Community ImmersionFor over a decade the Ateneo de Zamboanga School of Medicine has been reaching the far ends of Western Mindanao to aid in solving the health inequities in the region and to produce world class doctors that are not only competent but also responsive to the changing patterns in health care, furthermore, it has inculcated in its students the spirit of selflessness and sensitivity towards the socio-cultural and economic differences that exist. Part of the curriculum is the POPULATION MEDICINE STRAND or the COMMUNITY- BASED LEARNING EXPERIENCE. This phase of learning helps the students integrate and apply the skills they have learned in the context of medical practice in the community. One of the goals of this exposure is for us to learn to care for the individuals, families and the community and help them resolve existing problems and prevent them from occurring in the future. There is a world of definition that strives to define what a community is, one that stood out to us is a definition from Wikipedia, and it states that the word "community" is derived from the Old French comunete which is derived from the Latin communitas which means “things held in common”, a broad term for fellowship or organized society. One broad definition which incorporates all the different forms of community is "a group or network of persons who are connected to each other by relatively durable social relations that extend beyond immediate genealogical ties, and who mutually define that relationship as important to their social identity and social practice." Each community is unique in their own ways, geographically, socially, culturally and politically. One other of the purposes of this immersion is the appreciation and understanding of these unique qualities, we are also to study, learn and adopt the life of the people before going into the organizing phase of community immersion. As future doctors and advocates for health, we would like to help the people not only those who go to the hospital to seek medical care but also those who are unable to seek care as they lack the financial capacity to do so, we would also like to extend services to those who belong to the marginalized sector of the community. We would like to contribute to the efforts of the World Health Organization and to the Department Of Health of the Republic of the Philippines through Public Health Services to improve the quality of life of each individual through health promotion and prevention of diseases. The class was divided into 6 groups of 8 members. 3 groups were assigned in Lakewood, Zamboanga Del Sur and the remaining groups were assigned in the Municipality of Tampilisan, Zamboanga Del Norte. Our team is assigned in Barangay New Barili, Municipality of Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte. New Barili is a relatively small Barangay which is approximately 7 kilometers from the Municipality’s Metro Area. It has a spectacular view of the vast forest from its mountaintops. It boasts of a wonderful view of the sunset that seems to melt your heart every single time, it is a place where you will meet warm hearted people greeting you in every place you go. It is endowed with fertile lands that are abundant in rubber, corn and coconut products. This community will serve as our second home for the next 5 years, we are here to serve and give back to the community and continue the vision and mission of our dear school and be true doctors for GOD and COUNTRY.
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A walk to remember...One of the things that can help us know more about our barangay is through ocular survey. At around the second week of our stay in New Barili, we decided to explore some of its puroks. We started with Purok 2 first as we found out that it had a creek near its boundary. We also found out that it was a shortcut leading to the nearby barangay, Barangay Lawaan, where some of our classmates are staying. It was nearly a 2-hour walk, with the daughter of one of the kagawads, Margie, as our guide. We also visited purok 7, this time, with Kagawad Jenilyn as our guide. Since this purok was relatively smaller than the others, we decided to visit of the houses and greet some residents. It was a good thing that we brought one BP apparatus along with us, because most of the people there wanted to get their blood pressures checked. The last purok that we visited was Purok 1. Margie was our guide once again. This was by far the most difficult hike we have ever had. We literally walked through the forest, the paths were a lot steeper, and the sun was scorching hot. We made it home by noon, and we were very tired the rest of the day. The ocular survey experience was very exhausting but very rewarding at the same time. The sweat, thirst, exhaustion, and heat are nothing compared to the stories, laughs, and jokes we shared during our journey towards knowing New Barili. It was in knowing New Barili, that we had the chance to know more about each other. Aisha Manzur LEVEL I ADZU-SOM All good things must come to an end So they said, all good things must come to an end. but this is not the end, this is just the beginning. for this semester, we temporarily end our community immersion with the good people of Barangay New Barili, to return to the school and enhance our ability to further help the community. But before we leave, there must be a farewell party! or "Despidida" in the filipino dialect. To formally inform the barangay that we will be leaving for now. The People of Barangay New Barili prepared a wholesome feast for us. with different variety of foods and local cuisine, all of us are eager to try and taste every bit of the "ulam" or dishes. From the Native Chicken soup, Adobong Manok, And everything else. of-course we also prepared a desert for everybody, The all time favorite, buko-salad. After the eating session, we also have some fun with ball games on the multi-purpose court, together with the barangay youngsters, and not so youngsters. some of us also gave a farewell speech which might trigger some tears here and there, over all, it was a fun activity. We also had a mixed feeling of Separation anxiety, and also excited to go home and see our families. We really had fun staying in New Barili. As General Mcarthur once said "i shall return" Mon ADZU-SOM Level 1 Community Profile PresentationIn the afternoon of October 24, 2014, all the teams assigned in the Municipalilty of Tampilisan gathered in the residence of the municipal officer, Dr. Carmel Mathilda Ladeza. We were there to present the community profile of the barangay assigned to us. We presented barangay New Barili with pride. All the whole month’s work, the ocular survey and data collection, was all worth it. Now we see a glimpse of the beauty of our barangay and some of the people’s problems, regarding to their health, in order for us to be able to help them in the next years to come. We really appreciate the compliments of dr. Ladeza about our presentation as well as her suggestions to improve our output. We took note all her advices and hope to do the best for our barangay in the next presentations to come. Before our community immersion, we thought that all the things that we are going to do in the community is just for finishing requirements, for having grades or for getting the best community award, but after living there and meeting its kind and welcoming people we already had that burden in our hearts to do the very best to help them. Beryl Gulane & Rafshanjani Adil LEVEL I ADZU-SOM All For the KidsOne morning in the 20th of October, as the humble community of New Barili were about to wake up to welcome another day, we were already awake finalizing preparations to make this an extraordinary day for them, particularly for the kids of the day care center. On this day is our scheduled lecture-slash-fun-activity to help the kids learn simple yet essential health habits which can make big changes to them and their families even. It is said that handwashing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to decrease the chances of transmitting infections that's why we chose to make this the starting point of our lesson. It is a tough task teaching young kids as they tend to easily lose focus but that challenge usually puts spice and fun to the activity. It drives us to become more creative and more patient as we need to come up with something interesting for this particular age group. Besides handwashing, we also tackled another health issue which is considered one of the most prevalent yet most neglected problems among Filipinos - dental health. Through the assistance of an anonymous person, we donated dental hygiene and kits composed of a toothpaste and toothbrush and conducted a demonstration on the correct ways on how to brush teeth. The children actively participated in the return demonstration and were very happy showing off their new learning. Such a priceless joy in our heart to see kids not just learning but having pure fun. Among the sea of young happy faces were also some of the kids' parents who were there to join their children learn this important health lessons. The day's activity was a huge success and was topped off with simple meals for the participants and lecturers. All the sweat and effort paid off with the grateful smiles and wholehearted 'thank you's of the close-knit community of New Barili. Geode Allan V. Diansuy ADZU-SOM Level I As we are to provide the help that we can render to our community, it is just appropriate that we should learn all the important things about it as much as we can. We are aware that in order to help, we must have a clear picture of what situation are we trying to help, and so we gathered data from sources that we believe to be reliable. We know that those data will tell us the story of our community.
Data collection proves to be a hard work; It requires patience and perseverance. We went back and forth to many offices just to collect the data that we need. There were circumstances that made it difficult such as the unavailability of the key persons of the offices that we've went into. One thing that has also made it difficult is that some of the data about our assigned barangay are not readily available; we still have to do our own tallying and computations. We've been through a lot because of those data. We experienced going home from the town at night because we finished late in copying the data from the RHU and it was a little bit scary since we are riding the "habal-habal" and the road is steep, rocky, and dark. Although that may be the case, we know we have to endure for great works are seeded from great efforts. Fatimah Efthihar Karanain LEVEL I ADZU-SOM AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. |
MissionWe are all for a healthier New Barili! Archives
July 2018
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