Fil-Am nurse supports GILAS

DARLENE Borromeo, a US-based Filipina nurse, clearly believes that "education is the best way to give back" as exemplified by her recent donation to the GILAS project. What made her donation [of $2,000] more significant was that it was made in celebration of her 50th birthday--gifts from family members and friends.

A soft spot for public schools

Initially intended for a Nursing scholarship fund, Darlene decided that she has enough to share between the scholarship fund and GILAS. She was quite inspired that with GILAS, her support can amply provide Internet connectivity to one public high school equipped with a computer laboratory thereby giving hundreds, if not thousands of students, the opportunity to enjoy the knowledge readily available on the Internet.

Chancing upon GILAS or Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students, Darlene reminisced how it was growing up in General Santos City in Mindanao, and distinctly remembered the values and learning she acquired being a product of public schools both elementary and high school. This educational experience allowed her to empathize with today's public high school students in the Philippines. With continuing technology advancement, most Filipino students are left behind, caught between the myriad of problems plaguing the education sector. With GILAS' objective of connecting all public schools in the Philippines to the Internet in the next five years, Darlene is hopeful that this private-led initiative will gain the support of the local government to equally do their share in making GILAS a success in their communities.

A champion of education and of helping others

Darlene espoused her belief in the value of education having obtained several educational and leadership opportunities after finishing her Nursing degree from the Emilio Aguinaldo College in Manila (formerly Marian College of Nursing). When she settled in the US, Darlene pursued a Sexual Assault Examiner and Minority Nurse Leadership Course from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Darlene is a certified Gerontological, Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse and Administrator, honing her experience in over 10 health care institutions. In 2004, Darlene was a scholar of the Christine Todd Whitman Excellence in Public Service Series, a political, leadership training program for selected women in New Jersey who are active or interested to become more involved in government.

Despite the workload, Darlene finds time to be involved in various professional and community organizations. She is currently president of the Philippine Nursing Association in New Jersey and an active member of other professional organizations. For GILAS, Darlene has likewise expressed her desire to join the volunteer group in the New York-New Jersey area.

"We Filipinos in the US have so much to give back to our homeland. We should teach our people how to fish and not depend on dole outs," Darlene eagerly said.

"My children were raised here (in the U.S.) but we instilled in them the values of compassion, kindness and responsibility towards mankind," she added of her family's Filipino upbringing. Darlene hopes that her simple acts of kindness, her contribution to GILAS, will inspire not only her children, but other Filipino-Americans as well to reach out and help uplift the lives of their fellow kababayans in the motherland.

GILAS is a private sector-led social consortium that aims to connect all public high schools to the Internet by 2010. To know more about GILAS, visit www.gilas.org. Donations from US-based donors are tax deductible through Ayala Foundation USA (AF-USA), a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. Please contact AF-USA at 650-598-3126 or visit www.af-usa.org.