Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Medical mission with free Internet access
HEALTH professionals participating in a weeklong medical mission in Alabel, Sarangani enjoyed free Internet connectivity via Smart Bro, a wireless broadband service of Smart subsidiary Smart Broadband Inc.
"Internet access is very useful to us. I thank Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) for supporting our medical mission and for assisting us in our bid to help the poor," said Jean Pierre Dickes, president of the Association Catholique des Infirmieres et des Medecins et des professional de Sante or Catholic Association of Doctors, Nurses and Health Professionals in Asia (Acim-Asia).
Acim-Asia, in partnership with the provincial government of Sarangani, conducted the Rosa Mystica Health Mission on August 11-15 in the province.
"Smart is happy to support noble endeavors like the medical mission in Sarangani, especially since in this instance, we are able to show how our technology can help those who help others," said lawyer Maria Jane C. Paredes, Smart Public Affairs VisMin manager.
General Santos City-based Acim-Asia secretary Yolly Aileen Gamutan said the free Internet connectivity provided by Smart allowed them to email updates on the medical mission to sponsors abroad.
"Thanks to Smart for providing us this free service and for connecting us to the world. I am writing a personal blog in my website about this health mission," said French nurse Clotilde Bur.
Aside from making contributions, Acim-Asia members also get friends to donate supplies for the patients.
Through the health mission, French, Polish, Singaporean doctors and nurses who are members of Acim-Asia and volunteer nurses from General Santos City aim to serve 2,000 patients from Alabel.
Smart, through its wholly-owned subsidiary SBI, is enabling more and more people and organizations to enjoy the benefits of the Internet with Smart Bro, a revolutionary high-speed broadband Internet service that uses the nationwide network of Smart to wirelessly connect computers to the World Wide Web.
As of end June 2008, Smart Bro subscribers have reached some 408,000. In the same period, over 32,000 subscribers have also signed on for Smart Bro prepaid Plug-It, a small, USB-type wireless modem that can be hooked into a desktop PC or laptop to connect the user to Smart's nationwide wireless broadband network.
