calls for donors to assist students who are stranded in Cebu during the implementation of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) by providing them basic needs or financial assistance while they still cannot go home.
“iCARE is CNU’s strategic means of delivering care and demonstrating compassion beyond the norm of public service,” Palompon said. (JDF)
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