World Vision and partners respond to emergency needs of quake survivors

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Following three succeeding earthquakes that hit southern Mindanao last month, World Vision launched its relief operations to help the affected families of Kidapawan City, Makilala, and Tulunan in Northern Cotabato. 

To complement the efforts of the local government, World Vision provided non-food items such as hygiene kits (bath and laundry soaps, toothbrushes and toothpastes, sanitary packs, nail cutter, undergarments and malong or tube skirt), jerry cans, mosquito net, mats, and blankets, and emergency shelter kits (tarp and rope) among others. 

Volunteers from World Vision demonstrate how to produce potable water using a water purifier. 

One of the evacuees receives one set of emergency needs from the World Vision volunteers. 

World Vision volunteer gives instructions before the start of the distribution. 

World Vision also focused its efforts to address the special needs of children affected by the quake. Interventions such as child-friendly spaces and temporary learning centers provided children with psychosocial support and a safe place to learn and play. 

As of November 12, World Vision has reached at least 947 affected families with emergency shelter kits, hygiene kits, non-food items, and clean water kits (459 in the City of Kidapawan and 488 in the Municipality of Tulunan), 602 affected children with psychosocial support through child-friendly spaces in school-based evacuation centers in the City of Kidapawan, and 354 school children with 2 temporary learning spaces in their affected school in the Municipality of Makilala. 

With the help of generous individuals and companies like Owndays Philippines, J&J, Emerson, Nexus, and RichMedia Inc., the aim to assist 1000 families or 5000 individuals will soon be achieved. 

A happy recipient rushing to her shelter after receiving the kits from World Vision. 

A mother and her son happily check the World Vision kit that they received. 

A kid raises his newly received hygiene kit from World Vision. 

More Help is Needed 

Bringing help to the hard-hit earthquake sites are not without challenges. In Tulunan, World Vision response team had to brave the landslide-prone areas in order to reach the survivors including the indigenous tribe B’laan. 

“Every day since the quake, we had to walk at least two hours to go here and wait for help,” said 5-month pregnant Chona. She leaves her makeshift shelter at 6 o’clock in the morning and goes back at around 4 in the afternoon, depending on the schedule of relief distributions. 

Analiza, another B’laan from a different sitio shared, “We have no choice but to do this. Most of us are farmworkers, but our farms were damaged not only by the quake but by the landslides. It’s not easy.” 

While help has reached some of the quake-affected families, challenges remain to rebuild their communities and to start with their lives anew. 

"Thank you for partnering with us as we help fellow Filipinos affected by the Mindanao earthquake. Much needs to be done and we hope that God will continue to enable us to help reach the most vulnerable children and communities”, says World Vision Executive Director Rommel Fuerte. 

To know more about World Visions work and how to help our fellow people affected by the Mindanao Earthquake, please visit https://wvph.co/DonateforCotabato. You may also call World Vision at (02) 8372-7777 or (0917) 866-4824. 

For more information and updates, you may follow /worldvisionph on Facebook and @worldvisionphl on Instagram. 

About World Vision 

World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families, and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.

Teriyaki Boy and Sizzlin’ Steak Champions More Employment Opportunities for the Deaf

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Beyond delivering a variety of delicious and value-friendly dishes, Teriyaki Boy and Sizzlin’ Steak have strengthened their advocacy of inclusion, diversity, and respect in the workplace through their partnership with communities and organizations such as CSB-SDEAS (College of Saint Benilde-School of Deaf Education and Advanced Studies) and LCDPFI (Leonard Cheshire Disability Philippines Foundation, Inc.), empowering deaf Filipinos with employment opportunities in their stores across the country. 

Teriyaki Boy and Sizzlin’ Steak, both well-loved casual dining brands under Max’s Group, Inc., began extending relevant work openings to deaf individuals in 2018, starting with 10 employees who’ve been working as back of house staff handling the bar and sushi stations across several branches in the country. They look to provide even more members of the community the same opportunity with their renowned local partners aiding in the screening and training of qualified, capable members of the deaf community. 

“We believe in the positive impact our advocacy carries not just for the deaf community, but also for our employees and customers. “Our pilot program of 10 employees last year proved to be successful based on very encouraging feedback from our staff and diners, and most importantly from the very uplifting experiences of our deaf employees. We look to expand this with the assistance of our gracious partners, the CSB-SDEAS and the LCDPFI,” shared Teriyaki Boy and Sizzlin’ Steak Chief Operating Officer John S. Amante. 

The College of Saint Benilde-School of Deaf Education and Advanced Studies is at the forefront of building the Filipino Deaf identity and culture through its academic programs, formation programs, and role in brokering meaningful partnerships between the Hearing and the Deaf communities. Students are offered a holistic academic experience which revolves around personal development, faith formation, volunteerism, and self-expression. There is also continued support post-graduation for advocacy, employment, and social entrepreneurship through personal and professional development programs. 

The Leonard Cheshire Disability Philippines Foundation, Inc. aims to protect and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities (PWD) and access to equal opportunities to education, employment, and inclusion in society. LCDPFI is a part of a global alliance of more than 250 partners from 54 countries providing services and programs for PWDs. 

The increase in employment opportunities is complemented by simple sign language guides to be implemented in select Teriyaki Boy and Sizzlin’ Steak stores for customers and staff to use in communicating with the deaf staff working there. 

“Moving forward, it is our goal to continue bannering inclusivity and diversity in our workforce in our stores and ensure that Teriyaki Boy and Sizzlin’ Steak stores are safe spaces for the deaf and other persons with disabilities,” said Amante. 

Fast Charging is the smartphone feature that will change your life.

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In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, a smartphone is a must-have appendage to keep up with one’s daily grind. But one feature that rarely takes the spotlight, yet very much deserves it, is Fast Charging.

Go-getters would know that the last thing that they want is for their smartphone to slow them down. And the best smartphone of choice to date, that will be up and running as you are is the Vivo V17Pro. 

Powered with 4,100 mAh battery, the V17Pro guarantees long battery life despite multi-app use. In layman’s term, one can enjoy a reliable phone that is versatile enough for quick document work, incessant communications via messaging apps, constant browsing, and even games, without it dying on you just after a few hours. 

The Fast charging feature is the life hack you need, especially if your mantra is Rest and Reset. It’s most important to have a phone that will only require as little time to reset as you are if you’re the image of up-and-about.

Team Dimension Data rebrands to NTT Pro Cycling: Rebranded cycling team will use co-innovated technologies to drive performance through the 2020 season

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Tokyo, Japan –  November 2019 – NTT Pro Cycling, a UCI WorldTour cycling team based in South Africa, unveiled its team for the 2020 season as it rebrands from Team Dimension Data. The announcement, made at the home of NTT in Tokyo, was accompanied by a jersey reveal and insights into the technology solutions driving rider recruitment and race strategy within the team.

The new kit will grace the WorldTour and the sport’s biggest races throughout 2020. It’s a brand that riders will wear with immense pride, while at the same time continuing to showcase the impact that bicycles have in changing lives through NTT Pro Cycling’s work with Qhubeka, which has recently distributed its 100,000^th bike.  

The team for 2020 features nine exciting new riders, to supplement the current pool of talent as the team looks to race with a goal of establishing itself among the top ten teams in the world.

The 2020 line-up includes:

	First Name	Surname	Country	Age
1	Carlos	Barbero	ESP	28
2	Samuele	Battistella	ITA	20
3	Edvald	Boasson Hagen	NOR	32
4	Victor	Campenaerts	BEL	28
5	Stefan	de Bod	RSA	22
6	Nicholas	Dlamini	RSA	24
7	Benjamin	Dyball	AUS	30
8	Enrico	Gasparotto	ITA	37
9	Amanuel	Gebreighzabier	ERI	25
10	Ryan	Gibbons	RSA	25
11	Michael	Gogl	AUT	26
12	Reinardt	Janse van Rensburg	RSA	30
13	Ben	King	USA	30
14	Roman	Kreuziger	CZE	33
15	Gino	Mäder	CHE	22
16	Louis	Meintjes	RSA	27
17	Giacomo	Nizzolo	ITA	30
18	Ben	O'Connor	AUS	23
19	Matteo	Sobrero	ITA	22
20	Andreas	Stokbro	DNK	22
21	Dylan	Sunderland	AUS	23
22	Jay	Thomson	RSA	33
23	Rasmus	Tiller	NOR	23
24	Michael	Valgren	DNK	27
25	Max	Walscheid	DEU	26
26	Danilo	Wyss	CHE	34

Each of the riders were selected with the help of a technology solution that was co-innovated by NTT and NTT Pro Cycling. The solution leverages advanced data analytics that helps the team to select riders, prepare its race calendar, and assign the right riders to the right races. Technology also helps the team monitor the health and wellness of its riders through a mobile application, and business-focused applications such as asset tracking, vehicle tracking and monitoring, help the team to function as a well-organized global business. Together, we’ve created the most technically advanced team in the WorldTour.

 

Doug Ryder, Team Principal, NTT Pro Cycling:

“Thanks to all of our partners, and in particular our title sponsor NTT Ltd. We strive to be the benchmark within the sport through being a performance-driven, technology-enabled team that is underpinned by our unique purpose-led approach in support of the Qhubeka charity.

“Our commitment to changing lives together with Qhubeka remains stronger than ever and we’ll be looking to do so with even greater enthusiasm in 2020. Together with our staff, riders, and valued partners this core belief remains a foundation of our organization

“Our team’s story now continues into the next phase, which will see us use our established platform to aim higher and to shoot further. We truly are a team that was born in Africa but created for the world.”

Ruth Rowan, Chief Marketing Officer, NTT Ltd.:

“We’re delighted to be continuing our partnership with Doug and the team under the NTT brand in 2020. As headline sponsor, we help NTT Pro Cycling to leverage technological innovation to realize its ambition of being ranked among the top 10 cycling teams in the world. We’ve brought together our data platforms, analytics and machine learning and combined them with the NTT Pro Cycling’s expertise in athletic performance to create a truly unique team that is focused on being the best in the world, whilst riding for a cause.”

NTT Ltd. is a newly launched, world-leading technology company comprising the coming together of 31 brands including Dimension Data, NTT Communications, and NTT Security, and forms part of NTT Group. The company recently extended its global partnership with Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) until 2024. This partnership was initiated by Dimension Data in 2015, and the extension of this agreement enables NTT to continue providing technological innovations to enhance fan’s viewing experience of the Tour de France and attract an entirely new generation of digitally savvy fans.

Five years into the partnership, A.S.O. has been enabled to lead led the way in the use of advanced technology in cycling, demonstrating how the use of data can truly revolutionize the sport’s fan experience. This paves the way for NTT Ltd. to use its expertise to digitize other areas of sport such as connected stadiums and velodromes.

You can continue to follow NTT Pro Cycling’s journey on social media via the following channels: Instagram and Twitter: @NTTProcycling

About NTT Pro Cycling

Founded in 2007, NTT Pro Cycling (formerly Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka) became the first-ever African cycling team to gain a WorldTour license, in 2016. With the support of our headline sponsor and technology innovation partner, NTT, we are the most purpose-driven, performance-led, and technology-enabled team in pro cycling today. 

Our ambition is to continue to race at the highest levels in the world cycling, to develop riders to realize their full potential and to inspire and motivate people across the African continent to ride bicycles.

We have bases in South Africa, the Netherlands, and Italy. 

We also ride to raise awareness for Qhubeka, a global charity operating in South Africa, through our #BicyclesChangeLives campaign. 

The hands-on the back of the team race jersey are a reminder that every Qhubeka bicycle is a helping hand up to a beneficiary, which are provided through Qhubeka's learn-to-earn and work-to-earn programs

About NTT Ltd.

NTT Ltd. is a global technology services company bringing together the expertise of leaders in the field, including NTT Communications, Dimension Data, and NTT Security. We partner with organizations around the world to shape and achieve outcomes through intelligent technology solutions. For us, intelligent means data-driven, connected, digital and secure. As a global ICT provider, we employ more than 40,000 people in a diverse and dynamic workplace and deliver services in over 200 countries and regions. Together we enable the connected future.

Visit us at our new website: www.hello.global.ntt