“Your retirement is not the end, it’s your second life. Do what you want with the help of technology,” emphasized Koree Monteloyola, Kairos I.T. Services founder and senior web developer, speaking at the Design Course for Senior Citizens and Retirees last November 18 at the Canva Office in Makati City.
Your retirement is not the end […] Do what you want with the help of technology.
The recently concluded design course was already Kairos’s third free seminar for senior citizens for 2018. It was successfully attended by forty participants from different parts of the country.
While the first and second seminars were an introduction to the perks of and precautions in using the internet, this third seminar was, skill-wise, a level-up.
Imagine your retired or soon-to-retire titos, titas, nanays, tatays, lolos, and lolas, being at par with or even exceeding you at creating posters, greeting cards, and any imaginable creative graphics using the web. This was what happened during the course.
From Creating an Email Account to Graphic Design
After the first internet seminar for seniors, the Techie Senior Citizens Philippines Facebook group was formed. In the time that passed since February 2018, the members of the Facebook group have been consistently active in asking questions and sharing their experiences in using the internet.
In the previous seminars, the seniors had been taught to create their email accounts. For some, it was their first time to create an email account. After that, most of them had already explored different mobile apps useful in everyday life.
Most of the members of Techie Senior Citizens Philippines are productive and dynamic retirees who are eager to learn about the web in pursuit of new interests. Some of them look at starting a new career while some are aiming to start an online business.
These seniors’ diligence in researching using the web led to inevitable questions on learning graphic design.
Exploring Canva
The idea of giving a seminar about Canva, a graphic-design tool website, started from Oscar Esposo, a design enthusiast and one of the members of Techie Senior Citizens Philippines.
In one of the discussions, Oscar asked Koree about using Canva’s mobile app. To give a more detailed answer, Koree conducted a webinar about it. However, technical difficulties made it challenging to have a fruitful discussion.
The idea of reaching out to Canva then sprouted from that experience. Kairos gave it a shot and asked Canva Philippines if they could host the course.
Luckily, birds of a feather flock together. It was always a Kairos commitment to empower ordinary people with knowledge about the web. Giving free seminars to senior citizens is a way of doing it.
As Tin San Pablo, in-charge of Office and Operations of Canva Philippines explained, Kairos’s advocacy prettily coincides with Canva’s philosophy of making design-creation more accessible to and inclusive of common people.
Living up to their mission of “empowering the world to design,” Canva generously provided the venue, food, and other technical requirements for the seminar.
After three hours into the course, most of the participants were already at ease using the Canva app. They already created greeting cards and posters. Most of them proudly presented their outputs in front of their co-participants.
Some made greeting cards for their loved ones. Others created posters for online businesses that they are starting to put up.
Learning Is a Continuous Process
It was admirable to see the growth and development of the seniors and retirees since the first seminar they attended; it was also a humbling experience to witness their willingness and persistence to improve and do more with what they know about the web.
Studying is a continuous process.
Even the people from Canva like Gladys Lacorte, who handles the public relations and communications of the company, couldn’t help but take inspiration from the eagerness to learn that the seniors had shown during the course.
As Dory Guevarra, 82 years old, and the youngest at heart among the participants poignantly said, “Studying is a continuous process. Hangggang humihinga ka may magagawa ka.”