Products for the future / Rotary International Huge Successes

THE MANILA TIMES
Business Times p.B4
Thursday, October 27, 2005

Learning & Innovation – October 27, 2005
By Moje Ramos-Aquino, FPM
Rotary International Huge Successes

Remember this song from Sound of Music?

What will this day be like?
I wonder.
What will my future be?
I wonder.

The recently concluded Rotary International Zone (4b, 6b & 7b) Institute held at Westin Philippine Plaza was a huge success thanks to the many Rotarians who worked upfront and behind the scenes led by convenors Joc-joc Bolante and Noraseth Parthamand and Organizing Committee chair Bimbo Salazar. I polled some delegates on their wish list for innovative products & services to make for a wonderful future. Here are their answers:

DGN Gus Goh, D3400: Any product that we use at work, at home and for our personal well-being should not be produced by forced labor, child labor or exploited and underpaid labor. The products should also be produced with methods and processes and ingredients/components that will not harm or disadvantage the environment of mother earth and should not damage or deplete the natural resources required and provide balance of the ecology of our world. Products should be made affordable to mankind and must be able to give tangible and intangible benefits to humankind in strict adherence to moral and ethical values.

§ PP Tato Dimayuga, Tanauan, D3820: instant cure for baldness/alopecia
§ Gina Arreola, Sta. Rosa South: forever fertile and young
§ CP Rey Anonuevo, Sta. Rosa South: forever erecting
§ Manuel Sascano, Tanauan: solar powered house and appliances
§ RID David Morgan, Wales: More Paul Harris Fellows
§ PDG Dato’ IR. A. Perumal: More major donors and provision of affordable energy to all people
§ PDG Antonio Puyat, Mandaluyong: earthquake and tsunami detector; cure for jet lag; better economy so more people can give to the less fortunate.

The others are so in the present, they were speechless as to the future. Maybe they are in the same wavelength as Abraham Lincoln when he said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” And Albert Einstein, “I don’t worry about the future, it comes soon enough.”

So I turned back to my Rotarian friends at D3780. Aside from alternative to fossil fuel, cure for dreaded diseases and fountain of youth, their answers are:

§ Dan Dizon, Centennial: credit card for MRT
§ Jun Sacayan, Batasan Hills : Wearable massager
§ AG Jesse Tanchangco, Loyola Heights: digital book and tri-dimensional projector
§ Raymond Catabuhan, Loyola Heights: book that is both digital and analog, pneumatic tube and something that converts radiowave into electrical power
§ Bobby Lopez, Metro Cubao: more efficient processes
§ DS Mon Dacanay, Metro Sta. mesa: milk in sachet to make it affordable to everyone
§ DG Benjie Bacorro, Neopolitan Fairview: We’re too busy we forget about ourselves. We even forget to rest at times. A simple pillow to protect our head and enable us to take short naps, sort of a headrest for all times, anywhere.
§ DGE Danny Espinosa, Biak-Na-Bato: flying shoes
§ PDG Bobby Viray, Cubao West: Use of air and nitrogen as power
§ COS Angel Gahol, Neopolitan Fairview: More Rotarians and Rotary clubs
§ Avelina Ang, SF Heights: soft drink for diabetics
§ Rosario Misa, Loyola Heights: Full women empowerment
§ PDS Badong Viari, Metro Diliman: Cure-all medicine

As Rotarians, I am sure they are not only thinking about the future, they are working towards that future. As John Richardson once said, "When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened."

Some more creative ideas from:

§ Bheng Relatado: 1. A face mirror that has a memory, tell what’s new or different today sa mukha na wala kahapon! Hehehe. 2. A pen that measures blood pressure. 3. Shoes that stimulates vital nerves, kapag nakasuot (reflexology baga!, yung pati mood kayang iregulate)
§ Rico Belmonte: Insurance for anything, e.g., marriage surety bond for infidelity, performance bond for unsatisfactory performance of partner

My own wish list: Donors (Php2,500/teacher) to enable more teachers to participate in the Accelerated Learning Workshop which we will conduct for four Saturdays this November and December for elementary schools Aurora Quezon, Valencia, Betty Go-Belmonte and Pasong Tamo.

Moje is president of Paradigms & Paradoxes Corp and the Rotary Club of Quezon City North. Her email address is moje@mydestiny.net.