Community Immersion: Courtesy call to Brgy. Tomoaong, OperationTuli

The completion of Data and courtesy call were the major activities that I conducted today. Aside from the said purpose I also helped the nurses for the preparation of the Operation tuli. The idea of going to the barangays joining the MHO team for the operation tuli is to surely meet the barangay captain to conduct courtesy call. It was 7:40 am when when left the RHU. It was my first time to ride on an ambulance. We were all laughing inside as they all find a spree to laugh. We reached the area at 8:00 am and immediately unload the things we have. As the registration started I saw the barangay captain but I really find the perfect timing to talk to him. I nodded at him and greeted him as he was really working on with other matters. Hours passed and the situation was not so busy. I approached him and introduced myself. I ask for a short talk and we sat. A small office table in between us. I presented the project and its background. He was listening first and he began to ask questions. I answered very politely and though there are times that I was really out of pace, I glanced on the card that I was holding. After a short talk, one of the councilors ushered me to the barangay hall and introduced me to the secretary. I politely asked for records and other related data that the barangay has. The secreatary was so accommodating. She really had a great tie talking to me and entertained me. Hopefully the data was nearly completed before lunch. We shared together a delicious lunch and it was the first time I taste "Lolot" a chiken recipe that is cooked with lots of lamas including herbal plant "herba buena". The smell was good and the taste is excellent. This is one thing that I like about being with these people because I get to know different delicacies and recipes that I have never eaten before.

 

I continued the data gathering until 3 pm. I went back to the BHS where they are about to finish the last batch of children who will undergo circumcision. I helped assisted them and talked to some of the parents in the area. I accquainted people of different age.

Persons met:

Brgy Capt.: Hon. Ricky A. Magdipig

Brgy Sec.: Nelia M. Magculia

Brgy. Kgd.: Romel T. Caugmoc

 

Challenges and Problems Encountered

The challenge was to get the data from the Brgy. Midwife because she was busy preparing the snacks, food, and other  needs of the nurses and volunteers. I approached her about the data about 1 hour before we went home. Sadly, the 2014 data was lost and under recovery, However, I asked for the 2015 RHIS form and scannned it. I got nothing but a bunch of numbers ready for updating. Hehehe

Reflection:

For how many days that I been having a great time with the staff of the RHU I came to realize how hard it is for a person to really get to know each other if you have a weak personality. I appreciate he fact that there needs to have a bunch of experience and knowledge in order for you to go along with them because there are times that you need to share also your thoughts, your idea about a certain topic. But most of all the most important thing I learned about today's activity is that, we need to talk to people sincerely, our inner feelings and the way how we look at things imperfectly.

Communiy Service Unit on its Monthly Meeting

                   There is always a call for improvement. A CSU (Community Service Unit) Meeting was conducted on March 30, 2014 at Waling2x 1, MTRC Building 2, DMSF, Davao City. The whole day activity is for the updating and reporting of accomplishments for the month of March.

                   The Community Service Unit (CSU) as part of the Davao Medical School Foundation(DMSF) responsible for community projects have been operating in areas of Mindanao primarily in poor and unprivileged communities. CES, CEPGov, BLT, IP-MNCHN and IMPACT are existing projects that is on the first and second years of operation. A total of 39 participants attended the said activity. Project Highlight, Unit Annual Operation Plan (AOP), Schedules and Updates and other matters are among the things that are covered by the said activity.

       Every Project presented the accomplishments and other highlights for the month of March. IMPACT, as a new project, delivered the project Orientation while the AMCCAP, on its gradual phase out reported the general accomplishments and stressed out the big impact that the project bring to the community. The activity resulted to the identification of plans and targets per Key Results Area which is vital to the entire operation of the IPHC. The people-centered approach was emphasized in the activity. Community Organizers and OJT’s embarked additional knowledge to take extra effort in the field.

                    The next CSU Meeting will be at the end of the month of April. The said activity was made possible through the effort of every project unit. IMPACT was assigned as the Relational Committee, IP-MNCHN for the food and venue, CES for Boarder and CFJ for Documentation. All the projects worked together for the attainment of the meeting.

          With the joyous smile and heartfelt appreciation expressed by the participants, the activity achieved its desired outputs.

Basic Steps Towards Global Development

Days became hours as to minutes became seconds. My adventure and breath taking experiences have been so amazing. I can see myself enjoying every single event that happened for the last month. There were things that have been in my mind for days that I know could help me in this field. As a community organizer, I am very happy that there will be new faces, new group of people who will be part of my life, new set of problems to face and new success to strive for excellence.

It is glad to know that once again I will be involved with the people from the regional down to the barangay level that will help us hand in hand in delivering the project. Tuberculosis has been a problem to developing communities and there have a pragmatic decline in detection and cure rate based on the Philippine Target Plan on TB control. Therefore, a project Innovations and Multi-sectoral Partneships To Achieve Contro on Tuberculosis (IMPACT) funded by the United StatesAgency for International Development (USAID) was established to intensify the case findings to increase the detection and the cure rate. With the Philippine Businessfor Social Progress (BPSP) an agency entrusted by the said funder to deliver the project. The Technical Assistance Providers (TAP’s) happened to be the sub-contractor of the PBSP for proper implementation of the said project.

Davao MedicalSchool Foundation, Inc. (DMSFI) is one of the NGO’s who will help realize the said project. An institution located at Davao City that caters medical courses with a hospital and the Institute of Primary Health Care (IPHC). The IPHC responsible for giving humanitarian and primary health services to the community for over 30 years. DMSF took the challenge to become the sub-contractor of the PBSP. The school’s representatives have been attending Trainings and Seminars initiated by the said contractor.

The recently concluded Training of Trainers was a starting point towards the achievement of the project. The DMSF participated the said activity held on March 11-13, 2015 at Bayleaf Hotel, Intramuros, Manila. Six participants including the Project Manager, Cynthia Manlapus and five Community Organizers enjoyed the whole experience. Among the topics discussed was the Basic Facts about TB, The Revised Manual of Procedure and the Training and Facilitation. A demonstration of the topics on training of CBO’s was presented by every participating NGO’s; RIT/JATA, PHANSUP, WESADEF, KINASANG-AN and DMSF.

On March 24, 2015 a closed door meeting with the Area Coordinator Sharlene April  Jalandra and the DMSF IMPACT Team was conducted to formally initiate the plan and primary tasks. The DMSF team will be introduced by the area coordinator to the Provincial Health Office of Davao Oriental on March 25, 2015 at Mati City. The said activity is expected to have outputs, this includes the name of municipalities that will be covered by the project and determining existing Community Based Organizations.

           On the 25th of March the Team Mindanao for IMPACT project headed to Mati City for a courtesy call. Spearheded by Dr. Ted Yu, Team Leader for Mindanao together with the Project Management Corrdinator of IPHC and DMSF's IMPACT project head, Cynthia Manlapus. A short but meaty conversation commenced during the meeting. The tentative areas are municipalities of Baganga, Taragona, Caraga, Cateel, Boston, Manay. These municipalities will be the pilot areas. One of the things that was set during the meeting was the upcoming Courtesy call to the Governeor of Davao Oriental and the Provicial Orientation to be attended by the Municipal Mayors, Nurses, PHO staff and other medical practitioners of the province.

I will give you updates on the next day entry of my blog. Thank you so much!

Innovations and Multi-Sectoral Partnerships to Achieve Control of Tuberculosis (IMPACT)

Days passed but I didn’t noticed that my training is about to end. On March 10 my OJT period will end fortunately. It simply means that I will step up to the next level. It is glad to know that I survived. As of now I am preparing myself for a training that will be held at the Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros, Manila on 11^th until 13^th of March. Reports and other documents are submitted before we travel.

Innovations and Multi-Sectoral Partnerships to Achieve Control of Tuberculosis (IMPACT) is a project that will be delivered by the Institute of Primary Health Care of Davao Medical School Foundation, Inc. This project was funded by the USAID to address the pragmatic decline in the number of reached by TB education, presumptive TB cases identified and referred to health centers, presumptive TB cases referred and submitted for sputum exam, presumptive TB cases who have completed the 2 sputum examination, presumptive TB cases identified as New Sputum Positive (NSP) TB, TB All Forms diagnosed, NSP cases who have started treatment with community volunteers as treatment partners, NST cased cured and cases of TB All Forms diagnosed and undergoing treatment. The ultimate output of this project is to Increasethe Case Detection Rate (CDR) and Cure Rate (CR) of the Local Government Units attributable to increased (minimum of 10%) referrals from the Community-Based Organizations.

Through the coordination of the Community-based Organizations (CBO’s) to the Rural Health Units (RHU’s) the project hoped to continue for another 3 years based on the one year term evaluation of the funding agency reported by the Community Service Unit (CSU) of the DMSFI. However, Community organizers like me is now preparing for the said training. I’ve done research on Tuberculosis in the Philippines. As of now the Department of Health through its National Tuberculosis Program find ways on how these existing TB DOTS facilities are accessed by the presumptive cases. With the close coordination of the Local Government Units it is believed to be realized.

Through Philippine Business for Social Progress (BPSP) as the contractor the project will be initiated o the provinces that have been detected with the high cases of TB. The contractor (BPSP) coordinated the NGO's or the Technical Assistance Providers (TAP's) to deliver the project. These TAP's are considered to be the sub-contractors responsible for the delivery of the said project. The DMSF-IPHC is one of the Technical Assistance Provider that will cover 6 Municipalities in Davao Oriental with 4 barangay per assignment.

Since this project (IMPACT) is new, a training will be conducted to capacitate the community organizers and project heads for proper delivery of the project to target municipalities of Davao Oriental. I am very grateful to be part of the said project because aside from opportunities of traveling places and communities, it will also open my horizon in meeting new people and new experiences.

A Day with the IP Leaders

My sleeping position caused muscle pain and that woke me up around 6:18 am. This day I woke up late. However,I immediately prepared myself for another say of learning as an OJT. Around 8:00 am we went to  the activity area where we bring with us hundreds of calendars which will be distributed after the activity. Participants from every barangay came. Tha participants were the chieftains of the IP (Indigenous Pople) and IMPR. Attandance, registration and greetings were the first scenario.

Together with the team, we prepared the area. We started to post the visuals. People kept coming in. When everyone was settled, my teammate started to talk and did the preliminaries followed by the introduction and finally the presentation of PORAS (Peoples Organization Rating Assessment System). In this activity, our task was to assess them. We need to identify what is the present status of the organization, how they do it and what are the things to improve as an organization.

At first, participants kept on raising concerns. They kept on raising their hands while our Team Leader thoroughly explained the objectives up to the first part. Things were clarified as to what are the purpose of the assessment. As the activity progresses, participants became more vocal and inquisitive. They kept on asking questions and pushed their notions. The discussion became out of pace. The speaker then explained and reminded the participants. Together with the project manager, Maam Mila, who was present during the activity, helped us emphasize the true meaning of the assessment.

I learned that an organization should know what is its status, what are the things an organization should have. One of the most discussed topic was the Mission, Vission and Goal of the organization that have been debated by the members as a long due issue. I also appreciate how the team leader, Maam Ruth, emphasized the main purpose of the activity.

Technical Support to Developing Rural Communities

We had a smooth ride on our way to Barangay Camansi, Montevista, Comval, the last barangay to receive the assessment. Upon reaching the place, participants were already there waiting together with the barangay captain who welcomed us. It was a sunny day and people on that place were all busy. After a short welcome, we were ushered by some participants to the activity area.  We started posting the visuals and that signaled them that the training was about to start.

The preliminaries, introduction of participants and giving of expectations were normally conducted. A short message from the barangay captain welcomed the participants. The activity was participated by the barangay council, barangay health workers, BNS (Barangay Nutrition Scholars) and IP representatives. A brief background of the Project and PRA tools were discussed respectively. Amazingly, participants expressed their ideas, arguments and have also raised concerns. The data presented were validated.

I appreciate how they gave ideas to address the occurrence of the problems in their barangay, especially on health matters. However, participants also find time to give jokes and a spree to laugh but at the same time learning out of it. The explanation of the speakers gave clarity to vague and obscure topics. Participants’ insights were good and provocative. I saw how they are affected with the assessment.

First Activity: Participatory Rapid Assessment/Appraisal

Activity:Participatory Rapid Assessment/Appraisal

Date: Feb. 16, 2015

Venue: Brgy. Hall, Banglasan, Montevista, ComVal Province

                Before the activity I saw the CO’s prepared. After we filled our empty stomach we went to the terminal. The idea of riding a “skylab” was one thing that filled the excitement. It was my first time. We left the Poblacion area around 8:00 am. The weather wasn’t good though. Light rain was pouring. We came down the road and the rain inked the streets. Mountains were covered by white smoke. At first it was a smooth ride until it turned out bad.

                Before we reached the place I saw how people lived their lives. Simple. I saw how they cultivated their crops, how they raised their animals. We crossed a river, schools and other existing projects of the NGO's. I learned that it is not easy to reach a certain place just to give them education and technical support. It takes passion.

                Together with the midwife who happened to conduct the immunization that day, we were welcomed by the barangay captain. We started the assessment immediately. I was task to facilitate the introduction of participants. The activity was attended by the Barangay Captain, BHW’s, a Midwife, BNS, Tribal Chieftain, pastor and representatives from Senior Citizen and the barangay Secretary. I really appreciate the warm welcome of the participants. After that, the background of the project and PRA tools were presented.

                Participants were actively participating. Issues and other medical concerns were raised. The interaction was good. They were assessed in a collective and participatory manner. Some topics were deeply discussed and argued. I saw the problem of the barangay and I was moved by the fact that the activity affects them as to how they view on health.

                The PRA in Banglasan was the first exposure for me. It introduced me into a perspectivewhere I can feel belongingness. The roadtrips, budgeting, ambiance, my team mates, the interactions of the participants and the warm welcome of the people are things that lived my expectations.

A New Experience

Activity: Travel from Davao to Montevista

Time: 1:30 pm

Feb. 15, 2015

                Together with my co-OJT  we traveled  from Davao to Montevista as per advise from our team leader. This idea was formulated to meet the CO’s before the activity on the next day. We traveled for almost four hours. When we were in Davao the team Montevista already contacted us about our status; what terminal; what time is expected for arrival and the like. We arrived at around 4:30 pm. Waited for a couple of minutes and took some rest. Three people showed up and approached us. Upon confirmation and a couple of introductions, we proceed to the rented boarding house. The warm welcome of ate Ruan, ate Haide and kuya Mack was amazing. We unload our baggage and quench our thirst immediately. We were introduced to the owner, landlady and other board mates.

                I really appreciate the fact that they don’t want us to feel intimidated. However, they embraced and accepted us as their brother and sister. We shared the meal with laughter and series of topics.

It's Time for Giving Humanitarian Services

This is travel blog will open you to an adventure and exhilarating experience as I reach out to rural communities in Southern and Western Mindanao. I will experience community immersion and to deal with the rural communities by gathering data in the field of health.

This blog will also uncover places that you have never seen before. The unadulterated areas of Mindanao will be featured here through pictures and videos. My day-to-day activities will be posted here as I go through this journey. The exciting mode of transportation from horses, motorcycles, "skylab" and among others.

Join me as I uncover  places in Mindanao through humanitarian and community development services funded by the European Union and other big NGO's from all over the world.