Group photo at Langub Elementary School with the nine Student Mobilization Philippines Inc.(StuMo) foreign student visitors, College of Health Sciences (CHS) students, Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement (CSCE) staff, Office for Corporate Partnerships (OCP) staff, and Langub Elementary School faculty.
On June 25, 2025, Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao (Mapúa MCM) hosted a special session of its flagship outreach initiative, Program H.E.L.P. (Help End Learning Poverty), commencing with a short orientation at Room 413 of the Academic Building and the session at Langub Elementary School in Davao City. As the adopted school of the program, Langub Elementary School played a central role in this milestone event, which underscored the program’s continuing mission to combat learning poverty and promote inclusive, quality education for all children.
Program H.E.L.P. was launched by Mapúa MCM through the Center for Serving Learning and Community Engagement (CSCE) on September 22, 2023, with the goal of addressing the pressing issue of learning poverty, wherein children are unable to read and understand simple text by age 10 as defined by the World Bank. Since then, the program has actively conducted ten bi-monthly reading interventions, benefiting pupils from Grades 1 to 3 at Langub Elementary School. With its second year commencing in September 2024, the initiative continues to uphold its mission in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education.
The June 25 special session served not only as a continuation of the reading initiative but also as an intercultural and educational exchange, giving nine (9) international students from the United States a firsthand experience of community engagement in the Philippines. This event marked the first time that international student volunteers participated in a community service activity under Program H.E.L.P., adding a meaningful dimension to the outreach. The visiting students represented Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, Northwest Missouri State University, and the University of Nebraska, and were accompanied by staff from Student Mobilization Philippines, Inc. (StuMo), a US-based student organization.
Mr. Junneil Cuizon, CSCE Program Coordinator, and Mr. Jeffrey Mondejar, CSCE Program Assistant, conducted an orientation for the StuMo students on how to deliver the learning session.
The session was organized by the Office for Corporate Partnerships – Center for International Programs (OCP-CIP) and the Center for Serving Learning and Community Engagement (CSCE) of Mapúa MCM. College of Health Sciences (CHS) student volunteers Rizza Junelvy S. Birondo, Althea Anne H. Teodoro, Julius Lloyd T. Simene, Sarah Nicole F. Simbajon, and Rana Jhorene B. Cayanong played a key role in facilitating the reading activities, ensuring an interactive and nurturing learning environment for the young learners.
Present from Mapúa MCM to guide and support the event were Junneil Cuizon, Program Coordinator of CSCE; Jeffrey Mondejar and Mery Ann P. Mercado, CSCE Program Assistants; Marycon Delos Reyes, Director of CSCE; and Leopoldo D. Aquino, Jr., Director of OCP.
Through this special session, Program H.E.L.P. not only reinforced its commitment to foundational literacy but also embodied Sustainable Development Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals. By fostering global cooperation and civic responsibility among local and international participants, the initiative showcased how educational institutions can be powerful drivers of community empowerment and social development.
As Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao (Mapúa MCM) continues to strengthen its outreach efforts, events like this reflect the institution’s enduring commitment to building a more literate, connected, and compassionate world.