Monday, July 13, 2009

My Kind Of Good News

My friends may notice that I have been posting entries on a lot of Philippine-centric and sociological topics lately, particularly if they're forward-looking. Reading about economic recession levels, celebrity sex scandals, endless senate inquiries or political ambitions of various presidentiables gets old. It's really not the sort of thing you'd like to read with your morning cuppa on slow days when you need a sign that the day will turn out better than you expect.

It would be nicer to read, for example, about how the regular Pepe and Pilar achieve good things for others with their limited resources. Or how big business makes things work for our next door neighbors. Stuff like that make a good springboard for ideas. My kind of good news.

Here's a sampler of recent articles:

Wanggo Gallaga writes about how young entrepreneurs from Ateneo de Manila University win an international challenge, with their environment-friendly coco tableware. Team Philippines - Karl Santinitigan and Timothy Huelva - were commended for having a green approach (creating products from what was essentially waste material) , and a practical working business model. Their biodegradeable product, Areka! Leaf Tableware, is made from coconut palm leaves. The original product that inspired the modification was developed in India from the leaves of the Areca palm, and looks like this.

Tina Arceo-Dumlao writes about Text2Teach, a program developed to help teachers deliver information to students through familiar technology inexpensively: by connecting mobile phones (which function as media storage) to television monitors. School attendance increased! This program, supported by the Ayala Foundation and Globe Telecom, was a finalist at a recent Stockhom Challenge.

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