My Turf

“Before UNFPA, you’d seldom see health people explaining family planning, what Reproductive Health is, what are the different contraceptives… Kapag hindi ka pumunta sa RHU to ask, you will not have the information.

-          Lilia Say-awen, Community Organizer, PHSSA

 

Products and services related to reproductive health (RH) had always been available at almost no cost in Rural Health Units (RHU). However, most people in the municipality of Sagada were not accessing them because either they did not know about these services at all, or they did not understand how these could benefit them.

 

Sagada is a small municipality in the Cordillera Region. While natural resources abound, most people are hard-up and have difficulty making ends meet. As parents struggle to provide for the everyday needs of their families, health care often tends to take a backseat.

 

 

The Local Government Unit (LGU) and the Municipal Health Office (MHO) also had a lot on their hands—manpower limitation and financial restraints made it difficult to bring health services down to the communities, especially to those in far-flung barangays. If people wanted access to information and services related to reproductive health, they had to go the Rural Health Units themselves.

 

 

Due to the lack, if not total absence, of education regarding RH, Sagada’s population continued to grow. Before 2005, the risk of maternal and infant mortality remained as 60% of deliveries were done at homes, conducted by untrained Hilot or Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA). People were unmindful of sexually transmitted diseases and other dangers posed by unprotected sex. Among the youth, cases of substance abuse and teenage pregnancy were also on the rise.

 

 

 

Keeping the Faith

 

 

“Anong family planning? Hindi namin kailangan yan. Malawak ang Sagada!

Baket namin kokontrolin? Basta kaya naming buhayin!”

 

 

 

This used to be the common response of many men in Sagada when asked about their stand on family planning. Even with support from the UNFPA and resolute community organizing efforts from the members of PHSSA, positive changes resulting from the information dissemination campaigns in the barangays were not immediately felt. The low reception and people’s reluctance to participate, especially of the men, in the health education seminars conducted by the RHUs in their respective barangays was a major headache for the members of PHYSSA and the Municipal Health Office.

 

 

“Hirap na hirap kami nung una. Ayaw kaming pansinin!” exclaimed Marvie Molintas, community organizer from PHSSA. How to get the men to attend posed a really big challenge to the RH advocates. This was the case in all of Sagada’s 19 barangays, and Barangay Ankileng was no exception.

 

 

Like an answered prayer, however, an unforeseen solution to this long-standing problem knocked on their doors one day. The leaders of the Marriage Ministry of a Presbyterian Church approached their RHU to seek help for a Couple’s Class they’re planning to conduct for the residents of Barangay Ankileng.  “Nagtayo kami ng couple’s class, last year nung 2007. We tapped the RHU para mag-support sila sa chapter namin on Intimacy. Kasi yun ang concern ng mga couples: Gusto nilang maging intimate. Ang problema nga lang, baka manganganak. Kaya sabi ko sa taga-RHU, pagkatapos ng intimacy namin na chapter, magbigay kayo ng classes tungkol sa maternal health at reproductive health.”

 

 

The staff of the RHU acceded to the religious leaders’ request. Given the difficulty of gathering people in a single event, any chance to promote RH was a most welcome opportunity. But what they saw Ankileng was far from what they expected.

 

 

 

To say that the RHU representatives were surprised when they first came to the church’s Couple’s Class would be an understatement. With all the women attendees were their husbands! Amazed, the RHU staff asked the Marriage Ministry facilitators, “How did you do it?” The response of Lolita Tuanda, pastor from the Presbyterian Church, was simple: this is a Couples’ Class, so only couples are allowed to attend. “Hindi pwedeng wife lang. Hindi pwedeng husband lang. Couple dapat.”

 

Following the success of the first session, a separate RH module was developed and incorporated in the Couples’ Class. The RHU staff trained the facilitators from the Marriage Ministry on RH so that they could teach the RH modules themselves. The conduct of a Couples’ Class in Barangay Ankileng was soon replicated in other areas.

 

 

 

 

The biggest outcome of the effort is an increased involvement of the men with regard to the health concerns of their families. After having undergone training, the men’s thinking about RH took a complete turnaround–their wives attest to their transformation. A housewife claims:

 

 

“Nung nag-aral kami nung don sa Couples’, doon nalaman ng mga asawa namin na dapat pala ay magplano ng pamilya para maging maganda ang kinabukasan ng mga bata. At nalaman din nila na importante pala sa isang babae na mag-control para maalagaan niya ang katawan niya. Napag-aralan din nila ang tungkol sa VAWC. Alam na ng mga asawa namin yun.”

 

 

 

It was not only the men that benefitted from efforts to educate the communities on RH. Information and knowledge on their rights truly empowered the women– they became more assertive when it came to making decisions for the family. For the women of Barangay Ankileng, their increased self-confidence enabled them to set in motion OB OB-BON DI I NIN-A (Mothers’ Bayanihan) or ODIA. This organization has been in existence since the ‘80s, but was inactive for more than a decade until the women of Ankileng decided to revive it in 2007.

 

 

With some support from the UNFPA, ODIA’s rebirth led to the establishment of a community-based livelihood initiative: a peanut butter-making business. This gave additional income to the members. Moreover, a percentage of the generated profits go to a communal savings which they could use when health emergencies occur.

 

 

 

 

 

According to PHSSA’s Marvie Molintas, this project is a concrete manifestation that the people are finally realizing that health is actually everybody’s concern.  “Ngayon, with the program, mas na-realize nila na pwede palang magkaron ng unti-unti na savings para masagutan yung pangangailangan ng women na hindi kaya lahat na masagutan mula doon sa present na estado ng kabuhayan. So, parang andun kaagad yung direction na paggawa nila ng economic endeavors towards RH. It taught them na ang health pala, concern ng lahat: Concern ng family. Concern ng Baranggay Council, hindi lang ng RHU.”

 

 

 

 

Lolita Tuanda, a pastor in the Ankileng Presbyterian Church and speaker on RH Couples’ Class on family planning:

“Alam namin na pag healthy ang family, healthy din ang community. Pag ang aim ay healthy family, kasama talaga ang family planning. Kasi paano mo naman masasabi na healthy ang isang pamilya kung wala ang pagpa-plano? “

 

 

 

 

The public is commonly uncomfortable with change. Often, they tend to reject outright new ideas they do not understand. Sagada’s story proves that after understanding follows acceptance, but doing this may take more than just organizing or mobilizing. Sometimes, the key element that would lead to it is an unexpected partner like the Ankileng Presbyterian Church. In due course, people, given the right information and avenue for expression, would find creative and innovative ways to help themselves.