The making of plant labels for the Garden NB. And just like that, we’re ready for harvest! The Garden Ni Bulilit (NB) is a project spearheaded by the 8 medical students and made to reality by the citizens of the community to fight malnutrition in New Barili. The communal garden is situated in close proximity to the daycare center to fortify the 100-days feeding program. With the amazing community efforts, the Garden became bountiful! Everyone in the barangay may harvest to add nutritious produce in their meals especially for young growing kids!
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Team New Barili has re-launched the DUNK-A-BOTTLE campaign in the barangay level. This project, sponsored by UNILAB and well-supported by the barangay officials headed by Melecia Pardo, aims to make reducing, reusing and recycling more fun and effective! It’s a big hit in all age groups! All proceeds from the sale of the recyclables will go to the barangay funds. Grab a plastic bottle and shoot! 3 points for Solid Waste Management! This event is the brainchild of Team New Barili. The school exists to provide solutions to the health problems of the people and community in Western Mindanao. To ensure sustainability in quality health services provided by the barangay health station while at the same time promoting physical activity as a vital part for the fight and prevention of hypertension, the Team NB came up with the Heart Run- A Benefit Run. It also became the perfect platform to launch in the municipality our Dunk-A-Bottle Campaign - a fun way to reuse, reduce and recycle! And lastly, it was the perfect crowd to introduce the locally-sourced cassava products made by the women of the rural improvement club of barangay New Barili. Healthy snacks all around! This event was made possible by the Tampilisan Municipal Health Officer Dr. Carmel Mathilda Ladeza, Honorable Mayor Angeles Carloto II, the officials of the Local Government Unit of Tampilisan and the Barangay Officials of New Barili headed by Ms. Melecia Pardo. In coordination with the Tampilisan Municipal Police Station (headed by Chief Sagan) and The Bureau of Fire Protection. With the help of Team Molos and Team Lawaan (who are also level 4 medical students), the newly immersed 48 level 1 medical students of the Ateneo School of Medicine and Mr. Jaime and Mrs. Gemma Larato. Sponsored by Beams Spring Water, Safety Enterprises and SMQ marketing. And the enthusiastic participation of the government offices, the residents of New Barili, the faculty and students of Tampilisan National Highschool (headed by Mr. Cababat), Tampilisan Central School (headed by Mr. Gumela) and Jose Rizal Memorial University (Headed by Dr. Subong). TO EVERYONE WHO RAN FOR THEIR HEART, THANK YOU! #TampiHeartRun2018 from Cess Que on Vimeo. A painter cannot be a painter without his paint and brush. In order to create a canvas, he needs his materials to create beautiful pictures. Without those, a painter is just another stranger. Likewise, a Barangay Health Station (BHS) cannot be a Barangay Health Station without its facilities. Without those, it is just another building. The services which are available cannot be maximized. Months have passed since the state of the BHS was given some attention and through the collaboration of the medical students and the barangay council, the first step to its rehabilitation has finally been taken. The barangay was able to allot some funds to start the construction. As of the moment, the comfort room and the sink are the only structures that were made due to financial constriction; however, both parties are still actively looking for ways to accumulate enough resources to complete the rehabilitation. In the coming months, together with the community, we will continue to slowly build it and use it to its full potential. It will house the health needs of the community and become the center of health promotion in Barangay New Barili, Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte. Ft Som-IV A communal garden has long been a dream of the group for the barangay. This project, we believe, will address malnutrition among families by enabling them to serve and eat healthy meals using homegrown organic vegetables. It will also allow them to cut their expenses by growing their own food. That way, they can spend their money on other necessities such as healthcare. The benefits of a communal garden is likely to extend beyond food security and health. Family and social relationships can also be strengthened since the members of the community provide advice and support to help overcome challenges and all receive the benefits the gardening project offers. During our last exposure, we presented the proposal for an extension of the communal garden to the barangay council. A 500 square meter land just behind the day care was allotted, along with their full support for the cause. This exposure, we were able to talk to Mr. Larry Lumosad, a resident from our barangay who has won several awards due to his farming expertise. He has been recognized not only in a regional scale, but nationally as well. He expressed his willingness to help out in the making of the communal garden since it would also be for the benefit of the barangay and an opportunity for the residents to learn about organic gardening. He advised us to do seeding in his greenhouse rather than plant the seeds directly in the garden. So we gathered up all the seeds that we have solicited and we went to his greenhouse to start planting. It was such a fun experience for all of us because it was our first time to see an actual greenhouse. We put seeds of bell pepper, okra, eggplant, tomatoes, and pechay in different trays. The mung beans, squash and cassava were to be planted directly on the soil of the garden, while the others seeds were reserved to be planted some other time on its suited season. cause after all, Sir Larry knew best. Three weeks later, and the seeds have finally grown into small plants. We informed the community residents beforehand that it was time to start gardening. Everybody was so participative and eager to contribute, bringing with them their share of kawayan to help in fencing and beautifying the garden. And so the planting and sowing and constructing began. The men of the group were working on the fence and carrying heavy loads, while the women did the land preparation and planting. The different plants were and seeds were divided amongst 5 groups, and they were appointed to take care of their own part in garden. It was such a beautiful sight to see-- their smiles, their cooperation, their laughs on occasional jokes being made. Their concern for our dirty clothes and hands trying to help. It made us feel truly blessed to be around such beautiful and kind people. Overall, around 100 residents were able to contribute to the success of Garden N.B. A communal garden may seem like a simple project, but it goes a long way towards eliminating malnutrition and allowing avenues for livelihood among families in our beloved community. Aisha Som-IV Annually, the Team NB has been celebrating World Toilet Day since the launching of Team NB’s “Bayanihan sa Palikuran” Program. For the past years, the Team observed the World Toilet Day, which is celebrated every 19th of November, by distributing a total of 60 water-sealed toilet bowls to households who did not have any proper toilet facility. Other activities included were proper sanitation school campaign, Handwashing Campaign, Day Care Kids Day, Mr. and Ms. Clean Earth and series of lectures. This year, the team decided for a School-Wide Sanitation Campaign held on November 20 in New Barili Elementary School, which was, by the way, a day later than the supposed World Toilet Day in order to bring it to a school day. The campaign was composed of synchronized room-to-room Lectures and fun games. The first in the list was the lecture on proper Toilet Facility and its importance. It was partnered with on-the-spot poster making contest. The kids surely had an amazing time showcasing their creativity and artistic side. Next lecture was about Handwashing and its 5 moments. As always, a Handwashing demonstration was done, to the tune of the popular nursery rhyme “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. Another activity was the chorus singing of a Sanitation jingle. To maximize the time and effort of all parties, there was also a lecture on Proper Waste Segregation and a fun game of simulating waste segragation. And last but not the least, the NB Team aimed for a striking experience thus a human formation of the word “TOILET” was organized as the highlight of the event, with everyone in squatting position to emphasize on the #bigsquat in commemoration of the World Toilet Day. Yet again, it was a great feeling to witness the smiles of the children and we felt more inspired to do the things that we do knowing that our activities painted those smiles. We had so much fun interacting with the kid and we hope that their generation will stop the chain of open defecation in the community and promote proper health sanitation. Shah Som-IV With the alarming number of crimes related to drug addicts lurking in our country, the government made its move to find solutions and fight crimes and help addicts to find their way back to a healthy life. The Health Unit together with the Municipal Police Office joined hands to help keep our Municipality HEALTHY and SAFE. The Municipal Police Office submitted names of drug addict who surrendered to their office and are willing to undergo rehabilitation. The role of the health team is to do screening test to grade the level of addiction to classify whether they need a higher course of rehabilitation in a higher facility. Scheduled screening test was made, and we, the medical students were thought and trained by our MHO to do the job. Let’s help keep our Municipality HEALTHY and SAFE! Rafshan Som-IV Just as committed as our colleagues in medical school, the Team NB shares the passion of the school towards community health. We are being prepared and trained to be the doctors bound to help the society through health literacy and health awareness aside from saving lives through the clinical aspect. Another very important good news was chosen by the team to deliver to the community. We conducted multiple lectures entitled “Cervical Cancer and its Screening” to selected schools in the municipality. So far, we have covered were Camul Elementary School, Tampiisan Central School, Tampilisan National High School and the Jose Rizal Memorial State University-Tampilisan Campus. The said lecture also promoted the free Cervical Cancer Screening of Tampilisan Rural Heath Unit. The aim of the lecture was to increase the uptake of cervical cancer screening through the recently launched Visual Inspection of the Cervix using 4% Acetic Acid (VIA) screening. We were happy and overwhelmed by the positive feedback that we received from all the teachers in every school as there were many teachers, more than what we expected, who listed for appointments. In a nutshell, we dream of unity of all women, not just in our barangay, but all over the world, and fight like a girl, to end the deaths of women caused by cervical cancer. The free health services offered by the government can be maximized if everyone will be educated of its implementation. And that is where our challenge lies as doctors for the community, to educate and achieve health for all. Shah Som-IV The risk of high blood pressure increases with age, but getting some exercise can make a big difference. And for hypertensives exercise can help you control it. Regular physical activity makes the heart stronger. A stronger heart can pump more blood with less effort. If the heart can work less to pump, the force on the arteries decreases, lowering one's blood pressure. Becoming more active can lower one's systolic blood pressure by an average of 4 to 9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). That's as good as some blood pressure medications. For some people, getting some exercise is enough to reduce the need for blood pressure medication. But to encourage exercise is not easy! There were two factors that made the task difficult:
Even the simple task of going up the LRC 4th floor makes us gasp for air and none of us 8 can run the to save our lives. It was a real struggle to make the whole" change comes from our self" a reality. But we did. Because our degree depends on it. So we force ourselves to get our butts moving. Problem 2: The people in our community believe their walks home are considered exercise. We concede that they are correct. But walks are not enough for our hypertensive patients. And we all know the boredom we usually associate with the word exercise. So we thought, how do we make it fun for them? Solution: ZUMBA! Aerobic activity can be an effective way to control high blood pressure. Zumba means moving fast and having fun! Zumba is generally an hour-long class and the great thing about it is that you can pick your intensity level because there are several options to choose from in each track. Zumba is fun, fun, fun! We made sure that the people in our community can relate to the songs/beat. We led the Zumba too! They saw us jumping and shaking and gyrating and making hilarious "waka-waka" steps. They heard how loud our laughters were, encouraging them to join in the fun. We conducted the Zumba every Saturday's and Sunday's. Everyone was invited, especially the hypertensives. The turn-out was a great success. Not only did we fight hypertension. We also established a fun strong friendship with our community. Watch out world, there's now a new breed of Zumba dancers in New Barili! Cess Som-IV As the world moves towards the age of advanced science and technology, everyday life became more convenient and less physically demanding. As with everything else, though it may be advantageous, it also has its own drawbacks when not put into right use. Humans, as the main recipient of these advances have already tasted its pros and cons. Though life became easier, it also became shorter as many lifestyle diseases have become more prevalent. One of these is the Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and current data shows that 1 out of 5 Filipinos have DM. In line with these, the medical students of Barangay New Barili conducted a DM awareness lecture activity with senior citizens as its target population due to them being identified to be a higher risk population. The said lecture includes the basic definition of DM, the risks attributed to acquiring it, its signs and symptoms, the screening procedures available and the preventive measures. The activity was successful as it was met with much enthusiasm from the audience. To further extend the service, the medical students also offered a free FBS screening prioritizing but not limited to the senior citizen population of the community. This service can be made possible of course with the support of the Rural Health Unit of the Municipality of Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte. Active lifestyle was also promoted thus a monthly Zumba session has been included to the agenda of the senior citizen’s monthly meeting. In order to make the most out of this new technology inclined era, we must put extra effort and pay a few sweat to protect ourselves from being a victim of these advances and become its privileged recipient instead. FT Som-IV First stop after we went back to our community immersion is the hypertension and diabetic summit—a program hosted by the Rural Health Unit to bring awareness and improve the knowledge and practices regarding hypertension and diabetes. 2 guest speakers from our batch were invited by our dear MHO to discuss on the said topics. Registered hypertensive and diabetic individuals from the municipality were all present and attentive during the program. One of the highlight of the program was the district ZUMBA dance contest. All 20 barangays were divided into 4 districts; each has 5 barangays under it. They all came up with creative, graceful, and entertaining dance move. They were also entertained by sweet music and melodious voice from our RHU staff and the medical students. And everybody danced to the groove of “Dahil sayo” Zumba dance craze. At the end of the day, we all had a good time and learned new knowledge from the event. See you HPN-DM summit 2018! Rafshan Som-IV It was a beautiful Sunday morning, as residents from all 7 puroks of New Barili gathered at the basketball court for the quarterly barangay assembly. All 8 of us were busy running about preparing the necessary materials for this exposure’s last activity.
10 o’clock and everything was set and two-time Ideal Farmer of the Year awardee Mr. Larry Lumosad started with his lecture on composting. He eagerly shared the benefits of composting and its role in aiding not only in solid waste management but also the health benefits of using soil with compost materials in planting. Furthermore he discussed the different kinds of composting and how they are applied. This gave the residents an idea that there are more than just one to choose from and there is a method that is suitable for each of their households. He went on discussing that his farm has been using such methods in organic farming and has yielded crops that are safer for human consumption. He concluded with the message “ habits that have been formed by years of practice may not be easily replaced but with determination we can make new and better ones.. it will never be easy but it will be well worth it” Overall it was another, fun and successful endeavor and we hope that the residents of New Barili were able to take home the lessons that have been imparted and put them to practice. Mary Midette Repolidon A communal garden has long been a dream of the group for the barangay. This project, we believe, will address malnutrition among families by enabling them to serve and eat healthy meals using homegrown organic vegetables. It will also allow them to cut their expenses by growing their own food.
That way, they can spend their money on other necessities such as healthcare. The benefits of a communal garden is likely to extend beyond food security and health. Family and social relationships can also be strengthened since the members of the community provide advice and support to help overcome challenges and all receive the benefits the gardening project offers. During our last exposure, the Garden NB Ni Bulilit was started. It was made possible through the efforts of the mothers of the children in the Daycare Center. The garden is located just within the grounds of the daycare center. The mothers are now able to utilize the vegetables that have grown in the garden. However, the area allotted for the garden was quite small to add a few more crops with nutritive value. We presented the proposal for an extension of the communal garden to the barangay council, wherein it will be able to provide not just for the daycare, but for the entire community as well. They expressed full support of the project. The barangay captain allotted a piece of land, approximately ¼ hectare, where the vegetable garden can be cultivated. It is located behind the daycare. The Department of Agriculture shared the same enthusiasm as the barangay council when we presented to them our proposal. They gave the barangay some seeds for free namely okra, bell pepper, carrots, and radish. They also gave assurance that once the stock of new seeds will come in, they will also give these seeds to the barangay. We tapped the help of EastWest seeds, which provided some additional seeds such as mung beans, kangkong, and tomato seeds. The next step towards starting the communal garden would require the knowledge of an expert at farming. Fortunately, the barangay’s nutrition scholar was also an agriculturist and she suggested that the Rural Improvement Club, which she is a member of, can take charge of cultivating the land and taking care of the garden to ensure its sustainability. So, we met up with the group and they assured us their cooperation and willingness. A communal garden may seem like a simple project, but it goes a long way towards eliminating malnutrition and allowing avenues for livelihood among families in our beloved community. Aisha Manzur Adzu-SOM Level 4 Knowledge is the gateway to improving practices; one cannot put into practice something that he does not know. Going with this logic, team NB has been persistent in its educational campaign in improving the health of its community. Among its educational campaign is that of improving the rate of quality prenatal visits of the pregnant women in the community as well as promoting good health among this population through better knowledge and practices on family planning. In line with this, the group has come up with a lecture and open forum session with the women of reproductive age in the community. This session has since been called the “Mothers’ class”, an educational gathering of mothers and future mothers of the community. This mothers’ class has become almost a regular activity of the group during their community immersions.
This time is no exception, another mothers’ class was held inviting all women of reproductive age in the community. It focuses on the monthly schedule of the local Rural Health Unit in coming to the community to offer prenatal services, the services to be expected at each semester of the pregnancy, the benefits of these services to the mother and her child, the common complications and danger signs of pregnancy, and the types of family planning method available. When a woman becomes a mother, it awakens a sense of maturity and responsibility. She may feel the need to learn more to protect herself and her child. The mothers’ class meets these needs by making the necessary information accessible to them and when it comes to disseminating knowledge, good communication is the key. This brings the community and the medical students together, forming a support group where they can also learn from each other and encourage one another. This also develops trust and a sense of responsibility in both parties. Fatimah Efthihar Karanain ADZU-SOM Level-4 A year ago, the last time we were in the community of New Barili, Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte, several steps were undertaken to achieve the goal of building a healthier community with our NO BOUNDARIES 4 HEALTH PLAN specifically in decreasing the rate of malnutrition in barangay New Barili, Tampilisan. There were lots of hesitations at first as to whether these projects, including monthly weighing “Oplan Magtinimbangay ta!”, 120-day feeding, garantisadong pambata campaign, series of mothers class, dental and hygienic campaign, cooking class and Utan na loob cooking contest, will be maintained, optimized, and further developed. But we kept our hopes up and trusted on the will and determination of the community residents to create a better place for them and their future generations. A year later, after spending six to seven rigorous months in the hospital for clerkship and mind breaking formulation of our research protocols, we finally went back to New Barili for a 10-month Community Medicine Exposure with hopes still high that the community residents and core of TEAM NB continued what we've started - and lo, they did. The nutrition health program has always been one of the strength of No Boundaries 4 health plan. The problem about malnutrition was a major concern when we were last here but upon our recent visit to the Municipal Nutrition Coordinator (MNC) and Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) we have noted a significant reduction in its prevalence when we got back. From roughly 20% for the year 2014, 15% for 2015, and now with a 10.09% for the year 2016 - New Barili now ranks number 14th out of the 20 barangay of Tampilisan. We are looking forward for what’s in store for the remaining months of 2017 up till 2018. We are positive that we can reach team NB’s goal of a malnutrition rate of less than 10% for the year 2018. Indeed, building a self-sustaining community is the backbone of the community medicine exposures of ADZU SOM Medical Students. This is basically helping people help themselves, maximizing available resources and optimizing their potentials. Geode Allan Diansuy ADZU SOM Level 4 |
MissionWe are all for a healthier New Barili! Archives
July 2018
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