Further deepening its support to the communities it serves, Converge gathered its employees last August 18 for its yearly support to the Brigada Eskwela program of the Department of Education (DepEd), this time cleaning and refurbishing the Sandiwaan Learning Center in Tondo, Manila, where its Surf2Sawa prepaid fiber internet is a best-selling product.
About 30 employees trooped to the daycare center in Paradise Heights, formerly known as the Smokey Mountain, to clean, paint, and decorate four classrooms.
The Sandiwaan Learning Center caters to the overspill of students that public schools in the area can no longer accommodate. Each classroom carries about 30 students and holds two sessions per day which brings the total number of students in every school year to roughly 200 enrollees.
“Diwa is roughly translated in English as spirit or thought. Thus, sandiwaan can be loosely translated as being one in spirit or one in thought. And this is what Converge hopes to convey through this program. Our employee volunteers are here to be one with the community that we serve,” said Atty. Eumel Ponce, Converge AVP and Head of Employee Engagement.
He noted that Converge wants the Sandiwaan nursery students to have fun and learning-conducive classrooms when they arrive on their first day of school.
“Creating positive community impact starts with small collective efforts like this– the time that our employees shared for this activity will give children an improved learning experience as they start their formal school journey,” said Jennifer Ambanta-Realubit, Converge Community Relations Manager.
Spearheading the clean up and the preparations are members of the Converge Workplace Management and Fleet, and support service workers.
Converge VP and Head of Workplace, Premises and Fleet Management Solomon Joya said that the clean up is a sign of the company’s commitment to lend a helping hand to communities where support is needed the most like Tondo.
“We are glad to be leading efforts like this that focus on the development of communities, while providing them connectivity services that open up opportunities and enrich their digital lives,” noted Joya.
Converge also distributed learning tablets to students of Sandiwaan Center through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Converge CEO Dennis Anthony Uy and Fr.Benigno Beltran, SVD in Paradise Heights, Tondo.
This year, Converge also joined the Brigada Eskwela initiatives of Navotas City and the province of Camarines Sur by donating cleaning materials and paint.
As of end July, S2S is serving customers in 554 cities and municipalities from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
