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teamgreenfinity@gmail.comHappy ending, new beginnings
Thursday, May 11, 2017
9:52 PM
0 💬
by Reyn Ortiz
It's the last day of our 6-week immersion in the community and all of us are willing to give it everything we have. Our alarms went off as early as 5 AM and a few members of the team rushed to Poblacion to buy the necessary things needed for the preparation of our culminating activity. We have agreed to have a fun-filled program with the farmers, complete with games and a boodle lunch!
As early as 7 AM, the core group members have left their respective work to give us a hand with the preparations. They helped us cook and when they saw that we had a few problems with the venue set-up, they immediately called other farmers to help. The sun was up and hot above the school grounds and we had to do something to give our farmers shade during the event. The farmers took bamboos and tarpaulins, and immediately got to work. It was a good show of camaraderie and bayanihan when they all got together to give us a hand. Sir Dodoy, vice-president of our core group, said that he had never quite seen the farmers gather as quick as how they do when they are participating in our project. He believes that it's a blessing for all of them that the team came.
The event was scheduled to start at 9 AM but because of another power interruption, we had to wait for another hour to begin. Lucky for us, the farmers patiently waited. The program flow was smooth. We had a series of games prepared for the farmers, which they actively participated in, and we also performed a song and a dance number to entertain them. One of the farmers also gave an impromptu performance and it surprised us that he was able to sing for us very well. It was almost as if he had practiced it many times. It was indeed pure talent.
Halfway through the program, food was placed on banana leaves on the table to achieve the typical boodle lunch. The team in one long table with the farmers dug in and slowly consumed most of what was prepared. With the effort of the team and the farmers who helped us cook the food, we were able to satisfy our hungry stomachs, and there was food left to share and for the farmers to take home to their kids and families.
...Among the teams of 4th year BS Public Health students in UP, we could really say that we are one of the luckiest because we chose a community with people who are willing to give as much as they take, and this is one of the qualities that will really ensure the success of a project. To be honest, we had a really tough time adjusting to the new environment - the hassle of finding transportation so we could go home, the need to make fire so we could cook the food we eat, the long distance travel on foot during our house-to-house surveys, the crappy reception that made communication with our loved ones at home very difficult and the internet inaccessible, the heavy rain that made puddles on our beds, the blackouts that forced us into unproductiveness, the need to budget our money to ensure the provision of PPEs and our daily meals, birthday surprises that made us think of excuses to the point of pretending to get lost in the woods to buy more time for preparation, the scorching hot afternoons and freezing nights - but despite all these challenges, we chose to stay because from the start, we have instilled in ourselves that this project is not only an academic requirement but is implemented for a much greater purpose, and that is to be of genuine service to you, farmers. In this school that we call our second home, there were a lot of times we argued and fought over petty things, personal things, as we knew more about each other the longer we lived under the same roof, but in this place, problems were settled, found solution for and fixed. The life lessons we got from this sitio overpower those that we consider bad memories, and we couldn't be more thankful to you, for this learning experience, for welcoming us and for letting us into your lives...
We ended the program with a thank-you speech to the farmers and they, in return, had a representative to give us a response. The exchange of sincere messages was heart-warming to hear especially when the farmers congratulated us for the success of our project, but we would never have done it without their help.
We may have ended our immersion in the sitio but it doesn't mean that we would stop campaigning for occupational safety and health in the agricultural setting. The desire for the continuity of Project Triple M will always be instilled in us and we have really high hopes that the farmers in Sitio Rero-an share the same sentiment with us. With that said, ending our community immersion is just another beginning for the farmers to keep in mind the lectures that have been taught to them and for them to pass on what they have learned.
Labels: Highlights