Archive for 2014

Waste Segregation for a Cleaner and Greener Nation

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            Amidst the national campaign to a cleaner and greener Philippines, it is evident that the initiative of the Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of the Philippines is not making its way efficiently into the hearts of the Filipino people. Apart from the fact that support from the local government is so little, the community in itself is not assertive enough to carry out the programs of the said Republic Act. Moreover, it is clear that beyond the issue of knowledge deficit, there is the lack of implementing efforts on the part of the government.


            What the Community Health Strand of the Medical School curriculum has shown us is that wherever we may go, the problems of the community remain the same – knowledge deficit of most laws, health services and campaigns to avoid health problems. This is no different in terms of the implementation of the solid waste management act. The famous line itself says that “ignorance of the law excuses no one”, and it may be a possibility that one day, the community people will be penalized for the damage they are inflicting upon nature and mankind itself.


            Improper waste disposal was one of the problems identified in the barangay assembly held last April 2014 where several of the barangay residents raised their concern about several households who would throw their garbage at the nearby spring, which would contribute to the rise of water especially during heavy rainfall. Of the households surveyed, only 40.2% practice waste segregation and a surprising 60.6% burn their garbage. True to the complaint of several residents, 23.5% of the residents throw their garbage at the barangay river/spring. Because of these and other problems noted, the Team Luop decided that a Program to address improper solid waste management be put into place.


            The conceptualization of the SWM project began with the creation of the SWM core group which took place on the night of October 8, 2014. Headed by the barangay captain, the core team consisted of an Engineering head, an Education head, a Livelihood head, and an Implementation head. Also, 1 purok leader was chosen to spearhead projects in the purok level. 3 eco-aides, for a total of 18, were also chosen per purok to help implement projects in the 6 puroks. After the basic structure for the core group was done, a Basic Orientation Seminar on SWM was conducted last October 9-11, 2014 at the Luop Barangay Hall, where the tasks and purpose of the SWM Committee was delineated.
            Moreover, the 2-day seminar themed “Brigada Kontra Basura: A Sustainable Solid Waste Management Program for Barangay Luop” included lectures on the Basic concepts of SWM, Waste Analysis Characterization Study, guidelines for Sorting and identifying solid wastes, recycling and composting, establishment of a materials recovery facility (MRF), and orientation on SWM Plan Making. The seminar ended with the draft on SWM Plan already established.
Efforts of Community People during Synchronize Barangay Clean-up;
Luop Eco-Aides giving their best during the WACS.
            To be able to efficienctly implement projects and plans for the ecological solid waste management plan, the SWM Committee appointed three representatives per purok to work on the project implementation per purok - and they were named the Luop Eco-Aides (LEA). The LEA first came into action with the Waste Assessment and Characterization Study (WACS), which is an important constituent of the Solid Waste Management Plan. The WACS Orientation, headed by the project coordinator of Solid Waste Management, Ms. Sherhata Adjid, commenced last October 12, 2014. The houses for the waste assessment and characterization was chosen through random sampling, and 6 households per purok were chosen at the end of the first day for the said activity. Houses were instructed to seggregate their wastes into biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes for the next 7 days and the Luop Eco Aides along with the supervision of the Team Luop went out to each each chosen household to weigh the wastes and characterize them according to several classifications listed in the WACS form (such as papers, cartons, backyard wastes, food wastes, glass, etc.)

             Solid Waste Management is not all serious as people think it might be, because there is also a creative side to it. The initiative of a narrative reading and video presentation for pre-school and elementary students was conceptualized by Ms. Adjid, SWM's project coordinator. Entitled "Basura Monster", this narrative reading and video presentation aimed to increase the knowledge and understanding of the young children on the importance of waste segration and care of the natural resource as well. This program took place on two separate days - October 13 was scheduled for Grades 1-6 pupils and October 20 was a date with the Day Care children.


            To gauge the prior knowledge of these students on waste disposal and segregation, 10 random students were given one waste each which they would need to classify according to Biodegradable, Non-biodegradable (Recyclables), and Non-biodegradable (Residual). This part was done free of the assistance of the teachers and classmates in order to objectively identify the existing knowledge of the students in waste segregation. The narrative reading and video presentation now stepped in to help increase awareness of these children regarding waste segregation and the effects of improper waste disposal to nature and to self. Narrated by Ms. Madilou Dimple Sabellina, the video runs for about 6:30 seconds where Mr. Tony Paredes, Ms. Anne Torres, Mr. Edward Azman and Mr. Kerwin Faustino were Anna and Buboy (two children in the story who threw their waste everywhere), the Mayor and the Monster respectively. All these were done through a voice over while the video was playing.


            Ending the session on Basura Monster, the activity done during the pre-test was done for the post-test, now informing the children if they got the answer right. Noticeably, more students would get the correct answer than during the pre-test. A reminder to the children encouraging them to practice waste segregation at home and in school.


            Increasing knowledge on the importance of waste seggregation did not only involve school-aged children but the entire community as well. An activity sponsored by the Team Luop was used as springboard to initiate several programs for each CHP, and the SWM Awareness Program was part of it. This took place during October 16, where invited guest speaker Mr. Noel Fabrigas, the Municipal Environment Officer (MENRO) spoke about waste segregation and composting, and the essence of doing a Waste Assessment and Characterization Study. He also emphasized that the household is the root of majority of the wastes being produced nationwide, so he advised the families to start reduction of wastes from their home.


            Moreover, to further implicate the importance of waste segregation and proper disposal in cleanliness and beautification of the barangay, a Synchronized Purok Clean-up Drive entitled "Palibot Limpyuhan Tungod sa Kalamboan" took place last October 18, 2014 where majority of the households in each purok participated. The Team also took this opportunity to re-iterate waste segregation and composting, during the pre-clean-up orientation done per purok. It was evident that the community people rose up to the challenge of cleaning their house, and ultimately, one household was awarded cleanest of all in their purok.


            The SWM activities for this exposure came to a close with the formulation of the Barangay Solid Waste Management Plan, and the drafting of the SWM Ordinance which were all done and participated in by the SWM Committee. This plan formulation and Ordinance drafting will catapult the SWM projects  to the next level and may yield the expected results for our plan as early as possible.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Posted by Laom Luop
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Community Assembly

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            Community involvement is as key to the success of the projects the Team Luop wants to be carried out as it is to the support and teamwork among core group members. More importantly, it is the community people who were the source of the data and they personally ranked the problem that the group is working on now. In lieu with this, a community assembly was once again organized for the Team Luop to present the core team and the general idea of the projects to be carried out in the next 11 months of exposure.

            Last October 16, 2014, Thursday, the Community Assembly was held at 3 in the afternoon at the Barangay Multi-Purpose Covered Court where a mass BP taking for residents 18 years and above and a Mass Weighing and Height Measuring for children ages 0-5 years old were conducted simultaneously. All of the 6 puroks were well represented and a substantial number of children and adults were weighed and monitored respectively.

            The program consisted of the introduction of the different core team members by each of the Project Coordinators of the L.A.K.A.S. Luop team. Moreover, it also became an opportunity for the LAKAS Luop team to encourage the community people to participate and show their support in the carrying out of the different activities for the next 11 months. The response of those present was overwhelming and gave the team an assumed assurance that whatever activity may be carried out, as long as the community people are well informed, we have their support.

            Also important to note during this activity was that Mr. Stevan, the municipal officer incharge of SWM  initiated a lecture on Waste segregation practices and composting which the people seemed responsive to. He also informed the community people about the Waste Analysis Characterization Study (WACS) which was already in the process of being carried out, an initiative spearheaded by Ms.SherhataAdjid, the project head coordinator of the Solid Waste Management Plan.

            Surprisingly, the program was stormed by a young man covered in blood and bruises in the face who allegedly went into a fist fight during the day with another man from another barangay. It was a great joy to watch that instead of the medical students, the members of the Active Luop Emergency Response Team were the once who gave the first Aid to the young man with the theory that they learned from the lectures about Emergency and Trauma.

            The day ended on a high with some intermission number from the community people and a small raffle contest initiated by the Luop team members.
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AHA’s Solution to Control Hypertension

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Hypertension – one of Philippines top cause of morbidity and mortality across all age groups – have been an increasingly difficult problem to control, not because of the ineffectiveness of the drugs and medical measures available, but because of the non-compliance among patients. Part of the increasing incidences of hypertension nationwide is also brought about by unhealthy lifestyle which Filipinos typically do not realize is beginning to pull their life down the drain. Smoking, alcoholic beverage drinking, eating of too salty or too fatty meals, lack of exercise are just some of the unhealthy practices of individuals who are predisposed to hypertension. Moreover, genetics also come into play and put an individual at higher risk to get the disease.

Not surprisingly, the 3-week long exposure of Team Luop last April 2014 showed us that Hypertension is indeed a leader in morbidity. Residents, male and female alike, have been stricken by severely uncontrolled hypertension. What is surprising though is that most of these cases are either undiagnosed or not prescribed with any maintenance medications. Although the campaign of the local government to detect cases and give out free medications for these patients is at play, there is still a lack in case finding and detection. More importantly, even though medications are free and readily available for those who are enrolled under the Regional Health Unit’s program on Hypertension, their behaviour and lack of gusto to control their disease limit their compliance to the medication.

What the Team saw fit was to create a project that will not only address the lifestyle issues of the residents in the barangay who are all at risk for hypertension, but also to increase their compliance to the medications given and make sure that case detection and finding is mastered by the health team. Ultimately, the goal of the project spearheaded by Ms.Jamera Hajijul is to increase the number of controlled hypertension among those diagnosed.


The initiative to address the issue on hypertension began with the formation of the Anti-Hypertension Association, the core team assigned to carry out and implement programs and activities to control hypertension. They are also there to ensure sustainability and continuity of programs even with the Team already out of the picture. The team is composed of the Barangay Captain as Chairman, Ms. Rosie Braganza, PHM as Vice-Chairman, the Kagawadfor Health Ms. Lolita Decipulo, and 6 purok leaders who will be assigned to implement the projects in the grass roots.
Several programs have been carried out in order to prepare the members of the AHA!, all of which were geared to equipping the members of the basic knowledge on the prevention, monitoring, and control of Hypertension. A 2-day session on the basics of hypertension was held last October 9-10, 2014 where they were informed on the risk factors, causes, signs and symptoms, and measures to control  hypertension. They have also been trained on how to use the Sphygmomanometer to measure Blood pressure. Aimed not only to prevent and control hypertension, this seminar dubbed as “AHA! Seminar and Training” also focused on the detection, case finding and recording of hypertensive cases, wherein they were oriented to Blood Pressure Registry.

A separate session on the planning of future programs was also done to empower the members of AHA! on program implementation. Here, a mass BP Taking and short lecture for the community people was organized by the core team members which they successfully carried out last October 16, 2014. The mass BP taking was a major success since most of the community people ages 18 years and above sought consult, and the BP taking was done by the AHA! coreteam themselves. Moreover, the AHA Secretary gave a short announcement to the people of barangay Luop on the status quo of hypertension in the barangay. She was also given the opportunity to give a short lecture on the ways of controlling hypertension and more importantly, she was given the time to inform the crowd on the proposed projects of the Association, which included BP Registry of Hypertensive patients per purok.


Lifestyle being part of the issue that the group wanted to address brought the idea of increasing the community people’s awareness on the risks and ways to control hypertension. This is why a Hataw Program entitled “Alta Presyon Mo, Igiling Mo, Zumba Dance Exercise” was conceptualized. This took place on two occasions, October 17 and October 21, where a 30-minute dance was performed by those present. People of all ages were invited, and a noticeable increase in participants was evident on the 2nd week of the programme. A cooking show contest dubbed as “PagkaunKontra Alta Presyon” was also done last October 23, 2014 to help increase awareness of the community people on the meals that are deemed healthy for both hypertensive and non-hypertensive people.


The cooking show contest was a battle between puroks, where 5 out of the 6 puroks competed in the contest. Each purok had 4-6 members who were tasked to cook a meal based on the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (or DASH diet). Purok 4 ultimately won the contest with their stellar dish and presentation.

To set the priorities and goals of the AHA! straight, the group with their Program Coordinator met ,last October 22, 2014 to formulate their vision and mission. They also used this opportunity to plan for the drafting of the ordinance which would address the increasing non-compliance of diagnosed hypertensive patients within the barangay.

With these programs and activities implemented, the Team could see a ray of light at the end of that dark tunnel. We can see, with the motivation and enthusiasm of the core team, there is sustainability to these projects. More importantly, with the active participation of most of the community people, we can hope that hypertension can be controlled in their barangay in the near future.

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Be Alert A.L.E.R.T., for What it’s Worth!

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            The past two exposures of Team Luop in the barangay has been all about referral of different cases including trauma cases such as domestic violence and vehicular accidents. It has been almost daily during the latest exposure too that the Team of Medical students have been referring cases to the Provincial hospital and Rural health unit. This is primarily the reason why the team sees it fit to create a referral system of not only trauma cases, but of common diseases as well.

            Initially, the community people complained of the health station being the least functional that it could be – stating that the EPI and Pre-natal check-ups were conducted only once a month, but the records of their maternal and child care have been on a very clean slate of excellence. So the team wondered what it was that needed improvement for the community people.

            It was then realized that what really lacked was the referral of cases which cannot be handled from the grass roots. Cases such as hypertensive emergency, domestic violence and vehicular accidents are part of the health station’s responsibility that a few or even none know how to approach. Moreover, apart from the lack of knowledge on handling of cases and their referral, the distance of the barangay from the provincial hospital or RHU make it extremely difficult for patients from the barangay to go to these places.


            Active Luop Emergency Response team was born out of the idea that handling of cases first-hand and referral should be done by knowledgeable people within the community itself. This is why a core team was formed. Composed of the same members with the AHA!, the ALERT core group exists to respond to emergency and non-emergency cases and refer them to the appropriate places for treatment and management. It was deemed necessary to have the AHA! and ALERT team to share their members to avoid crowding in the health station when they have their duties, and so as to be able to address both emergent and non-emergent cases common in the community.

            The ALERT had their first session last October 13, 2014 where they set things straight by delineating the tasks and responsibilities of the core team. The group was also asked to list down the most common forms of emergencies that happens in the community and this included wounds and bleeding, animal bites, poisoning, fractures, and burns. They have also been given a lecture on basic first aid, which was preceded by a post test.


            A second session was conducted thereafter on October 15, 2014 where the top 5 listed emergency cases were discussed thoroughly and was immediately followed by a post test.

            To address the issue on patient transport, which is one of the problems identified for case referral, a session on proper patient transport was done last October 17, 2014. The members of the core team were initially asked to identify the different ways they know of how to transport patients, and a formal lecture followed. Knowledge was assessed through a post-test done directly after the end of the lecture.


            Finally, last October 21, 2014, the members of the ALERT core team along with their Project Coordinator, Ms. Mary Antonette Torres, met to discuss their tasks and responsibilities as a team. It was also a day made especially to create their Vision, Mission, and schedule of BHS rotation. They also tackled on the request for budget from the IRA and tried to identify a vehicle which the community would use for transport of patients. More importantly, the group was taught on the proper method of recording and reporting patients – a feat they have to do while the medical students are away.
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Campaign Against Malnutrition – an Initiative on its Way to Fruition

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            Malnutrition continues to pester mankind despite approaches to trample it down. The ever growing and dynamic needs of children and pregnant women make it more difficult to address concerns of nutrition. Moreover, there is this misconception that malnutrition only comes in the form of being just underweight or thin, making people blinded by the fact that a lot of children are also suffering from obesity, stunting, wasting and vitamin deficiencies. In reality, we are aware that malnutrition is before our very eyes, but we choose to ignore it because of either lack of information or motivation.


            Luop Anti-Malnutrition Team was built in the hope that through community participation, the ever growing rate of malnutrition in Barangay Luop (almost 40% or 26 out of 66 children ages 0-5 years old) can be put to a stop. Since the conception of the LAMT last October 8, 2014, several activities have been successfully carried out by the team, and most of them are independent from the assistance of the medical students. This independence was all made possible by the Training Seminar rolled out for the members of the LAMT, which consisted primarily of the delineation of the tasks and purpose of the LAMT, introduction to proper nutrition, safe and proper breastfeeding practices, complimentary feeding for children, and growth monitoring. Since this is a 2-day seminar held last October 9 and 10, an orientation to Nutritional Diary was also given out to the members of the team. Evaluation was done after to assess knowledge gained from the seminar.


A mother’s class for pregnant women was conducted by our very own Project Coordinator against Malnutrition, Pratima Lakibul, last October 14, 2014 during the pre-natal check-up of the expectant mothers. LAMT members where there to watch in order to gain insight on what to do during the next pre-natal check-ups. This project is to run once a month during each pre-natal visit of expectant mothers.


            On October 16, 2014, during the barangay assembly, the Luop-Anti Malnutrition team had their very first independent activity wherein they were the ones in charge of the “Operasyon Timbang” for children ages 0-5 years old. Making sure that children got to be weighed during the program, the medical students, in coordination with the LAMT members went around the barangay days prior to invite households, putting emphasis that children 5 years and below should be brought during the assembly for nutritional assessment. The weighing of the children took place during the registration of the attendees of the assembly.


At the depth of the program, the LAMT members rolled out a “Pag-istoryahan ta ang KALUSUGAN” program, which was designed to emphasize on proper nutrition and its importance. This program, initiated by the LAMT members gave significance to the essence of Go, Grow and Glow foods in the development and nourishment of children, and to the common causes and signs of malnutrition.

A consultation program entitled “Wastong Nutrisyon Laban sa Malnutrisyon” conducted last October 18-19 was carried out by the LAMT again independently. This was done in order to impart to mothers and primary caregivers of children ages 0-5 years old the importance of giving a nutritious meal in order to combat malnutrition. This program exceeded our expectations because of the preparedness of the LAMT – they spearheaded a feeding program given to almost 50 children. The feeding involved giving of Champorado to children ages 1-5, and a self-constructed Cerelac to those under 1 year. This Ceralac-inspired meal for children below 1 year included red squash, carrots, okra, string beans and potato, all of which were mashed. Despite the mixture being made purely of vegetables, we ended up kids asking for more of the food (even the medical students wanted more!).



Finally, to end the roll of projects for malnutrition on a high for this exposure, a cooking show contest sponsored by the ADZU SOM representatives to Luop was done. A total of 5 out of 6 puroks competed in the said activity which was done to increase community’s awareness on the nutritious foods that could be prepared for young children, malnourished or not. Purok Dos bested the other groups with their sumptuous Ginisang Monggo with Kalabasa, topped up with alugbati, talong, string beans, malunggay, and grilled fish. Their explanation of the different nutrients offered by the vegetables and the full composition of their meal with Go, Glow and Grow foods made their dish the best for the judges.
          





          
















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Finding the Good in Extra Livelihood

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            Barangay Luop, Diplahan is mainly an agricultural land with farming as its main source of income for most of the residents. Unfortunately, apart from the fact that the crops that are being planted take too long a time to yield, the barangay is also one of the 11 listed under the Flood-prone Barangays in Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay. Moreover, only at least 25% of the total population have extra sources of income meaning that more than 70% of the households rely solely on farming (which is seasonal) to provide for the basic needs of the family.

            The community exposure prior, the barangay residents identified lack of alternative sources of livelihood as 2nd of the most pressing problems they are facing as a whole. Although Team Luop admits that this is a tough task to fulfil, there is no way we could deny that lack of income will impact the community people’s health and health seeking behaviors in a big way. In lieu with this, the Team considered all the options to be able to provide at least half of the households with no alternative sources of income with one, and this began with the conceptualization of the Kabuhayan Patrol Team.

Headed by their project coordinator, Mark Anthony Paredes, the newly formed Kabuhayan Patrol Team (KPT) composed of the Barangay Captain (chairman), Barangay Kagawad on Agriculture (vice-chair), and 6 purok leaders, the group began their quest in search for appropriate alternative sources of income that most of the community people will benefit from. Last October 10, 2014, at seven (7) in the evening, the KPT gathered for a brainstorming of ideas on how to come up with the list of alternative sources they could choose from. Knowing that the community leaders know the capabilities of their people the best, and knowing that it is they who see the growing needs of the community first hand, the project coordinator initiated this event to be able to formulate a game plan on the different activities to come in the following exposure.


            Immediately after the brainstorming, wherein the core team listed several agencies they could tap into, Mr. Paredes went about downtown Diplahan to check on the different agencies the core team listed. Among them were Department of Agricultur and Department of Labor. Plans are also being made to look into what TESDA could offer, seeing that a few of the residents of Luop have been graduates of TESDA themselves (courses such as haircutting and cooking).




            Team Luop presses on with the challenge of providing for an avenue for the community people to have an alternative source of income. More importantly, it strives along with the community people to see results and success of residents in the alternative source of income they are provided with.
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Core Group Team Building

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            Success is measurable, that’s for sure. But there wouldn’t be success to anything without people who are motivated, aware of what they are doing, and are held together by what we call teamwork. This philosophy led the Team Luop to host a team building among the core group members which were chosen, appointed and elected into position on the night of October 8, 2014. The group believed that this activity will help instil that enthusiasm among members of the core group and make them see the importance of working together as a team.

            Struggling to choose the best time for the implementation of the Team building because of the availability of the people, Team Luop decided with the community people to hold it on October 12, 2014 at 5 in the afternoon (as this was the time most of them are free from their work). With the schedule in hand, preparations were done and it was decided that just a set of games with moral lessons incorporated are to be carried out. In turn, each station had to have a facilitator who would give out the synthesis of the station game. Moreover, to encourage a healthy competition, the different core group members were mixed up and were randomly divided into 4 groups for the competition – Red Team, Blue Team, Black Team, and Yellow Team.

            October 12 came and the activity pushed through. This was held in the Barangay Gymnasium and began with the registration of the different core group members, who all wore shirts of their respective team colors. In total, there was an 80% attendance of the core team members. Unfortunately, there were groups with a very few number of members, so a grace period of 30 minutes was given for the others to arrive and join the game. In the light of team play and healthy competition on the other hand, some of the participants went out of their way to call other members of the group to attend the team building.

            In a more unfortunate turn out of events though, at about 6 in the evening, a barangay-wide black out deprived us of the light that we need to go on with our activity. Despite this, the people stayed behind and one of the participants, Mr. Danny Boy Allegado offered his generator for us to be able to utilize the gymnasium still to go on with our programs. This took some time so the organizers of the Team Building to have a picture taking of each group amidst the darkness. Also, to utilize the time well, game instructions were given out and a period of 10 minutes was given for the groups to think of group names and make a group cheer.

            The team building commenced at about 7:30 in the evening with the group cheer of each team. The Blue Birds (facilitated by Mark Anthony Paredes), Yellow Tigers (facilitated by Edward Jay Azman), Red Alert Team (facilitated by Sherhata Adjid) and Black Bug Team (facilitated by Pratima Lakibul)all gave stellar performances and did not show any signs of wanting to go home. Since yellow team only had 4 members, we restricted each station to only a 4 players at a time to have an unbiased basis for judging the winners. The following games with their moral lesson were done:

1.      Longest Line – station 1 was facilitated by Jamera Hajijul. This station bore the lesson of Resourcefulness since members of the group were only allowed to use what they have in their bodies to form the longest possible lines they can. Some groups even resorted to removal of bras to augment to the line. Some in shoes removed their shoelaces to use in the line. Even others did not hesitate to lie down on the floor to make the lines longer.
2.      Calamansi Relay – station 2 was facilitated by Mary Antonette Torres. This station came in with the lesson of Patience. While others are at work or still using some materials one also need (like in the case of the person still completing the course of the relay), the other players should be patient enough to wait for the rest to finish. The speed of the tasks to be accomplished is not the priority, but it is the quality and the thought that everything should be done within the allotted time – no rush, no impatience.
3.      Plate Relay – this 3rd station was facilitated by Weena Joyce Fernandez, and had a theme of Unity. This game is played by using plates 1 more than the number of members playing (in this case, 5). The first player is to lay down the first plate in front and step on it. He then throws a second plate for him to step on and for the 2nd player to step on the first plate (and so on). The group needs to transfer from one plate to another together, maintaining both feet inside the plate. All groups completed the race together without leaving anyone behind, which is the essence of the game – UNITY.
4.      Egg Catch – the 4th station was manned by Madilou Dimple Sabellina. This part of the game wanted to imply that Care should be exercised in handling resources – material or manpower. The games general idea is that the participants should throw the eggs at coordinates that get farther and farther from each other. Game stops if the egg is crushed. Most team got past 5 coordinates and we believe that the message has been set across well.

Finally, an extra game Paint Me a Picture was done while game master, Kerwin Emil Faustino computed the scores to arrive at the winner. This game tried to exemplify Creativity which is needed in carrying out several, if not all of the projects for the problems to be solved. More importantly, what was really pushed for during the team building activity was Team Work and Camaraderie, both of which are essential to a successful working relationship between core team members and members of the community.


Ultimately, despite only having 5 members to play (while others had 7 or 8), the Red Tide Team won the game by a sweep. They were followed closely by the Blue Birds and Black Bugs in 2nd, and 3rd by the Yellow Tigers.
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Core Group Formation

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October 4, 2014 marked the day of our return to the Barangay we cherish dearly in our hearts. It has been 6 months since the last exposure and we sure have a lot of catching up to do. This means that we had to make several activities work in order to make up for the time lost several semesters prior, making sure that we had a solid foundation to kick-start from for our 10-month exposure the following year.


Six months ago, five community problems surfaced from our barangay assembly – these were the community people’s most immediate concern in the barangay. These problems became the basis of our work, thus the birth of 5 Community Health Plans. Along with these 5 Comprehensive Health Plans came the several strategies and activities which needed to be done in order to provide solutions to the problems before us. As any good foundation would need, the group decided early on that the different projects needed Core Teams to carry out the projects in behalf of the ADZU SOM Students. This formation of the core teams will also ensure in part the sustainability of the different projects that are up for implementation.

We met with the community leaders – Barangay officials and Purok presidents –last Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 5:00PM to present the proposed Organizational charts of the core teams for the different projects. Each of the project heads gave an overview of their team structure, giving emphasis on the roles of each of the members of the core team. The enthusiasm of the attendees showed in their faces and the core team formation became unexpectedly easy as the community leaders fell in love with the different projects and teams presented to them.

As there were only limited number of barangay leaders and the different project coordinators needed around 50core team members (ranging from 8-12 members per core team), most of those present were allowed to be part of 2 core teams at a time. Also, Hon. Wilson Montales, the Barangay Captain, became an obligate member of all core teams, becoming the head of the 5 core teams. Each team also needed 6 purok leaders to become point persons for the 6 puroks in the barangay. At the end of the night, 5 core teams were formed:

1. Luop Anti-Malnutrition Team (LAMT)
2. Active Luop Emergency Response Team (ALERT)
3. Kabuhayan Patrol Team (KPT)
4. Anti-hypertensive Association (AHA!)
5. SWM Committee

Thus, L.A.K.A.S. Luop team was born, spearheaded by the project coordinators and to be led by the Barangay Captain. Also, to avoid confusion and overlap of duty schedules in the Barangay Health Station, the members of the ALERT and AHA team consisted of the same group of people. Both teams as well are co-headed by Ms. Rosie Braganza, the Midwife assigned to Luop.

The night concluded with a picture-taking with the different core teams and an announcement of the several upcoming activities and trainings they would be receiving. A team building was also scheduled for the group in order to instil in them values of camaraderie and team work. All were hopeful that the night would be the springboard to the success of the projects and a step to a better and more progressive Luop.

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SETTING YOUR SIGHTS FOR LUOP

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Barangay Luop was formerly a sitio of Barangay Minsulao, Siay, Zamboanga Del Sur. Diplahan, where was the barangay falls under, was made into a Municipal on December 19, 1979 and sitio Luop was separated from Minsulao and created as a independent Barangay. Mr. Owhang Maro, a subanen man, gave Luop its name. Luop came from subanen word “Look” which means a creek or a river, in her case connecting to the Sibugay river.
Barangay Luop is situated 40 kilometers away from the provincial capitol. It has 6 puroks, headed by Barangay Chairman Wilson Montales and 7 other Sangguniang Barangay officials. It is bounded by Barangay Pilar at the North; Barangay Minsulao at the East; Barangay Boyugan at the West and Barangay Balingasan at the South boundary. It is compost mostly of rice paddies making rice its primary agricultural product.


 Barangay Luop comprises of a mixture of Bisaya and Ilonggo, with the latter containing the majority of the residents. Majority of the population embrace Iglesia ni Cristo as their religion. However, despite the diversities in religion, culture and language, the residents still manage to coexist and live harmoniously with each other.
Access to a public Day care Center, Preschool and elementary school are available in the barangay. The secondary school that caters to the students of Luop is located at the adjacent barngay Minsulao and the nearest tertiary level school is found at the adjacent Munipality of Buug, which is 8 Kilometers from the Municipality of Diplahan.
 The road to the barangay is mostly cemented and the major mode of transportation is “Habal-Habal”, a public motorcycle ride. Some residents also utilize horses and carabao but very rarely except in working their farmland.


A Barangay Health Station structure is available in the barangay but the health personnel cater to their health needs only twice a month. There were also 6 Barangay Health Worker (BHW) in the barangay with one representative per purok. The nearest hospital is the Wilfredo S. Palma Hospital that is located 40 kilometers away from the barangay Luop.
            The Barangay’s power supply is coming from the ZamSurECo. The water system is Level II; their main water source came from a Large water tank that is chlorinated every 1st week of every Saturday of the month.
            

            Residents of Luop especially adolescents are actively involved in sports activities especially basketball.  For this purpose, the covered court/ basketball court is being utilizednot just for special events but is also used for sports. Male residents especially adolescents regularly play basketball every Saturday and the barangay officials also usually organize basketball tournament during their barangay feast. Some female adolescents also play volleyball and badminton as part of their leisure activities at the covered court.




 




Saturday, May 31, 2014
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Saturday, May 10, 2014
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TOP 5 PROBLEMS OF BARANGAY LUOP

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A thought I read recently: "Problems are part of life -- they go together with being alive. And every community has problems, too; they go together with being a community. That's just a fact of community life."

As I read this thought I cannot help but shake my head and agree. Indeed, problems are part of life and just like people, communities have problems too. Communities, like people, try to solve their problems and analyzing those problems helps in their solution.
Top 10 Problems identified by each Purok of Brgy. Luop
Last April 2014, Our community group (a batch of 9 medical students) who was assigned to Barangay Luop, Municipality of Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay organized and carried out a community assembly which aimed to help the people in assessing their perceived needs and problems. This gathering ensures that it is the community people themselves who will point out what they think are the important issues at hand.

Many problems were raised in the event, but following a close examination of the issues presented, the following top 5 problems were highlighted:



1. Inaccessible health care delivery system


The top of the list is the inaccessibility of the health care delivery system in the barangay. It is very important to know what does "inaccessibility" means in this context as this may cause confusion. A pertinent information about Brgy. Luop that could help us enlighten their perception of "inaccessiblity" is that, it is one of the few barangays in the Municipality that has been blessed with a Health Center. However, the midwife in charge of Brgy Luop also have the same responsibilities with other barangays. Thus, the main problem of the residents of Brgy. Luop is not about the absence of a health care facility but rather the absence of a mainstay health personnel that could address their health care necessities at the time they need it.



2. Lack of alternative source of livelihood

Another frequently occurring concern of the Brgy people is the need for an alternative source of livelihood. The primary source of livelihood in the barangay is farming and farmers are usually men. Thus, women are usually left at home and tend the needs of the family like performing household chores. However for most of the time, house tending ends early leaving the women, usually mothers, more free time. It is this free time that they want to make use of to be productive and help their husbands earn for the household.



3. Sanitation


Sanitation is a global problem. In fact according to World Health Organization (WHO) an estimated 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation globally. If the current trend continues, by 2015 there will be 2.7 billion people without access to basic sanitation. Brgy Luop is in no exception to this global issue. Underlying issues that add to this challenge is the poor knowledge in waste segregation and disposal as well as not implementing the Solid Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) as mandated by the law.


4. High Incidence of Malnutrition


According to WHO, Malnutrition is a major health problem, especially in developing countries (including the Philippines). Malnutrition essentially means “bad nourishment”. It concerns not enough as well as too much food, the wrong types of food, and the body's response to a wide range of infections that result in malabsorption of nutrients or the inability to use nutrients properly to maintain health.

There are many contributory factors of malnutrition in Brgy Luop but the main cause as mentioned by the community people is poverty. It is because of poverty that people are not able to eat the right kind of food they need. Lack of money means lack of food and lack of food, more often than not, can lead to malnutrition especially for children. Another contributory factors may be the sanitation problems and lack of proper knowledge on the proper nutrition especially of children.



5. High Incidence of Hypertension

The last but not the least problem seen by the community people is the growing number of residents that are diagnosed to be hypertensive. The lack of adequate knowledge on how to prevent, manage and treat hypertension even worsen the situation. Thus the community people opted to have this problem be tackled.






Those were the problems identified by the community people. We opt ,together with all the stakeholders involved, to help the community stand against these issues and conquer them on their own. It is also important to know that true happiness comes not when we get rid of all our problems, but when we change our relationship to them, when we see our problems as a potential source of awakening, opportunities to practice patience, learn and grow with other people all for the sake of the One who created us.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Posted by Laom Luop
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PROBLEM PRIORITIZATION

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After completion of house-to-house survey, data collation, analysis and interpretation,  Laom Luop group met and decided to utilize bottom-up approach in the prioritization and ranking of the identified problem of the community.  This approach was carried out by presenting the surveyed data to the community residents (bottom) allowing them to identify and prioritize problems that are salient, measurable, realistic and attainable, and this then later presented  to the barangay officials (up) where they had the final say as to which problems should be addressed according to salience and feasibility. This method was employed to avoid hawthorne effect and contamination of the problem selection process. Two separate assemblies were conducted with the aim of bringing people together in order to come up with the top 10 problems of the community, rank them according to salience, and craft a common vision for the progress and development of the community. 






The first assembly was held on April 11, 2014 at Luop Multi-Purpose Covered Court. This was dubbed as “Community Meeting ug Salo-Salo” and attended by 120 residents. Activities conducted were registration, BP taking for adults, weighing of children 0-5 years of age, presentation of survey results, problem identification by purok, prioritization of perceived problems through ballot voting, and tallying of votes by the medical students. Intermission numbers from six (6) puroks were rendered and raffle draws and prizes were also given. 
The program proper started at 1 pm and ended at 5 pm. Overall, the assembly was a success and the objectives were met. The second assembly was held on April 14, 2014 at the Barangay Hall and attended by the barangay officials. This was started by explaining the purpose of the assembly and followed by presentation of survey results, problem identification and prioritization. 
The result of the problems identified by the community residents was also presented to them and compared with their identified problems, after which, they ranked which problems should be addressed first according to felt need and feasibility. At the end, 5 problems were specifically chosen and ranked and these are: Poor Access to Health Care Delivery System, Lack of Alternative Sources of Income, Improper Solid Waste Management, High Incidence of Malnutrition, and High Incidence of Hypertension. These problems will be the bases for the formulation of our Comprehensive Health Plans which we hope will be minimized or solved before we leave the place by 2016. 
It is an arduous task considering the lack of time and resources that we have but the group believes that with people’s active involvement and commitment throughout the process, our goals will be met and sustainability will be ensured. Both assemblies were successful and ended with a discussion on next steps: "short, medium and long term strategies" collaboratively decided upon by the assemblies’ participants.


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We are medical students of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, assigned to Barangay Luop, Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay. Barangay Luop is situated 40 kilometers away from the provincial capitol. It has 6 puroks and bounded by Barangay Pilar at the North; Barangay Minsulao at the East; Barangay Boyugan at the West and Barangay Baligasan at the South boundary.

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