Fourth Update Malnutrtition

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

September 2021 IMPLEMENTATION

TEAM MARAS' Aksyon Pugong sa Malnutrisyon program continues to work toward the ultimate goal of eradicating malnutrition among all children aged 5 and under in Barangay Maras, Sindangan. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the team has made significant progress in its actions for the September exposure.

To begin, we will continue to educate the public about the factors that can lead to a child becoming malnourished. Posters promoting the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for infants under 6 months of age were placed in high-traffic areas such as the barangay health station and sari-sari stores. Several posters promoting the prevention of helminthic infections and parasitism were placed in the aforementioned locations. This is to reinforce the knowledge that the people of Brgy. Maras gained from our previous information campaigns.

A proposal for a complementary feeding program led by barangays has been launched. We have asked three local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the community, the Farmers' Association, the Women's Club, and the Senior Citizens' Association, to sponsor the feeding of all identified malnourished children. This will take place after plans have been developed and approved by the Barangay Public Health Nurse.

A communal garden was established at the Barangay Health Station to supplement the feeding program. The Municipal Agricultural Office provided seedlings of eggplants, okras, water spinaches, bottle gourds, and string beans, and members of the Mothers Against Malnutrition in Maras (MAMMs) assisted in planting the seedlings.

To assess the efficacy of our programs, we asked our Barangay Health Workers to interview mothers with children aged 6 months and under about their breastfeeding status. Twenty (87 percent) of the 23 mothers polled reported that they are exclusively breastfeeding, while three (13%) practiced supplementary feeding. We are pleased to report that the percentage of mothers exclusively breastfeeding has increased from 72 percent in our 2019 baseline data. Furthermore, none of the mothers polled stated that they do not breastfeed their child, which is a positive result given that 15% of mothers did not breastfeed their child at all in our baseline data.

We are confident that we will be able to completely eliminate malnutrition in the Barangay, but we will never be satisfied with the results that have been presented thus far. We will work hard to make Maras a child-friendly Barangay, where all children have an equal opportunity to live a healthy, productive life free of the consequences of malnutrition.

September 2021 Accomplishments:

Initiation of a complementary feeding program for all identified malnourished children under-5.
Posting of IEC materials on exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and deworming on the Barangay Health Station and Sari-sari stores.
Intersectoral linkages for the establishment of a communal garden.

Upcoming Activities:

Following the protocols of social distancing, wearing of face masks, disinfection, and limiting movement to only essentials in the context of COVID-19 New Normal Setting, the following upcoming activities are as follows:
- Cooking show based on the principles of Pinggang Pinoy, 10 Kumainments
- Conduct a feeding program in partnership with daycare center, and a barangay-led feeding program
- Quarterly weigh-in and monitoring of malnourished children (December)
- Memorandum of Understanding by and between Barangay Council and MAMMs