At the beginning of 2020, and at the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and until today, some of my FaceBook friends who adore Trump, commented that I
get a life and stop all the nonsense to my sharing of articles, news and jokes of the Chaotic Leadership of our Stable Genius King DJT in handling this pandemic.
I have not responded to these comments ( posted in my blogs just recently), but it reminded me of the following article I posted a couple of years ago that sometimes it is better to give than receive. I am reposting it today in case you have not read it! You can give money, property or your time and expertise!
The first three in the list were my donations and the last one is from my mother, Paz Barrido Balleza Katague( Deceased) of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippines.
The DONOR WALL OF GRATITUDE
1. Money: Last May 7, 2014, Renan del Rosario, 1977 chemistry
graduate and currently one of the advisers of the University of the
Philippines Chemistry Alumni Foundation (UPCAF) treated me with a
personal tour of the new Institute of Chemistry Teaching Building at the
UP Diliman National Science Complex. It was one of the highlights of my
90-day snow birding sojourn in the Philippines three years ago. I was
able to take photographs of the Donor Wall which included my name(see
photo above). The Donor Wall is right at the entrance of the teaching
building just by the side of the guard podium. That day reminded me of
my
student and teaching days (1952 to 1959) at the College of
Chemistry now known as the Institute of Chemistry. I was only 24 years
old when I first taught chemistry to pre-medical, nursing, and
engineering students in the Fall of 1957.
Currently, I
am a Life Member of the University of the Philippines Chemistry Alumni
Foundation. I graduated from UP with a B.S. Chemistry degree in 1955.
Immediately after graduation, I was appointed Assistant Instructor in
Chemistry in my Alma Mater. A year later after I passed the National
Chemistry Board Examination coping 3rd place, I was appointed to
Instructor and held that position until 1959 when I decided to pursue
graduate work in the United States.
The
construction of a National Science Complex in Diliman, Quezon City
started a few years ago which included a new Teaching Building for
Chemistry. The first phase of government Funding was 200 million pesos
and the second phase was 118 million pesos.
In the
Fall of 2013, I had the opportunity to visit the construction site
through the kindness of Renan Del Rosario, the Chairman of the UPCAF
Board of Trustees that year. Fund raisings for furniture in the new
building were undergoing also that year. That year, I also donated to
the Foundation
10,000 pesos ( about $200) through Renan. I felt good
about that donation. It was my way of saying thank you for the
educational benefits that I had received from the University of the
Philippines.( See my name listed in the Donor Wall in the above photo).
2. Property:
Sometime in the middle of May, 1990, I donated several volumes of
technical journals from the duplicate copies from Stauffer Chemical
library that were about to be burned and discarded. I was able to
salvage several volumes of hard bound copies of Journal of
Chromatography, 1971-1976. Also included in my donation were dozens of
volumes of hardbound copies of BioChemistry ,1969-1984. The value of the
donation was about $1500. Shipping was arranged through the Commission
on Filipinos Overseas ( CFO). On May 23, 1990, I received a thank you
letter from Alfredo Perdon, Executive Director of CFO,as follows:
Dear Dr. Katague:
The
Commission on Filipino Overseas acknowledge with thanks the donation of
five boxes of technical journals to the Institute of Chemistry,
University of the Philippines.
Your donation is a
manifestation of the willingness of Filipino overseas to be actively
involved in the development efforts of the country. Such participation
through the Commission's
“ Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino” or “ Linkapil” likewise serves to strengthen the linkages between Filipinos overseas and their countrymen.
Needless
to say, these books will be a most welcome addition to the journal
collection of the UP College of Science Library and will certainly be
useful to the thousands of students in the said university. Best Regards
and thanks you again for your donation.”
3. Time and Expertise:
In January, 1986, I participated in the United Nations Development
Program at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. The program was
for two weeks of consultancy ( lecture and management of research) at
the U.P. Natural Sciences Research Institute( NSRI). My round trip fare
was paid by UN and I also received a substantial amount of per diem
during my consultancy period of two weeks. It was satisfying to give at
least two weeks of my "Know-how" to my Alma Mater. The program at that
time was called TOKTEN ( Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate
Nationals). Today, it is called Balik scientist program. The program
helps in the alleviation of "Brain Drain" from 3rd world countries like
the Philippines. This experience made me feel good, because I have given
back to my alma mater, even just two weeks of my time in the field of
pesticide research and analytical residues method development.
4. Property:
In the early 1950's my mother Paz Balleza Katague donated a piece of
land (about 15,000 sq.meters) for the Barotac Viejo National High
School, Iloilo, Philippines. The photo above is my sister (Amor
Gregorio) and me posing in front of the sign at entrance of the school
listing the names of the Donors. The biggest lot was from my uncle, Jose
Balleza, older brother of my mother.
Note: I did not
include in this blog my wife and my involvement( giving up time,
expertise, and funds) with the Marinduque International, Inc. Medical
and Dental Missions to the Philippines for almost a decade, because I
have already documented it in my Hubpages.com hub as follows:
https://hubpages.com/politics/medical-mission-of-love-to-marinduque.
Macrine
and I dancing the Rigodon de Honor during the May Flower Ball and Dance
culminating the whole Month of May Celebration of Flores de Mayo in the
Philippines.
Reyna Elena
