2013 Emerson Internship Recipient Report

Lindsay Simpson
Santo Niño Nutrition Project
I feel beyond grateful to have been granted the opportunity to spend 7 weeks this summer
working on a rural nutrition project in the Philippines. It is one thing to be learning about global
hunger and health issues in a classroom, but to actually be out in the field working with these
individuals is a completely different experience. I believe that this amazing opportunity has truly
changed me as an individual and made me significantly more prepared for my future career.
Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines
Prior to leaving for the Philippines I tried to prepare myself by reading about the Filipino history,
culture, cuisine, etc. However, upon my arrival I quickly realized that no matter how much effort
I put into preparation I would never really be prepared to see some of the things that I would see.
I have traveled out of the United States several times before but never to a destination
experiencing such great levels of poverty. I think that it took me at least a week to become
adjusted and completely comfortable with the Filipino culture.
Tacloban is the largest city in the Eastern Visayans. The Visayans are the middle group of
islands in the Philippines. The city of Tacloban is divided up into 138 barangays or
neighborhoods. The barangay that I lived in with my host family was called Bliss which was
about a 15 minute jeepney ride to the downtown area. Santo Nino, the Barangay of Tacloban in
which I worked, was very rural and much less developed than the area than I lived. It took about
45 minutes to get from Santo Nino to downtown. The main attraction in the downtown area was
the market. Farmers from both Leyte and Samar, the neighboring island to the west, would bring
their goods in by boat and truck to be sold. The market is open daily, and the farmers begin to
come in as early as 4 AM. In downtown Tacloban there are also a few restaurants (Filipinos are
very family oriented, therefore they enjoy most of their meals at home), and many small shops
and other vendors. I was fortunate enough to be in Tacloban during June because everybody
spends the whole month participating in fiesta activities which all lead up to the big fiesta on
June 29th. It was remarkable to see all the hard work and patriotism this country had during the
month of June.
Feeding Project in Santo Nino
Volunteer for the Visayans has a building in the more developed part of Santo Nino that serves
as an area for community activities as well as a site for the feeding program. The problem is that
this building is too far away from the children who live outside of this more developed
neighborhood in the rural areas. Therefore, as soon as I arrived in the Philippines I was put on
the task of working with Mano John (VFV employee in charge of Nutrition Project) to establish
a new nutrition center closer to the children who need it most. The feedings would still be going
on at the community center in Santo Nino; they would just be administrated solely by the
mothers with the guidance and support of VFV.
Therefore, for my first week Mano John and I went to the rural community to create profiles for
all of the children applicable for the feeding program. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding and
need we could only accept children into the program who are age seven and under. The first few
days we walked from house to house in which we informed the mothers what this program
would consist of. If they were interested (almost all of them were) we took the name and birth
date of the child or children and then recorded their height and weight. After we collected all of
that information we ventured back to the same families to interview them. The interview
consisted of many questions ranging from the family members education and income, to the
number of meals the child consumes per day, to their medical history. These profiles also contain
a picture of the child and space to record all of their measurements including the percentile they
fall for their age and if they are underweight or normal. Below is an example of one of these
profiles. Example Child Profile for Santo Nino Nutrition Project.pdf
During the profiling process we announced to each family that the feedings would begin on that
Thursday. We were fortunate enough to be able to be offered an abandoned home to use as a
temporary location for this project. If we weren’t offered this space we would have had to cook
outside in the heat which would have been more challenging. Additionally, there were extra
cooking supplies at the center in Santo Nino that we were able to take to bring to this rural
village. We had a large wok, a rice pot, mixing/serving utensils, cutting boards and knives,
storage containers, and miscellaneous dried goods such as cooking oil and spices.
Pictured above is the interior and exterior of the building that we prepared meals in. The front porch area
had tables where the children would eat (see below).
At the end of each week we would budget and plan out all of the meals for the next week. We
were given 2,500 pesos per week, or 500 pesos per day, for the meals. This turned out being
more than enough money to cover the feeding project costs so we ended up saving the left over
funds from each week to use for a garden project that I will discuss later.
The market that we purchased the majority of the food at was downtown and pretty far out of
our way, so we would try to only go there once a week. We would typically leave earlier on
Mondays to go to the downtown market where we would purchase all of our dried goods and
vegetables that we would need for the week. Due to the extreme heat we decided that the best
way to keep the vegetables fresh for the whole week was to store them in the refrigerator at the
VFV center rather than keeping them in the bin at the house in Santo Nino. In addition to the
market, we would also purchase food at small stores ran out of the front portion of families’
homes in Bliss. Having these stores available was convenient in case we forgot to purchase an
ingredient or if we needed to by something the day we were going to use it. There was also a
meat shop in Bliss that we would walk to each morning before catching a jeepney to the
terminal. We could get pork (ground or cubed), chicken, and liver at the meat shop all for a
reasonable price.
Top left: Fishermen showing us his catch at the market, Top middle: One of the market vendor’s vegetables,
Bottom left: Locals selling coconuts and coconut milk, Bottom middle: View from the market where the boats
come in with their goods, Bottom right: Don Don’s Meat shop
The food that we prepared for the children was primarily Filipino food. Mano John, the VFV
head of the nutrition project, encouraged us early on in my stay to introduce them to some
American dishes. We ended up making a few meals such as spaghetti with chicken parmesan on
the side, banana and mango pancakes, as well as a few other more American meals, but we
quickly came to the realization that the children didn’t care for them as much as the foods that
they were used to. Additionally, spaghetti and rice noodles such as pancit and pancit canton are
all considered a specialty item or a treat in the Philippines. This factor resulted in the children
eating much less than usual so that they could bring their leftovers home to share with their
family; an extremely sweet gesture, just not our intention. Therefore, for the mass majority of my
time on the feeding project we prepared native dishes. We acquired these recipes from a recipe
book made by previous VFV volunteers as well as recipes for nutritional supplementation which
were published by the Filipino government. These books were extremely helpful because they
provided detailed information on the ingredients, preparation, nutritional value, and the estimated
cost. This information was of great assistance when budgeting and planning out the meals for the
week because we had to make sure to stay within the budget and supply the children with
nutrient dense dishes (major concentration on Vitamin A and Iron).
Our mode of transportation from Bliss to Santo
Nino was jeepney (see picture to the right),
which are bus-like public transportation
vehicles made out of military jeeps from World
War II. Riding the jeepney to Santo Nino was
definitely an interesting experience. Due to the
fact that Santo Nino is quite far outside the city
jeepneys don’t run there as frequently.
Therefore, they pack the jeepneys extremely
tight before they will venture out to Santo Nino
(people on top and in the aisle, hanging off the
back, sitting with the driver etc.) Once we
arrived at our stop we had about a 5 minute
walk to the home where we cooked. This
included walking over two logs positioned over small rivers, which often created a challenge
when our arms were full of groceries. Upon arriving in this rural village we were always
immediately greeted by the smiling faces of the children who would then trail behind us to the
house, eager to help us in preparing the food. We would give them small simple jobs such as
pulling the malunggay (a local “power”
vegetable) off its branches (see picture to left).
If there wasn’t anything that they could help us
with we would just keep them occupied on the
front porch with coloring books and other
crafts while we cooked (see images below).
When we started the feedings the start of their school year hadn’t begun yet, so all of the children
were able to make it to the feedings each
day. This became more of a challenge once
school began because we had to have two
sessions of feedings in order to accommodate
everybody. When all of the children were
there at once we were able to portion out the
servings so that each child would receive an
approximately equivalent amount. However,
once we had to divide the feeding into two
separate groups this became difficult because
we were never sure how many children
would be there each day. We stressed to the parents the importance of the feedings, and told
them if they missed too many in a row that they would be removed from the program. We never
actually dismissed a child from the feeding program; this was just a means of getting the parents
to make sure their children were attending.
Each day we would take attendance of the
children present at the feeding. This data
would then be entered into a Santo Nino
Nutrition Project Database at the VFV center
on a weekly basis. After we would call each
child’s name for attendance they would
receive a chewable multivitamin supplement
and a sticker. The vitamins and stickers at the
end of each feeding ended up being quite an
incentive for the children’s daily attendance.
Additionally, every other week we would track the progress of the children by recording their
height and weight. This information would be used to determine the child’s BMI and which
percentile they fall into for his/her age and gender. We would then enter this into the database
along with any notes we may have. Keeping track of the progress of the children is extremely
important for the success of the nutrition program. VFV compiles the data from all of the other
nutrition projects and uses it for their own use as well as a means to show those who have
donated or volunteered for the organization that their funds are benefitting many lives and being
put to good use. Below are some action shots from while we were recording the heights of the
children.
Boys and Girls Club Health Lesson
I was very excited when my partner Laurel and I were asked to do a basic Nutrition and Health
Lesson with the Boys and Girls Club. A major part of Volunteer for the Visayans is the
Sponsorship Program which gives at risk students the resources to stay in school. These
resources include school supplies, a school bag, after school tutoring (done by VFV volunteers),
lunch provided at the VFV center every school day, and helps covers costs for school uniforms
and other fees. The Boys and Girls Clubs consist of these sponsored students and gives these
students a chance to spend time together on Sunday afternoons and learn or enjoy a fun activity.
The high schools in the Philippines are
typically run one teacher to a class room
and that specific teacher will cover all
subjects, similar to Elementary education in
the United States. This is troublesome
because the teachers are teaching very large
classes and tend to lack a strong background
in many of the upper level subject matter.
Therefore, the health education given to
Filipino students tends to be very brief and remains at about the same level from when they are
younger up to grade 12.
Creating the presentations for the Boys and Girls Club ended up being a much greater challenge
than anticipated. This was the first educational lesson I had planned in the Philippines and I just
didn’t know where to start. I wanted to be able to teach these students about health topics they
aren’t educated in, but be culturally sensitive at the same time. This is when I realized how hard
it really was to work with these low income populations. How is it right to talk to children about
needing to consume a well balanced diet when their parents may not be able to afford more than
rice? Laurel and I approached Mano John with our concern about offending these children and
he told us we didn’t need to worry because these children are all sponsored. Therefore, they will
be pursuing college education and will most likely end up much better off than their parents.
This makes it essential for them to learn about the importance of eating healthy so that when they
are on their own they will make the right food choices.
We made two different PowerPoint presentations for the Boys and Girls Clubs. Each
presentation had the same nutrition basis, starting out with talking about “Go, Grow, Glow”
which is a term taught and encouraged by the Filipino Government. “Go” foods refer to grain
based carbohydrates such as rice and bread and are the foods that give you energy. “Grow” foods
are proteins such as chicken, pork, fish, and eggs which make you grow big and strong. Finally,
“Glow” foods refer to fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins and minerals that keep you
looking healthy.
We then went into discussing proper proportioning of meals using a My Plate like model with
adjustments so it was more suitable for the Filipino culture. The next major topic that we
discussed with the children was diet related diseases, concentrating on cardiovascular disease
and hypertension due to their high prevalence in the Philippines. When talking about
cardiovascular disease we tried to emphasize to the children that not all fats are bad for you. We
described what saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats were, foods in Filipino cuisine in which they
were found, and why they are good or bad for you.
For the Girls Club presentation we were instructed by one of the VFV managers to include
information on eating healthy for outside beauty. She told us that Filipino girls are very
interested in having beautiful hair, skin, and eyes. Therefore, an example of this from our
presentation is the discussion on how eating foods rich in unsaturated fats such as their local
avocados will contribute to skin and hair health.
Instead of adding in healthy foods for beauty section for the Boys Club presentation we decided
that it was most important to concentrate on the risks of smoking cigarettes. We researched
smoking statistics for the Philippines to share with the boys such as the number of deaths per
year, and the amount of money spent on smoking per year. When we presented to the Boys Club
we included an activity that was intended to stimulate the long term effects of smoking. The boys
had to run in place for one minute and then attempt to breathe through a straw, which is
supposed to show how hard it is to breathe after smoking for so many years.
The last section of our presentations for both the Boys Club and the Girls Club was focused on
the importance of exercise. Due to the extreme heat in the Philippines the majority of individuals
don’t enjoy exercising or being in the sunlight outside. Therefore, we just tried to stress why the
human body needs exercise and give the students little ideas of ways they could fit exercise into
their daily lives. These ideas included walking instead of taking the jeepney, joining a team at
school, dancing during videoke (karaoke to us, a big hit in the Philippines), and jumping rope
with friends after school.
When we gave our presentation to the Girls Club
they were extremely considerate and eager to learn.
They all listened when we were speaking and
participated in all of the activities following the
presentation. I truly think that the girls learned a lot
from our presentation; several of the older girls
were even taking notes. They expressed to us that
they really don’t learn much about health in school
and aren’t aware of any of the diseases we
discussed such as diabetes, hypertension, and
cardiovascular disease. For the majority of the girls it was their first time getting their blood
pressure checked, and they were also really appreciative to now know the importance of having
that simple test done on a semi-regular basis. Above is a photograph of the girls working
together on one of our activities we planned for them, the food group sorting activity. For the
second activity we gave each girl a paper plate and with colored pencils they had to plan and
properly portion a meal according to the My Plate ideology we earlier discussed.
The Boys Club on the other hand was much more of a struggle to work with. They didn’t want to
listen to anything we had to say and were inconsiderate and laughing the majority of the time.
The main part of our presentation that they didn’t care to listen to was when we discussed the
harmful effects of smoking. Cigarettes are smoked by the majority of the male population in the
Philippines and even for them they are extremely cheap compared to the United States (18 pesos
a pack or 1 peso a cigarette, which is equivalent to less than 50 cents a pack). The high
prevalence of smoking in the Philippines has significantly contributed to the sky rocketing rates
of hypertension and heart disease in men. We tried to stress to these boys that if they continue
smoking for the rest of their lives it can have a serious effect on their families. For example, we
told them that the costs of smoking truly adds up financially, and if they smoke for long periods
of time it increases their likelihood of becoming sick which would then put more financial strain
on the family. When we took the blood pressures of these boys we were shocked to see some of
the results. Several of the boys around 18 and 19 years old had blood pressures around 160/100,
and at least 5 other boys had high blood pressure as well. After we presented each child with the
results they still laughed and shook it off like it was nothing. We decided that perhaps they didn’t
respect what we had to say because of that fact that we are American and they may feel that we
are trying to push our culture and beliefs onto them.
Boys Club Presentation.pdf
Zumba with Mothers Club and Physical Activity at SOS Children’s Village
I also had the pleasure of participating in a Zumba Class with the Mothers Club at the VFV
Center as well as physical activity time at the SOS Children’s Village. Both of these experiences
were so enjoyable because we got to introduce new and fun means of exercise into a society that
lacks a “gym culture”.
A big fan of Zumba, I was thrilled to be able to participate in this opportunity at the VFV center.
The class was about an hour long with a few breaks for water in between. It was so cool to see
the mothers dancing and laughing while getting a good workout. When we were done the
mothers expressed to us how much they enjoyed it and that they would do it again. Due to a
conflict with my Nutrition Project placement I wasn’t able to attend any other Zumba classes;
however I was informed that they were going quite well and the mothers were still enjoying
them. I think it is awesome to be introducing new forms of exercise that are easy and fun into
this lower income culture when the mass majority of individuals can’t afford to go to the gym.
Additionally, it is so hot out that nobody wants to walk anywhere or exercise outside. Zumba is
an option that can be done indoors to music, which Filipinos love, so I think that it is so great
that these Mothers were enjoying it so much. I truly hope that they share this valuable form of
exercise with others in their community.
My second physical activity experience with Filipinos was at SOS Children’s Village. SOS
Children’s Village is a unique orphanage because it houses a small group of children in a home
in the “village” where they live with a volunteer mother until they graduate college. It was so
inspiring to see how truly happy and fortunate these children were despite their scenario of being
an orphan. The children who live with them become their brothers and sisters and they see their
“volunteer” mother as their true mother. I spent an afternoon at SOS Children’s Village when all
of the kids were home from school. We were asked by the administrative staff to do physical
activities with the children for the time that we were there. These activities consisted of tag, hide
and go seek, soccer, jump rope, hop scotch, and dancing. We were also introduced to a new
Chinese oriented game of which I can’t remember the name. This game consisted of two
individuals holding a string and then there was a line of the other children. Each child had to try
to get over the string anyway they could, which often included cartwheels, jumping etc. Overall,
working with these kids was such a valuable experience because they really enjoyed being active
and playing with one another. Despite the heat, they just wanted to run around and have fun,
which I noticed was quite different from the children at the VFV center we discussed the
importance of exercise with. Below is a photograph of SOS Children’s Village.
Health Lesson in Santo Nino
My partners and I decided that holding a Health Lesson with the mothers in Santo Nino was
essential. Due to their extremely low income status we thought that we would be good if we
focused more on sanitation and basic nutrition rather than going into depth. Additionally,
because of the language barrier we had to have Mano John come to translate to the mothers for
us.
The first thing that we went through was hand washing. We explained
the importance of hand washing to the mothers and children and told
them all of the times that hand washing is needed. Additionally, each
family received a handout which was a web that displayed pictures of
activities that you need to wash your hands before or after. We then
had all of the children wash their hands with soap and clean water. It
was surprising to see how so few of the children knew what to do
once we rubbed soap in their hands. The children were then informed
that from that day on they would have to wash their hands at the dish
washing station outside of the feeding building. Fortunately, the hand
washing practice prior to eating successfully continued for the
remainder of my stay in the Philippines.
Hand washing Visual.pdf
The second topic that we discussed with the mothers and children was tooth brushing. Seeing the
dental conditions of these young children was extremely hard for me. There was one young girl,
Dianne, who was barely eating for at least three weeks because she had such a horrible tooth
ache. Due to the significant amount of weight that she lost VFV took initiative and contacted the
Medical Mission to have her tooth removed. It was just really upsetting to see the amount of
rotted tooth smiles there were in Santo Nino, all due to the unavailability and lack of finances to
purchase toothpaste and tooth brushes.
Prior to the lesson Mano John had asked the children if they brush their teeth, and they replied
they would brush their teeth but they just don’t have tooth paste and tooth brushes available to
them at home because it is too expensive. Therefore, my two partners and I took initiative and
used leftover funds from the feeding program as well as our own personal donations and
purchased 40 tooth brushes and 10 tubes of tooth paste. After handing out the tooth brushes and
giving a lesson on how to properly brush your teeth we told the children that there would be
tooth paste available to them at the home we cook at. The children had to bring their tooth brush
each day to brush after they ate, which ended up being a real success! (We didn’t have the funds
to buy enough toothpaste to send a tube home with each child). It turned out that all of the
children were really excited to have their own tooth brush. We had three children who liked
brushing so much they would stand outside and do it for about 10 minutes each day when we
were cleaning up; we just couldn’t get them to stop! Overall, even though we weren’t able to
supply each child with their own toothpaste I believe that knowing that they were brushing at
least once a day had a positive effect on their dental health. VFV informed us that they would
make sure the future volunteers at that site continue to enforce bringing your tooth brush to
lunch, and they stated that in the near future would try to seek donations for dental health
supplies for children. Below are pictures of some of the children holding up their new
toothbrush!
The last topic that we discussed with the mothers and the children was the food groups. We
simply explained the importance of eating foods from each food group and gave simple
descriptions as to what they do for the body. We avoided telling them how much of each they
need to eat each day because of the boundaries of their low incomes and resources. Overall, it is
clearly a challenge to discuss proper eating with individuals who are so isolated financially and
geographically from healthy foods. Therefore, we focused on telling the mothers how eating the
few fruits and vegetables that grow naturally on their land will benefit them. Below on the left is
an image of some of the mothers and children during the health discussion, and on the right is an
image of myself during the sanitation talk.
Tacloban National High School Lecture
My partner Laurel and I were beyond excited to be invited to speak at the Tacloban National
High School. We realized that being asked to give a health lecture at the high school was a big
deal, so we prepared for this for several weeks. Due to the lack of technology in the school we
made several different posters as visual aids for our presentation. The posters included a giant
nutrition label, a visual of a normal vs. clogged artery, a My Plate visual featuring Filipino
cuisine, pictures of healthy vs. smokers lungs, and a poster of the digestive system.
Upon arriving at the high school we were greeted by the principal and other administrators. They
were thrilled to have us; they even gave us each a certificate of recognition for coming to their
school. We were given formal introductions in front of the large audience (around 150 children)
and then they sang a Filipino prayer as well as their national anthem. Once we hung up our
posters and got situated we began the presentation. We went into more depth with this lecture
than the other presentations we have given because of the fact that our audience was high school
students and we didn’t want to simply review what their teacher may have taught them. We
started out by explaining the
macro and micronutrients and
discussed why they are
important. For the
macronutrients, we went into
depth about what carbohydrates,
proteins, and lipids are and what
they do. When we discussed
micronutrients we simply
explained the general groups,
vitamins, minerals, and water
instead of going into depth
about each individual
vitamin/mineral. We proceeded
to go through the digestive system, which was something that these students had never learned
before. Due to there being a lot of new material we went very slowly and tried to stay away from
more scientific wording that the students wouldn’t connect with or understand. Additionally, we
talked about food proportioning through the introduction of My Plate. The children are used to
seeing the food pyramid so this was something new for them; however I really think that they
seemed to grasp it quite well. I also think it helped that we discussed how their local diet fits into
the My Plate. Our visual had rice in the grain section, fish in protein, squash and green beans in
vegetables, and mango in fruit, which is a very local and realistic meal that they would consume.
The next thing that was discussed was degenerative disease such as heart disease and high blood
pressure which are the leading causes of death in the Philippines. We started out this section of
the lecture by asking the students if they knew anybody with either of those conditions, and
everybody in the room raised his or her hand. We covered what exactly was going on in the body
when an individual has one of these diseases (also discussed Type II Diabetes), and how they can
be prevented and or reversed through eating a healthy diet and practicing a healthy lifestyle. The
last thing that we went over with the students was reading food labels. Processed foods including
sugary soda drinks, chips, and cookies are readily
available and inexpensive in much of the
Philippines. We stressed the importance to the
children of natural vs. artificial sugars, and how
most processed foods aren’t good for you. After
going over the most important parts of reading a
label we had an interactive activity for the
students. They were given a worksheet with a
label and got to work in small groups to answer
the questions regarding the label.
The children at Tacloban National High School were eager to learn and great listeners. Being
invited to this school was an awesome experience and I truly feel like each of the children
learned something that will hopefully have a positive impact on his or her life.
Santo Nino Community Garden
Each week the Santo Nino Nutrition Project was given a budget of 2,500 pesos, however we
often had quite a bit of money left over at the end of each week. It was about my third week in
Tacloban when we decided that we were going to save up that extra money and put it towards a
community garden for the families in
Santo Nino.
We didn’t save up enough to purchase
the needed supplies until my last week,
so I unfortunately wasn’t there to see the
garden progress but I have been
receiving updates from one of my coworkers who is still there.
The soil in Santo Nino is extremely solid,
orange colored clay so it makes it
impossible for the residents of this
community to have vegetable gardens.
Therefore, we proposed to the mothers that if we would trade them their old water jugs for new
ones that we would purchase. The water jugs could then be cut in half and serve as a container to
grow the vegetables. One of the Volunteer for the Visayans administrators proposed that we use
recycled water jugs instead of bringing in a planting containers that would cost more so we
remain culturally conscious and don’t offend anybody.
Due to the soil being so poor in Santo Nino and the unavailability of bagged potting soil like we
have in the United States we had to make our own soil mixture for the community garden. We
purchased a sand mixture which we hauled out to Santo Nino which was then mixed with some
of the clay and chicken feces for fertilizer. This soil mixture was then put into the water
containers that were cut in half. Next we planted the seeds including tomato, eggplant, peppers, a
small squash, onions, and garlic. The children were very excited and eager to help us out with
this portion of the garden. The final thing we did was label the bins with what was planted in
each and water them. We didn’t have a watering can so we improvised by making one out of
puncturing holes in the bottom of a tin can. Below is a photo of Mano John, fellow volunteers,
and a few children planting seeds in the first set of watering bins.
Although we made the garden in the last of my days I am very appreciative that I got to take part
in planning and implementing it.
Additionally, despite not having enough
bins to make a large enough garden to
provide for that entire rural community, I
think that what was done was a good
start and hopefully there will be efforts
to expand it in the future. The families in
Santo Nino were so extremely
appreciative and excited to have access
to vegetables that they typically don’t
have access to. These families live on
very strict budgets (making the
equivalency of a few US dollars a
day for 6 or more individuals) so
they usually just eat rice and the
fruits that grow naturally on their
land. It would cost them over half
of the family’s daily income to
travel to downtown Tacloban to go
to the market, which they simply
can’t afford, so most vegetables are
out of the question for these Santo
Nino families. Seeing how isolated
these people were from the
residents in the City of Tacloban really opened my eyes. Additionally, I really felt for these
people because their geographic location was preventing them from making themselves more
self sustainable. It is just really interesting to see how something completely unpreventable such
as the type of soil can negatively impact people.
About a week after I left the Philippines my Nutrition Project partner sent this picture of some of
our peppers to me. I was very excited to see the plants progressing well!
Concluding Remarks
I can honestly say that traveling to the Philippines to work on this nutrition project was one of
the best decisions of my life. I truly feel as though I am a much more globally minded individual
now than I was before this wonderful opportunity. Prior to going on this trip I had a few friends,
family members, and even a professor question why I would want to go to the Philippines. I had
been contemplating between nutrition projects in several developing countries, however after
much research and thinking I decided that the Philippines was the perfect place to go. I wanted to
go to the Philippines because it is a nation that Americans truly don’t know anything about,
besides the association with the “made in the Philippines” tags found on many clothes. I wanted
to go to the Philippines because I realized that this nation has been struggling for ever, and only
gained their independence after World War II. Additionally, I wanted to go to the Philippines
because every single article I read about this far away country raved about how kind and
hospitable Filipinos are, which I truly found to be 100% valid. I am extremely glad that I looked
past everybody questioning my decision to travel to this poverty struck nation because it honestly
positively changed me as an individual.
This experience has made me inspired to continue to help as much as I can, even from home.
This year I am the President of the Nutrition Club at Ithaca College. I plan to propose to the rest
of the executive board and Club members that we do a monthly fundraiser to send aid to various
nutrition related projects around the globe. The time I spent in the Philippines showed me that
that every little bit truly counts and means way more to the individual receiving the help than one
would expect. Additionally, during my time in the Philippines I came to realize the true shortage
of clothing in the rural areas such as Santo Nino where I worked. We would have children
coming to feedings in the same, unwashed rags day after day. Many of the younger children
would come to us just in their underwear full of holes. One reason that the lack of proper attire is
such a problem in these rural villages is because of the insects and pests which can lead to
various diseases and infections. Intestinal parasites, or worms, were another major issue among
the children which was a major concern to us because if a child has them they affect nutrient
absorption. Each year the medical mission comes to Santo Nino to distribute de-worming
medication, however many mothers
don’t believe the worms exist so they
fail to de-worm their children.
Therefore, I believe that on and off the
Ithaca College campus I could collect
clothing donations to send to the
families lacking proper attire in rural
communities such as Santo Nino. Also,
this coming school year perhaps other
clubs on campus would like to
combine efforts to provide funds for
medical treatment (such as
vaccinations and de-worming pills) to
such places.
The biggest thing I came to realize while in the Philippines is how truly materialistic we are in
the United States. The people there have so little, yet there are so extremely happy. The principal
of “needs” versus “wants” truly stuck me during my seven weeks in the Philippines. Since I have
been home I have donated an extreme amount of clothes and miscellaneous items that I simply
don’t need any more, and it really did feel amazing to do so. In addition, I was truly inspired by
how important family is in the Philippines. I think that many Americans tend to get so wrapped
up in school, work, friends, etc. therefore overlooking the importance of bonding with their loved
ones. Being submerged in an atmosphere in which family is the absolute number one priority to
the mass majority of individuals was extremely eye opening and made me rethink what my
priorities for my own personal life are.
Overall, I am beyond grateful for this
opportunity to spend time in the
Philippines. From my placement at the
Santo Nino Nutrition Project to all of the
other fabulous experiences that I had in the
Philippines, every moment significantly
changed me as an individual. I now feel
much more confident and prepared for
what is to come after graduation this
coming May. I would strongly encourage
all individuals to travel to a developing
country if the opportunity ever presents
itself. I guarantee it will be life changing
and make you a stronger, more appreciative, and more generous individual overall. To be able to
give to people who truly need it is an amazing feeling personally, but what those individuals will
give back to you is a gift that doesn’t even compare. The overwhelming amounts of love,
happiness, compassion, and generosity despite being in a developing nation sincerely took me
right off my feet.
I couldn’t say thank you (or in Waray-Waray, salamat) to the VFV staff, fellow volunteers, my
Nanay and Tatay (mother and father) in my home stay, and all of the amazing mothers, children,
and students that I worked with. I went to this country thinking I would be the one teaching and
helping others; however it turned out that these people taught me more than I could have ever
asked for.