As our 6th community exposure comes to a close and the next lays on the horizon full of exciting possibilities, it’s a good time to reflect our accomplishments and how we kept the spirit high to fight diseases and stay on top of our game for the love of the people and the field of medicine. After our awareness campaigns and lectures, information dissemination, planning and brain storming on how to come up with programs specifically on promoting exercise to prevent and control hypertension, finally we were able to come-up with Zumba dance exercise with easy to learn steps to accommodate all ages who will join the weekly exercise. When we initiated the program last November 2016, it seems a breeze to get the community people through the door and how to keep them and encourage them to come back for our weekly session to promote lifestyle modification to fight hypertension. We were blessed to be assigned in a community with active and supportive Barangay Officials, they helped us promote and disseminate our program to encourage everyone to attend. The first Zumba session was a success. Children, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, granny and grandpa’s were present. Thanks to the ever active, participative community people. We are such a lucky group. This exposure, unlike the previous one, we made a little twist. Since it was a season of celebration—the barangay fiesta and the “Araw ng New Barili”, we tapped the Senior citizen club and the youth to come up with their group to participate in the “ZUMBA CONTEST: Senior Citizen and Regular Edition” which they accepted with enthusiasm. In this way, we are hitting a lot of birds in one shot. Promoting exercise and bring joy to the community. “HAPPY NA, IWAS HIGH BLOOD PA!”. Rafshanjani Adil Adzu-SOM Level 4
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Least that we expect, the “Lolas and Lolos” were the ones very excited to participate in our Zumba program. We offered them that we can help them in their practices and they proposed that we practice every day in the afternoon so that they will memorize their steps during the final performance.
The group was divided into 2. Group 1 named their group as “The TIGUWANGGETS” meaning “TIGULANG na BAGETS” while the other group are the “SEXY SENIORS” because it was an all-girl group. We practiced every day, like literally every single day. I don’t know where they get their enthusiasm and willingness to practice but it was fun. They never run out of energy to dance and show that age doesn’t stop them from enjoying and dancing. Then came the final day, September 23, 2017. Everybody was busy preparing their costumes. I can see the excitement on their faces the happiness in their smiles. They dance their heart out to the beat of “Sabay- sabay tayo” and “Mambo No. 5” during the final performance, they were enjoying, having fun and of course very competitive which made the crowd laugh and giggle with their performance. It was an AWESOME experience working with the senior citizens. Until next time! Ciao! Rafshanjani Adil Adzu-SOM Level 4 Women who suspect they may be pregnant should schedule a visit to their health care provider to begin prenatal care. The importance of a quality prenatal care, consisting of at least 4 prenatal visits, has been emphasized in the community repeatedly over the course of the immersion of the medical students. In coordination with the Rural Health Unit of the Municipality of Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte, a monthly prenatal service is being extended to the community every third Thursday of the month. One health care provider from the RHU visits the Barangay Health Station where prenatal consultation is held. Services offered includes, but not limited to, Tetanus Toxoid immunization, weighing, and distribution of supplements. From 41% to 100% rate of quality prenatal care in the community over the span of almost three years, a great improvement in the number of pregnant women visiting for prenatal service can be observed. This can only be achieved through the synergetic effect of fervent information dissemination and the great efforts of the RHU. Today, the importance of maternal health has become more recognized both by the government and its people thus the allocation of more attention to the matter. Mothers are the nurturers of the community therefore ensuring their health is also ensuring the health of the community. Fatimah Efthihar Karanain ADZU-SOM Level-4 The day cheerfully started with the 8 members of the group hanging colorful hand-made buntings on the covered-court where the cooking show was to be held. 7 tables for each purok representatives- ready. Big tables for the judges-ready. Big appetites-ready. We invited three guests to judge our contest: Mr. Ervin Bato, Ms. Rowena Garsula and Ms. Mari Cris Lagare. Mothers love to cook. But we aim for quality healthy meals to be served in dinner tables all across New Barili. A reduced in quality meal are results of numerous factors including scarce resources, competing time demands, busy schedules, daily stressors, lack of cooking knowledge and confidence and an increased reliance on "usual" foods. There are many factors that influence whether families will cook and eat healthy meals. One of the most important is knowledge. We want to show them that they can prepare quality healthy meals with the vegetables they have in their own backyards. The perceived cost of healthy food can be a barrier to a healthy diet. The hosts laid out the main criteria: Pallatability, nutritive value, availability and accessibility of ingredients and presentation. Contestants were given 2 hours to cut, cook and serve. It was a battlef straight out of a MasterChef show. Each purok had 3 cooks to represent them. Each team with their own character and finesse. But thy share one thing, all were driven to win. Cooks shouting, instructing and running! Let me tell you, it was a fine frenzy. All this In the smoky battlefield of firewood cooking! Two hours past and their dishes did not disappoint. Plated with sass and jazz. The judges hopped from table to table while the 8 vulture medical students followed behind to eat the post-judged meals. Every table needed to have go, grow and glow food prepared. And all did. Each table more surprising than the next, it was a feast! The most notable innovations seen were ginataang monggo, the use of gabi stalks to make fried balls and kilaw and fish curry. Yum yum in the tum. Purok 4 claimed victory with their winning kilawing gabi! Innovative, delicious, nutritious and cheap! Cash prizes were handed out, sponsored by the local government unit. Mothers all around realized it can be easy to prepare quality healthy meals by just paying visit to their backyard garden. All they need is trust and pixie dust (I mean creativity). Everyone won that day. Especially the children and their future incredible meals! Eat well! -Princess Shelmerry Dawn Que Adzu-SOM Level 4 “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.” ~ Hippocrate
One of the best way to health is physical fitness, physical activities can be fun and one of those fun things is sports. Filipinos loves basketball, some even say that basketball is live. Basketball is part of the Filipinos Culture, everywhere you go, and you can see basketball courts all around the country. And basketball tournaments are common everywhere, especially when barangay fiestas are near. This month the barangay coordinated a series of activities as part of the upcoming barangay fiesta. One of those activities is the Inter Purok Basketball Competition, wherein it was divided among youth and the not so youth participants. Taking advantage of this, we conducted a short lecture on sports and its effect on health, especially hypertension. In the end everything was fun! Congrats to the winners and everyone who participated! Richmond Rombo ADZU-SOM Level-2 One of our community health plan targets malnutrition. Key to happy healthy bodies: healthy eating! And who else feeds the tummies of the next generation? Our dearest mothers. We incorporated a cooking show to the Mother's class. Community-based interventions aiming to improve cooking skills are a popular strategy to promote healthy eating. No mother has welcomed malnutrition to her household. But reality is never ideal. New Barili, though rich in heart, is not rich in financial resources. And this is the common "excuse" on interviews. Low education attainment, low income and high socioeconomic deprivation are main factors associated with poor diet. Nutrition literacy and lack of practical cooking skills in economically deprived households are important matters in battling malnutrition. So let's Go Grow Glow! Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption is a key strategy to improve diet, yet intakes remain significantly below recommended levels, especially across socially disadvantaged groups who constitute a majority of the targeted populations for cookery initiatives. The UTAN NA LOOB cooking class aims to expose participants to new foods, as a means to increase variety and facilitate adherence to current dietary guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption. With that in mind, our group came up with Fish-Veggie Balls. It's a combination of pumpkin, mung beads, shredded fish meat, fried to a ball of yummy goodness. It was showcase the possibilities of coming up with healthy meals by using simple ingredients that are available in common households. After cooking up a storm to an audience of almost 80 people, we allowed them to try the finish product. This strategy has shown promising outcomes for social bonding, linkage and encouragement of group discussion, whilst also offering a starting point for the modification of neophobic responses towards disliked, rejected or foods not eaten such as fruit and vegetables. They loved it. The children loved it. The husbands live it. It was a success. After the cooking show, they were very much inspired to participate in the upcoming UTAN NA LOOB COOKING CONTEST. Our participant registry filled in a matter of seconds! Let's see how it goes! Princess Shelmerry Dawn Que Adzu-SOM Level 4 September 2 2017-- a vegetable expo spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture and EastWest Seeds was held in Purok 2, Barangay New Barili, Tampilisan. There were displays of a variety of vegetables ready to harvest—eggplants, string beans, okra and then some. The DA and EastWest Seeds credit the success of the vegetable garden to Larry Lumosad, a farmer from the barangay who was named the best farmer scientist in the entire region. He was the one who managed and raised the farm from the time the seeds were planted up until their harvest time. The event was full of activities such as lectures, and parlor games. One of the activities was the educational tour. The agricultural specialists took us, along with the farmers, on a tour around the vegetable garden. Step by step process of gardening was discussed. They gave us some advice that would help us in implementing the barangay communal garden. We were also given a chance to talk to Sir Larry Lumosad, and he was very much willing to help. Before the event ended, the organizers gave us some seeds to help us get a headstart for our communal garden. Some of the seeds were chili, tomato, okra, mung beans, string beans, and many more. Overall, the vegetable expo was a day for our beloved farmers. A celebration of their contribution to the community. We also hope that the things we learned that day will help our dream for a successful communal garden be within our reach. Aisha Manzur ADZU-SOM Level-4 Last September 15, 2017, another Mothers’ Class prepared by Team New Barili was offered to the primary caretakers of each household here in barangay New Barili, our community medicine area assignment for the past 4 years – our 2nd home. It was originally intended for mothers of kids aged 0-5, but why limit the number when we can have MORE attendees; So we sent out invitations to all mother of the day care students, those who attended prenatal and immunization, hanged lots poster-invitation per purok and per sari sari store, and to almost everybody who we saw that day. Law and behold, the fruit of our labor paid of, the number of participants exceeded our expectation. Good thing we printed out extra copies of IEC materials the night prior to the event.
Since this is already our 4th mothers class, we focused on a new but straightforward campaign of the Department of Health to promote a nutritional guideline for all Filipinos, the “10 Kumainments. Witty as it may sound, now every Filipino from every walk of life can find ways to get a healthy and be nutritionally well by following very simple “kumainments” guildelines. With simple messages like “Kumain ng iba’t ibang pagkain”, “Kumain ng gulay at prutas araw-araw”, and “Panatilihin ang tamang timbang”, our respondents are encouraged to eat the right foods, exercise regularly and pursue a healthy lifestyle in 10 easy rules, plus we found a Visayan translation of the 10 Kumainment thus making it easier for the residents to comprehend. IEC materials were also given with the 10 Kumainments and a sample recipe for the upcoming “Utan na Loob” cooking class. Our goal for this activity was to to promote and influence a healthy lifestyle among residents of New Barili specially to mothers or primary caretakers who prepares the meal of the family most of the time, at the same time to address the prevention of malnutrition and diet-related non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and etc. The event was indeed a success, with more than 90+ attendees and counting. The event wouldn’t be made possible without the effort and insight from experts whom we consulted. Simple words of gratitude to ZCMC’s Nutritionist and Dietician Ma’am Dolly Paredes for introducing the “10 Kumainments” and lending us a copy of the “Sustansya para sa Masa” recipe cookbook during TEAM NB’s visit prior to the immersion. To Ma’am Rowena Garsula, Municipal Nutrition Coordinator for always supporting our activities especially towards a healthier and nutrition controlled New Barili. To TEAM NB for always having the drive to help the kids, mothers and dream of a healthier New Barili and to our responsents, who gave us their time in attending the Mothers Class. I hoped that the 2-hour Mothers Class influenced them towards a healthier lifestyle. Geode Allan Diansuy ADZU SOM Level 4 Tampilisan, a small piece of paradise in the tip of Zamboanga del Norte, it boasts of luscious greens and beautiful and warm people. It is a place with immense potentials, waiting to be discovered. No doubt, that in the next few years, it shall be one gloriously beautiful and thriving area. However, it seems that at this stage in their development, this municipality has certain things that need to be work out , things that may seem rather insignificant at this early stage in their development, but may grow dangerously out of proportions and bring about deleterious effects if unchecked and un corrected. August 2017, was a particularly sunny day, which was a welcomed opportunity to visit the municipality’s solid waste management facility or “Sanitary Landfill” situated in barangay Farmington, however, to our surprise we were welcomed by the stench of an open dumpsite, directly placed atop a river, it was manned by personnel who were not wearing protective equipment. In addition to that, vectors were all over the place. Furthermore, the machine that was supposed to be processing biodegradable waste has been out of commission for the past ~6months, which is the reason why some of the biodegradable waste that have been collected has not been processed thus, hence, attracting more vector and parasites. Now, taking into consideration the fact that this area often experiences heavy downpours especially during the rainy seasons, which is likely to result in seepage from the waste that have been dumped in the area thus, contamination of the water directly below it. We are looking at a high probability that the dumpsite personnel and all those living in the vicinity at risk for vector borne, parasitic and communicable diseases, which may give rise in an increase in the number of people getting sick and seeking consult, which also means an increase in the economic burden already experienced by the people due to medical care. Having this in mind, along with other possible scenarios that may arise in the future, all three groups assigned in Tampilisan agreed that something should be done, now while things are still rather manageable. At present the matter has been discussed with the community preceptor who agreed that this would take all three groups working hand in hand with the RHU and the LGU in coming up with a solution for this. We all realize that this will be a huge undertaking, nevertheless, we are all prepared to take a step forward to ensure a safe and healthy Tampilisan and we all are excited to see how things will turn out. Mary Midette Repoldion Adzu-SOM Level 4 The “Bayanihan sa Palikuran” Toilet Sanitation program is already in its evaluation phase. Based from the primary data gathered on October 2015, where there were 27 (20%) households identified practicing open defecation, 20 (15%) households use closed pit privy, 86 (65%) households use water-sealed toilet facility, the results of the interventions are praise-worthy. The program was designed to use empowerment efforts rather than a total provision approach. It uses the voice of the health catalysts (the medical students) in making a difference. The strategy is to ‘make a sound’ using health promotional activities more than providing toilet bowls and constructional materials. A lot of the program’s strategies is focused on information campaign which included Day Care Kids’ Day, House to House Health Teaching, Mothers’ Class, Handwashing Day, Day Care Drawing Contest, NB Summer Camp 2k16, Toilet Recipients’ Meeting, Poster Making Contest (School Campaign), Declamation Contest (School Campaign), Mr. & Ms. Clean Earth 2016 (School Campaign), NB Bulletin board and posters. Nevertheless, the water-sealed toilet bowl provision was the center of the said program, with the prerequisite of having a septic tank prior to releasing of toilet bowls. As desired, the success of the program is through the efforts of the community people, and most importantly the barangay council through the leadership of the barangay captain. The council was the key to the success of the program where each member of the council played an important role throughout the program. The toilet request sent to the office of the provincial governor was personally pursued by our beloved barangay captain so the procurement toilet bowls were not lost to bureaucracy. The monitoring phase is personally conducted by all barangay kagawads through house-to-house ocular survey. To ensure sustainability, the evaluation phase is set to be a continuous process rather than just a one-time evaluation. And so far, results show that out of 47 households who received toilet bowls, 1 (1%) household still practices open defecation, 2 (2%) households still are not using water-sealed toilet facility. The monitoring team, named as ‘Toilet Troubleshooters”, has pledged its commitment towards ending the problem on lack of toilet sanitation and winning the battle is definitely within their reach. Sitti Shalimar Tahir ADZU-SOM Level-4 Being soon to be doctors, we are trained to see patients on almost a daily basis. This time is no exemption, even though we are assigned in the Barangays. This exposure, we are assigned to have a duty in the Rural Health Unit in our assigned community here in Tampilisan, Zamboanga Del Norte. Each communiy group would have one representative per day. Thanks to our recent clerkship exposure at Zamboanga City Medical Center, We are now more confident in dealing common diseases found in the community. Hopefully we can fully utilized this skill on helping the community! Richmond Rombo ADZU-SOM Level-2 It feels nostalgic every time we think of the days when we first came to our beloved community, the barangay New Barili. We often find ourselves smiling when we talked about our past experiences and how we have evolved into real residents of the community. When we first came in, we felt like outsiders, stripping the community people their subunit health center where we first lived in for the first two exposures. We were trying hard to immerse into an organized group of people, intruding their meetings just to get acquainted to key persons as well as the residents, giving intermission numbers every time, asking help to guide us the way going to our destinations, or even just being the inexperienced house workers who find consolations from our neighbors in kinds (giving us vegetables and fruits from their backyard garden), in advices (giving cooking tips using the organic stove), and of course, in cash (that is, credit card equivalent, through the kind sari-sari store neighbors whenever we experience the drought). Thinking of all these and the people who have helped us throughout, we realized that we have been accepted by the community, just as how a new neighbor is being accepted with open arms by the neighborhood. Thankfully, our community has been really kind, active and cooperative with us. This admirable nature is what makes our community really special that it is never hard to come back to Barangay New Barili. It has been almost a year since we were in New Barili due to our medical clerkship. After the mayhem of being clerks in the hospital everyday for the past 6 months plus (counting our duty paybacks), our preparations for the coming community exposure has never been as refreshing as ever. (What a way to start of a semester). We planned many things on top of our CHPs. Most of the planning were really focused on making our stay worthwhile and worth living in. So we held multiple meetings just to get everything as right as possible. We took some time brainstorming and really thought of our options on things like giving our Nanay Rosing the house renovation that she so deserve (we live at the 2nd floor of her house for FREE). Our budget plan may not be as liberate, but we felt that the kindness of our Nanay Rosing cannot be repayed by any cash amount so might as well give her a gift in the form of house renovation. It is a win-win situation in a way because we will also be enjoying the new ceiling of our house, replacing the old cartons and the ‘trapal’ which were supposed to help deflect the heat but unfortunately to no avail. We endured the heat from our metal roof for three consecutive exposures and at last, we have decided to make things better not just for us, but also for our beloved Nanay Rosing, the owner of the house. We also had the house installed double walling to somehow repel the most varied insects we have ever encountered, from the smallest to biggest mosquitoes and insects that we have never seen before. Other plans were the usual like the future projects, talks with key persons, solicited advices for our CHPs, groceries and canvassing of the essentials. We enjoyed planning for the 10 months stay in the community with the feeling of being real residents of the barangay. Saying goodbye to our families and the comforts of our city lives may still be hard every time we leave for the community exposure, but it is not as difficult as before. At first it felt like it was a big sacrifice, but the sacrifice is slowly turning into glory. Part of it is maybe because we no longer feel the discomforts of the past exposures, part of it is maybe because we somehow feel fulfilled as we are close to achieving our objectives that we set in our CHPs, part of it is maybe because we are approaching nearer and nearer to our dream of becoming doctors as the days go by, but I think most of it is because we can feel that we are already helping our people (saving lives as others would say it), not only through our Community Health Plans, but also through free medical consultations, with the supervision of our MHO. These are all for the love of God and Country, the Ateneo way. Modesty aside, we feel like superheroes in our own little ways, the catalysts for change towards the Health Goals for all mankind (that is, for the community people). Sitti Shalimar Tahir ADZU-SOM Level-4 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: 1. We, ourselves, do not exercise. 2. The people in our community believe their walks home are considered exercise. Problem 1: We, ourselves, do not exercise. 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! Pageant article: MR. and MS. CLEAN EARTH 2016 - A pageant for the earth Our project manager thought of this pageant as a platform for her advocacy, keeping the environment clean and healthy! Our theme was "Malinis na Kapaligiran, Para sa Abot Kamay na Kalusugan." We've already tried to lecture. We've already tried to conduct a summer camp. We've already tried reaching out. And we saw one thing in common, kids love to learn! We found out that New Barili elementary school has never had a pegeant for the kids, ever! Our initial concern of disinterest from the kids was immediately replaced with surprise with how participative and competitive they were. The youngsters oozed with confidence on stage. All of them were very entertaining. We had a production and introduction portion where they can showcase their finesse in dancing and their confidence in introducing them selves. Followed by, probably our favorite portion, the talent segment. Some delivered sweet short poems, some sang, some danced, there was a cute little tough guy who even rapped! You can never underestimate kids, even when they live up in the mountains of New Barili and have zero experience with public speaking or performance, The advocacy became more apparent in the Q and A. Every single one of the 16 contestants has prepared well thought of interpretation of the theme. We were graced by the presence of Doc Maita and the municipal nurse as two of our judges. They verbalized how fun and successful the event was. Other than learning about taking care of our planet, the kids gained so much experience and confidence. They were all good sport and made better friends of each other. We can't wait for Mr and Ms Clean Earth 2017! Oh we remember the time when we first came in this community. Before we stayed on the barangay health station, now an abandoned building used only for storage. Now together with the community we cleaned and repainted it for use again on its original purpose, oh it was a tiring one, but simple worth it. At the same time, some members of the community are constructing the garbage collecting units, to be distributed anytime this month. So much activities!
One of the nicest thing about the next generations are their youth and energy! one of the things our generation can provide and teach them is the value of our environment, of how taking good care of nature, will eventually return to us. Thats the purpose of this campaign, thru popular activities, we hope to raise awareness among the community that good health can be maintained thru clean environment. not only we did a pageant , we also included poster makings, and other activities to raise awareness. onwards to clean earth!!! R. Rombo ADZU-som - medical clerk |
MissionWe are all for a healthier New Barili! Archives
July 2018
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