The Social Development Units (SDU), through Ateneo Center for Leadership and Governance (ACLG), Center for Community Extension Services (CCES), and Social Awareness and Community Service Involvement Office (SACSI) sponsored a forum on Life-Saving Entrepreneurship titled “Salva Bida” on August 17, 2012 at the Carlos Dominguez Conference Hall, ADZU.
The event was led by Fr. Albert E. Alejo SJ, Assistant to the President for Social Development in their consolidated efforts to come up with a club that creates innovative ideas. He emphasized that we should all be part of the solution than just be part of the problem.
Fr. Antonio Moreno SJ, ADZU President, was also present in the affair and gave a message that encouraged the public to think big.
Evidently a creative thinker, Dr. John Michael Flores Dellariarte, one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines 2012 awardees, was one of the guest speakers who discussed the importance of social entrepreneurship.
He shared the significance of addressing the pressing problem first, and from there we can start social change. This was his concept on building the Halfway House, a lying-in maternity center, built on recycled plastic bottles that were made into cement-blocks. Since the people within that community recognized the need for the facility, they, in turn, were highly involved in building the center.
Dr. Dellariarte added, “We must be fundamentally challenging and morally compelling.”
He was also behind the brilliant idea of coming up with the solar reflectors made from soda cans that disinfect water for safer drinking; the floating ambulance that transported emergency patients from remote areas to the health center; and the yellow boats given to children who used to walk hours to reach school, among others.
The forum was also participated by individuals and different organizations that have shared dreams and aspirations in their commitment of bringing social change in their own ways. The likes of CCES, Paz Y Mejorao Lamisahan Association (PAMELA), SACSI- Quick Response, Engineer team that led the Micro Weather Station program of Project Noah, and Mr. Majid Imran, an advocate of social media.
Engr. Celso Aron represented the team who initiated the Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), a device launched by Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for disaster risk reduction and management procedures during typhoons and calamities. Through the access of their website, one could already foresee the weather for the next hour to come.
Like the Project Noah, a rain gauge, Dr. Dellariarte stated that “social entrepreneurship becomes the new barometer of new market, teaching other people how to use it, and greatness follows.”
The concluded short activity, however, hopes to bring longer and lasting effect to the public that would eventually create a ripple and inspire more people to make a difference for the society. Without doubt, the forum is a precedence of greater innovations to come.
