In a community where only two out of eight households have a personal computer, the establishment of the General Trias Computer Clubhouse is considered a blessing by the youth residing within its vicinity and those studying at the Governor Ferrer Memorial National High School which is located just across the clubhouse. On its opening in 2002, the queue of excited youngsters seeking clubhouse membership stretched across two blocks. Now on its fourth year, the clubhouse is considered a second home by most of its 150 members.

“Its great to have a place to go to after school. If we don’t have a lot of school work, we go to the clubhouse and try out different computer software or create music videos. Our school has won a number of awards on ICT design and skills competitions because of the training given to us by clubhouse mentors.” shared Marcus Patam, a senior at the nearby high school.

The General Trias Computer Clubhouse has strong working relationships with different organizations in the community, the local government and with Intel Philippines. Clubhouse members are sometimes tapped to do projects for Intel Philippines. One of these projects was a music video for Intel Philippines’ K-2 “Partner in Safety” Program.

Other than Intel Philippines, the school administrators and student groups of the Governor Ferrer Memorial National High School also benefit greatly from the facilities of the clubhouse. The high school’s campus journalists design and edit their newsletter at the clubhouse due to the lack of facilities and software at their high school computer laboratory. Some of the school’s computer classes are held at the clubhouse to enable the students to use the different tools and software which are not available to them in school.

“We are fortunate that the computer clubhouse is situated very near the school. We have 2,850 high school students and only one computer lab equipped with 30 computers. Many students are benefited by the clubhouse’s facilities because they have a place to do online research and projects like the school paper. Because of their exposure to technology and to internet resources, the teachers notice a marked improvement in the quality of assignments submitted by clubhouse members”, shared high school principal Dr. Prudencio M. Animas.

The Clubhouse also extends its facilities for other activities of the community such as the in-service teacher training on the use of ICT.

For more information, contact:    Mr. Kerby Salazar Clubhouse Coordinator General Trias Youth Center Building Barangay Pinagtipunan, General Trias ,Cavite Email: kerbysalazar@yahoo.com