If you are a college student who has a great idea on health and wellness that will help transform communities, then Unilab Ideas Positive is for you!

Unilab Ideas Positive believes in the youth’s ideas that will make positive difference to the communities they have in mind. Unilab Ideas Positive is a social marketing clinic and competition that gives the youth a place where they can share innovative and sustainable ideas concerning the health and wellness of their communities of choice. These ideas are given the chance and platform to be a reality.

How can Unilab help the youth make their health and wellness ideas in Unilab Ideas Positive as concrete programs that will help communities?

• 3 day marketing boot camp to learn from experts the current social marketing approaches and relevant case studies
• seed money for the implementation of their program which will run for six months

College students from North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao can now join 2012 Unilab Ideas Positive. More communities will now benefit from the health and wellness programs the youth have as ideas because fifteen, yes, 15 teams will each be given Php100,000 seed money from Unilab Foundation for the implementation of these social marketing programs. This means a total of Php1.5 million seed money will be for these health and wellness programs.

This is an opportunity to give back to communities and help them be healthier through these health and wellness programs. Healthier people means healthier nation.

Now on its third year, Unilab Ideas Positive gets even better with a focus not only on positive ideas, but also on positive outcomes—creating a difference where it matters, in partnership with the Filipino youth.

We all want a healthier nation, right? Start sharing your idea by visiting www.unilabideaspositive.com

No SPEED Limit yearly benefit run is happening on January 29, 2012. This run is sponsored by the Ateneo SPecial Education Society or Ateneo SPEED.

There are several categories to choose from: 3k, 5k, 10k and 15k. The route will be inside and outside Ateneo Campus.

This run is for the benefit of teacher development of Batino Elementary School, a public special education institution in Quezon City. continue reading this entry »

The Department of Education (DepEd) has issued memo No. 244 s.2011 DECLARING NOVEMBER AS NATIONAL READING MONTH OF EVERY YEAR AND NOVEMBER 25, 2011 AS THE NATIONWIDE ARAW NG PAGBASA.

Reading is an important aspect of the whole learning process and not just a part of language development.

Reading is the basic foundation for learning. In this day and age when students are more adept at copy-pasting that they pass off as research, the fundamental reading (and writing) skills needed to create original research and documents seem to be rare traits in students.

We want our children to learn to read. We want our children to love to read. We want our children to have fun reading.

So how would we encourage them to do so?

They’d probably argue that reading does not just limit to holding a book and reading this. Sure, reading translates to many mediums like those troves of “comic book” treasures in the internet, e-books, magazines, newspaper articles and even instruction manuals of the latest gadget bought.

Technology has changed the way people read. I for one used to do an all-nighter, an I-can’t-put-a-good-book-down-until-I-finished-reading habit while tossing and turning on my body pillow. All these reading habits have changed because of technology. Yes, I’ve been into e-books several years before the tablets were invented because I read a lot of these in my old Palm Pilot and big Symbian phone. I’ve read almost all HP books (except 1,2 and Deathly Hallows) in e-book format.

In this blog, I’ve written posts about reading:

• children’s books to read like Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom, Grover, Grover, Come on Over, Franklin is Lost
• reading can take many forms like this rebus story
• some teaching techniques

On Friday, my youngest daughter will go to school “dressed” as a storybook character. We’ve been doing this storybook character for a long time when the teen-aged oldest child was still in preschool. Since we already have a costume worn by Kuya from last school year’s drama club presentation, we will just add details to it. No buying since we will adhere to the school’s “recycle and reuse” costumes rule.

Other school activities lined up till next week are: fashion show (for the storybook characters), speech choir, declamation pieces, English Night presentation, Drama Club presentation and exhibit of works related to reading and literature.

Reading is fun. Reading is great.

Now, off to prepare to face a student who asks: “Why can’t I read like my classmates?”

The Millennium Run for Women’s Health is happening on November 6, 2011 at the McKinley Park.

Bravehearts and the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS) will be having Millenium Run for Women’s Health, a fundraising event to that aims to increase awareness on women’s health issues. The registration fees Millenium Run for Women’s Health will help fund the many women’s health projects of POGS. Pregnancy-related deaths, breast cancer and cervical cancer issues are where these pledges will go to.

In the Philippines, over 4,500 Filipinas die of childbirth, around 8,000 die from breast cancer while around 4,380 die from cervical cancer. These numbers are higher compared to other countries in our region.

Among the many causes that doctors see are poverty, lack of awareness about maternal health and lack of support from the government.

The last part being my opinion, so yes, I say YES TO RH BILL.

The Millennium Run for Women’s Health supports the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) which aims to lower mortality rates by the year 2015. POGS targets to improve maternal health in the Philippines.

There are several categories for the run: 3k, 5k and 10k. <- click that for a bigger photo.

Millennium Run for Women’s Health is organized by Run For Change. Click here for more details.

Bravehearts also support The Tour of Hope which raises fund for the purchase of cervical cancer vaccines for the women in far-flung areas in the Philippines.

Schools offering Culinary Courses abound these days like mushrooms sprouting here and there but there is one among the few prestigious ones that stands out: Enderun.

For hobbyists and those who want to further hone their culinary expertise, Enderun is offering the following for you:

• Alain Ducasse Foundation ADF + Enderun 15 month program at the Enderun Culinary Center
• Three-month Pastry Arts Certificate

In 2007, ADF+Enderun is an academic partnership between Enderun Colleges in the Philippines and Alain Ducasse Foundation. Alain Ducasse is a modern French chef who had a hand in running three-srat rating restaurants in three cities: Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo, Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee in Paris and Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in London. Alain Ducasse Foundation was established to combine culinary methods, training and consultancy services.

ADF+Enderun has a philosophy that consists of theory demonstration and practice. The school has international standards in terms of having culinary teaching facilities: hot kitchen laboratories, pastry kitchen laboratory, preparation kitchen and a culinary amphitheater.

Enderun culinary amphitheater where some classes are held. There are two monitors with different videos featuring the cooking done in front.

Chef Marc Chalopin who demonstrated two yummy dishes. Recipes and photos will be posted here.

Workstations-to-students have two students work in a workstation with eight workstation per class.

This is the Restaurant 101 where the students “work” in a real-setting without having to go elsewhere.

Students have internships in various Alain Ducasse restaurants and at the Alain Ducasse Formation training centers in France.

Applications are open for November 2011 intake.

3-Month Pastry Arts Certificate continue reading this entry »

This email landed in my inbox and I have decided to copy-paste its entirety lest I misunderstand some of the important details.

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Japanese university offers scholarships for Filipino students

A renowned international university in Japan is aggressively recruiting Filipino students and beefing up its international student profile. Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) will provide qualifying Filipino students scholarships to pursue international degrees on its campus in Beppu, Oita Japan. APU belongs to the esteemed school system of the Ritsumeikan Academy, of which Ritsumeikan University and other primary, junior and senior high schools are integral institutions.

“Among the over 90 nationalities currently enrolled in APU, many Filipinos have successfully and consistently received 100% tuition reduction scholarships,” says David Evans, APU Admissions Counselor.

Representatives from APU will conduct an information session on October 1 at Dusit Thani Hotel between 10 am and 12 pm to meet Filipino students who wish to earn international degrees, and to explain to participants about the school and its programs, admissions policies and procedures, as well as scholarship opportunities. APU alumni and current students will also be there share their University experiences. Registration is free.

APU offers degree programs in International Business and a range of Social Sciences at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Degree programs in the undergraduate are taught using a bilingual system. International students typically enter on an English basis (although students can also enter on a Japanese basis) and for the first year of undergraduate study, they will learn the Japanese language. In short, there is no need to know Japanese to enter APU, students study for their degree in English, but will also learn Japanese once they are there. Proficiency in both languages prepares students to take their courses in either English or Japanese when they reach third and fourth year of studying. Meanwhile, degree programs at the graduate level are taught exclusively in English.

Minimum requirement for qualification to APU undergraduate programs is completion of K-12 education or an International Baccalaureate, or completion of at least second year college courses. For the graduate programs, completion of at least 16 years of education is required.

Currently, there are 25 Filipino students on campus, and 21 have since finished their courses. The enrolment ratio of local to foreign students is 53% Japanese is to 47% international students making the university one of the most international and multicultural campuses in the world.

Information about APU may be accessed through its website at www.apu.ac.jp. For registration inquiries, contact 782-5599 or email sidnro09@apu.ac.jp.

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Please help spread this information so that it reaches deserving students. Thank you!