Southwestern Magazine | Spring 2019

IN AUGUST 2018, Marie Nugpo ’18, Southwestern’s InformationTechnology (IT) office, the Coalition for Diversity and Social Justice, the Asian Student Association, and the Kappa Delta Chi sorority all received certificates of appreciation from Indag-An Tan-Agan Elementary School inMiagao, amunici- pality located in the province of Iloilo in the Philippines. The certificates were awarded “in grateful acknowledgement and sincere appreciation for [the group’s] generosity and invaluable support.” That generosity and support came in the form of 18 laptop computers, a projector, and various books—a gift coordinated by Nugpo over the previous two years. A communicationsmajor and Spanish minor who is now an audiovisual services specialist with SU’s IT office, Nugpo was invited to attend the appreciationceremony inthePhilippines because she and her family were the primary movers behind the service project.What beganas a simple donation of textbooks, children’s books, and encyclopedias eventually evolved into a complicated plan that also entailed collecting unused laptops, enlisting the helpofon-campusvolunteers,formatting the computers’ harddrives, loading them witheducationalgames,andcoordinating their shipment abroad. Nugpo’s family— through their nonprofit, the Tesoro Foundation—was inspired by her project to build a learning technology center to further serve the Miagao community. For Nugpo, “finally being there and being able to hand the computers off … [and] being able to hear everyone expressing their gratitude and being so hopeful” have been the most rewarding parts of the service project so far, but “poverty is still such an issue there.” By continuing to work with the local neighborhood in thePhilippines through the Tesoro Foundation, she hopes to see positive impacts on the schools and communities there. “Students can catch up with the rest of the world in their technology skills,” she says. Being able to communicatewith theworld beyond the islands will help the citizens of Miagao make “more of a global connection.” For more on Nugpo’s service project, see www.southwestern.edu/live/ news/13065-connecting-the-world. Connecting theWorld “Marie wanted to share this experience with others fromher cultural roots.” —Assistant Dean for Student Multicultural Affairs Terri Johnson 15 SOUTHWESTERN