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On Wednesday 14 July 2009, Dr. Steve McKay gave a lecture entitled "Born to Serve the World? Racial Formation &
the Global Filipino Labor Diaspora.", and addressed the migration of Filipino teachers to the USA among others.
The well-received lecture was attended by the faculty members of the Leyte Normal University.
Dr. Steve McKay is an assistant professor at the University of California Santa Cruz in the USA. His main areas
of research include labour and labour markets, political sociology, globalization and social change, migration and racial formation,
each with a focus on Southeast Asia. Read more about the Academic Lecuture on Labour Migration.
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On Monday 13 July 2009, Dr. Rhoda Myra Garces-Bacsal led a Seminar Worskhop on Giftedness at Leyte Normal University (LNU) in
Tacloban City, the Philippines.
Dr. Bacsal is a Lecturer at the National Institute of Education of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Her research interests include socio-affective needs of intellectually/academically gifted, family relationships of the
gifted, educational concerns of the gifted, creatively gifted children and their families, indigenous approaches utilised
by family and educators in nurturing giftedness.
Read more about the Seminar-Workshop on Giftedness 2009.
BALUD believes in the development of the talents of gifted children. BALUD specifically supports
chilren from
rural communities in developing countries.
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Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III, one of the founders of the Balud Project, won back-to-back awards from two different international health conferences
in recognition of his research work on the health of seafarers. He was judged to have the best studies submitted to the 11th Conference of International
Society of Travel Medicine held in Budapest, Hungary on 24-28 May 2009 and received an award amounting to 3,000 USD including a travel grant.
Don, a Filipino medical doctor based at Cardiff University in Wales,
UK is a Nippon Foundation Fellow at the Seafarers International Research Centre where he conducts studies on the health of the workers
of the maritime industry. Read more
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Our Project Associate Mr. Joey D. Mangadlao gave a presentation at the 3rd
International Conference on Culture and Development in Bangkok. He gave a plenary talk on how the Balud Project uses
culture and art as means of improving school attendence and quality education in a rural area setting, thus contributing to the development of the community. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas with participants from similar
organizations. Click on the picture to enlarge.
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Ms. Rutchelle B. Enriquez (Balud Advisor for Education and Youth Leadership)
attended the International
Conference on Mathematics and Science Education, hosted by NISMED in 2008. The main goals of the participation were
to increase our knowledge of science education, which will allow us to improve science education in the rural areas of
the Philippines (and beyond). The visit was combined with a Balud committee meeting in Manila immediately after the
conference. Click on the picture to enlarge.
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 Imperial BlueCube of Imperial College London, a major partner of BALUD received a special award from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 to provide finance for UK students to travel to underprivileged schools in developing regions, and help with teaching, and development as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of Imperial College London. Five students of Imperial were chosen from one hundred and fifty applicants to have a chance to visit the Philippines and teach science to the pupils of Balud Elementary School. Imperial BlueCube is a venture philanthropic trust founded by Steven Chambers, a maths major from Imperial.
The winners taught Balud students various topics in an atmosphere of fun and learning. Topics ranged from learning numbers and calculations to lessons in chemistry, physics, earth science, astronomy and biology. They brought science apparatus, gadgets and materials which were eventually donated to the school. The lessons were rigorously prepared beforehand and reviewed for appropriateness to the learning level and comprehension of the students. The classes were highly interactive and the children did lots of hands on learning. To the delight of the students, some lessons were approached through the medium of 'magic', e.g., a soda cans standing on its edge, and a pinched but un-burst balloon. They enjoyed launching bottle rockets which flew very high as they learned physics. The teachers made use of the beach to teach wind, density and energy. The kids learned astronomy by acting as planets of the solar system and learned chemistry by acting as molecules. Films shown on laptops aided in teaching many other subjects.
The kids were always in awe listening to the lessons of their teachers. They even requested that the Imperial teachers should stay for a longer time to teach them since they found many of their lessons very interesting, informative and fun. The local Department of Education invited teachers from the other schools to observe all the science demonstrations. Everyone learned from the activities. At the end of all the lessons, some children cried and felt sad when they learned that their Imperial teachers had to go back to the UK. The Imperial teachers were not only great mentors but also role models to these young students. As one local parent said—the Imperial College London students did not only bring the gift of knowledge, but also the gift of life, love and inspiration to these poor children.
Go the the Centennary Prize page for further information, and click on the picture to enlarge. |
 On 20 March 2008 the
renovation project for Balud Elementary School was officially started. An opening reception, hosted by D/Dock Design &
Development, was held in Amsterdam.
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 The Balud International Development Award (BIDA) is an annual recognition awarded
during the Intel Philippine Science Fair to an individual or a team project which promotes grassroots science and community
development. BIDA recognizes efforts of young and budding scientists whose vision is geared towards the development of the
local population and whose work addresses community concerns and problems through scientific methods. The Award carries a cash
prize of 100 US dollars and a certificate. The Award is an initiative of the Balud Project in cooperation with Blue Cube of
Imperial College London. The BIDA award for the year 2008 goes to Rachel Labial Bernados, Michelle Manuel Barbon and Mary
Cris Balingit from Gingoog City Comprehensive National High School in the Philippines, for their project "A Comparative
Study on Mangrove Species Diversity at Different
Locations in Pangasihan Forest, Gingoog City, Philippines". Click on the picture to enlarge.
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 The Balud International Development
Award (BIDA) is an annual recognition awarded during the Intel
Philippine Science Fair to an individual or a team project which promotes grassroots science and
community development. BIDA recognizes efforts of young and budding scientists whose vision is
geared towards the development of the local population and whose work addresses community
concerns and problems through scientific methods. The Award carries a cash prize of 100 US dollars
and a certificate. The Award is an
initiative of the Balud Project in cooperation with Blue Cube of Imperial College London. The BIDA award for the year 2007 goes to
Ms. Sunshine Grace Cabatan from the Aurora National Science High School in the Philippines, for the project "The Molluscicidal
activity of boton (Barringtona Asiatica) Against Golden Snail and its effect on the Rice Seedlings".
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 College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila,
The Philippines (August 1-8, 2007). Click on the image to enlarge.
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 De La Salle University, Manila, The Philippines (July 30 -
August 3, 2007). Click on the image to enlarge.
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 Several Balud Project volunteers visited Balud Elementary School
during the first weeks of December 2006. A party was organized for the children, including gifts donated by a large
British toy store, and a Christmas meal. The event was attended by the village officials and retired teachers as well.
The winners of the art competition "What would you ask Santa Claus for Balud Elementary School" were awarded
with medals. You can find the pictures of the Christmas party here.
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 My
visit to the Philippine Islands (Munting Nayon, 28 January 2006). Click to
download page 1 and
page 2 of the PDF document.
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Contributing to the United Nations Development Goals (Munting Nayon, 29 October 2005). Click here to
download the PDF document.
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