THE Davao Doctors College Inc. (DDC) donated items for the school operations at House of Hope inside the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), Tuesday morning.
DDC in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) Davao City Division and SPMC, also signed a memorandum of agreement, for DDC to support the facilities of Dumanlas Elementary School in House of Hope.
Dumanlas Elementary School has been assigning teachers to teach at the House of Hope so that children with cancer who are temporarily staying at the halfway house while undergoing treatment will continue to live a normal life and will not lag behind their friends in education. With the new House of Hope building, there are now real classrooms where children can go to school.
Davao Doctors College president and chief-executive-officer Miguel Soledad told SunStar Davao that their campus is looking for a continuing partnership with DepEd that will go beyond supporting healthcare facilities with material things.
"So, we are looking at research collaboration between our faculty and the faculty of the DepEd that we can make use together in the future," Soledad said.
In a three-page memorandum agreement, the campus donated four air-condition units, two bookshelves, 40 T-shirts for children and six shoe racks. The DepEd believes that one way of achieving an enhanced learning environment and addressing the dire shortage of resources in public schools is through provision of resources.
These resources are for the use of the cancer-stricken pupils of House of Hope in celebration of the “Tuloy ang Pasko ng mga Bata” activity. The DepEd shall provide policy guidance and directions to ensure the proper implementation of the "Adopt-A-School-Program".
Soledad said this event is part of their corporate social responsibility. He added that one of the main functions of the campus is extension, which means creating an impact beyond physical gains of the school and fulfilling what is part of their social responsibility.
The school president also highlighted the philosophy of DDC which is the “Aesimamus Vitam" or "We value life” for this event. Soledad said they have chosen the House of Hope as among their beneficiaries to cheer up the children.
DDC is part of a larger conglomerate, the MTIC group of companies, which gives emphasis about governance and performance of corporate social responsibilities. Aside from the House of Hope, the campus had also helped several public schools in the past years.