Fifth Update Malnutrition

Background of the Problem

Water is a basic need and according to the United Nations access to it is also a human right. It is an essential part of daily life and in maintaining good health. Safe water is utilized by humans through sanitation, food production, and hydration. Unsafe drinking water can lead to so many serious health conditions and even death. Every year many people, most especially children, suffer from dehydration and electrolyte imbalances caused by diarrheal diseases. It might be an easily preventable problem, but still many people are seriously affected by this especially those living in poverty-stricken communities where water is considered a luxury. In these areas, water sources are usually communal or public and there is no purification method used for drinking water.

In Barangay Maras, there are a couple of different water sources used by the residents and most of them are communal and are not yet confirmed to be potable. The households situated near the highway get their drinking water from a dug wells with hand pump and a few would buy from the nearby water-refilling station. Some households are connected to the piped spring water system established by the Local Officials but the water is rationed and still limited. Along the highway, an average of 25-30 households share 1 water source. In the areas far from the main road, drinking water is taken from an open dug well or a protected spring. Purok Waling-Waling is the only purok that has no water source of its own and people would walk in distances even as far as 200 meters through dense grasslands and narrow roads on top of cliffs just to get water. In terms of water storage and purification, the residents utilize covered containers, which most of them clean regularly, but not all purify their drinking water.

Solution

To manage these problems, approaches must be focused on changing the negative practices of the community, mobilize the people, and utilize available resources to improve the situation of the water sources.

Sustainability

Community involvement is the best way to ascertain sustainability of the programs that will be implemented. All throughout the process, from the identification of the problem up to the evaluation of results, the people must be actively involved to instill the sense of ownership and cooperation in them. The local leaders must also be empowered so that they will be motivated to guide the people effectively and provide independent decisions in managing the projects.

malnutrition update

JULY 2022 IMPLEMENTATION

Our second-to-last exposure. We were still weighing these kids and assessing their nutritional status not long ago. We're still weighing them, but this time we're looking at their growth and development. And there has been PROGRESS!

Our immersion coincided with Nutrition Month this year, with the theme "New Normal in Nutrition, Sama-samang Gawan ng Solusyon!" And because it's also school break, many of our activities have been implemented barangay-wide. As previously stated, we conducted quarterly weight checks on the 59 initially identified malnourished children to assess their progress. By God's grace, their growth has improved significantly, with 40 of them reaching their normal weight for age. However, eight of them remain malnourished, so they were the focus of our next major program.

These eight children, along with other recently identified malnourished children under the age of five, were included in this year's feeding program, which was facilitated by the barangay council. In planning the meals, budgeting, and scheduling the feeding program, our group worked with the council, the public health nurse, the barangay nutrition scholar, and barangay health workers. We ended up scheduling four feeding programs for this month, with more to come in future exposures.

The children were fed nutritious and delicious meals prepared by the BNS, BHWs, and ourselves. Our menu was inspired by the National Nutrition Council's Pinggang Pinoy, which outlines what a Filipino child's plate should consist of using inexpensive and readily available ingredients. These meals are nutritionally adequate to compensate for any deficiencies that a child may have.

The meals prepared for the kids were a hit! Meanwhile, their mothers were taught the core principles and sample meal plans of Pinggang Pinoy so that they, too, could prepare these simple yet healthy meals at home. Seeing the empty dishes and their happy faces was more than enough for us.

One major issue we've noticed during our stay in Maras is the scarcity of local produce due to the lack of a local market. The nearest wet and dry market is still 8 kilometers away in the Poblacion, and a two-way trip costs at least 70 pesos. To address this, we launched a tabo or Market Day on July 15th. Local farmers and gardeners were invited to bring their fruits, vegetables, and crops to sell on the covered court. This was a success, as the produce brought by the farmers was sold out before the clock struck twelve. In addition, the barangay council is now considering putting their plan to create their own market in the barangay into action. In the meantime, the tabo will be held every Friday, with local farmers from Maras and neighboring barangays invited.

One thing is shared by the families of the identified malnourished children. They are living below the poverty line. They have repeatedly stated that they cannot afford to feed their children nutritious meals every day. To help alleviate this, we've collaborated with the Municipal Agricultural Office to establish a communal garden, with the goal of providing these families with free organically grown produce. We obtained seedlings of eggplants, squash, tomatoes, bitter gourds, and other vegetables from their nursery in Barangay Balok and planted them behind the Barangay Health Station. We've also reserved more seedlings from the nursery to be claimed at a later date to help sustain the garden.

Finally, we provided assistance to the Barangay Health Station's deworming program. Deworming tablets and Vitamin A soft gel capsules were given to children aged 4 and up. During this time, we conducted an informal information drive, addressing the mothers' concerns and debunking their myths and beliefs about the effects of deworming.

Overall, this community rotation was eventful. Despite the fact that we hadn't been to the barangay in over two years, it appeared that we hadn't missed a beat. The Barangay Council, PHN, BNS, BHWs, and the local community's camaraderie and bayanihan spirit were greatly appreciated. It's reassuring to know that malnutrition is a major concern among the Marasnons, and that efforts are being launched and actions are being taken to address the issue. As we near the end of our stay in Maras, we can confidently state that the things we've started here will be continued, and the positive results we've achieved will be sustained in the long run, for the benefit of the youth of Barangay Maras.

July 2022 Accomplishments:

Initiation of a complementary feeding program for all identified malnourished children under-5
Quarterly weigh in and monitoring of malnourished children (2nd quarter 2022)
Establishment of Market Day (Tabo) and lecture-discussion.

Upcoming Activities:

Quarterly weigh-in and monitoring of malnourished children (3rd quarter 2022)
Evaluation of Backyard Gardening