THE Davao Doctors College Inc., (DDC) eyes to set up more projects providing assistance to elementary students in the House of Hope.
DDC has donated items for the operation at the House of Hope inside the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) on December 5 as part of its corporate social responsibility.
DDC president and chief executive officer Miguel Soledad said they have signed a partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) Davao City Division and SPMC, supporting the facilities of the 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 and the DDC has donated four air-condition units, two bookshelves, 40 T-shirts for children, and six shoe racks.
Soledad told SunStar Davao that their school is looking for a continuing partnership with DepEd that will go beyond supporting healthcare facilities with material things.
"We start of the philosophy of the school, which is expressed in Latin phrase estimanus vitamin or we value life. Life is too valuable to be taken for granted," Soledad said.
For the past years, Soledad said, when the founders of the DDC and the Davao Doctors Hospital started to walk their career pathways, they decided that they are going to do a health care precisely because life should be taken care. He added that the school wants to achieve its philosophy.
"We are giving assistance to DepEd because we are academic institution. We can be anywhere. We decided to focus with DepEd and also other healthcare facilities like the SPMC, that's [why] we are here at the House of Hope," Soledad said.
Soledad said the items donated are for the use of the cancer-stricken pupils of the 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 DDC is extension, which means creating an impact beyond physical gains of the school and fulfilling what is part of their social responsibility.
Aside from the donations, the DDC with the DepEd and the SPMC also held a Christmas Party for the cancer-stricken pupils of the House of Hope.
"In occasions like this, we make sure that the school becomes a healthy place and the environment is pleasant. We also provided medicines need for the school," he said.
Soledad said hopefully, the school will expand their engagement following the same philosophy. He added that DDC is looking forward to more teamwork between their faculty and the faculty of the DepEd in the future.