Tulay Project

02.19.2009 // Blogger Gatherings // Kiven // No Comments

I recently was invited by Mr. Carlo Ople to join a mini anniversary celebration slash dinner of TULAY, a joint project by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration/OWWA and the Blas F. Ople Foundation.

The TULAY project started in 2004 and offers computer literacy courses to dependents of overseas Filipino workers. According to Labor Secretary Roque. “It has led to the empowerment of thousands of overseas workers and we intend to sustain and strengthen this computer literacy program by constantly updating our software and hardware for the benefit of our OFWs and their families.”

Recent graduates of the program spoke highly of the Tulay instructors and what enhancing their computer literacy did for their personal and professional lives. Let me share some of the inspiring stories during the Tulay celebration dinner:

Communication across borders
Lilybeth Dorenia is the wife of an OFW based in Vietnam and communicating via mobile phones was expensive. Through the TULAY program, she learned about Skype, a voip based telephony application, and Facebook. Now, she and her husband communicate frequently than ever before.

Age doesnt matter
Buhay Tan is the oldest graduate of the program at 80 years of age. Buhay said that her age did not stop her from gaining computer knowledge. “I want to learn more and more that is why I still go to the Tulay center every Friday so my teacher can help me practice.” Mrs. Tan has nine children, all degree-holders, with some of them working abroad too. “I want to communicate with them that is why I enrolled in the Tulay program.” Buhay is also into SNS sites such as Facebook and Friendster.

The Tulay project really shows that Information technology can really change our lives and those of our families.