Monday, October 13, 2008
Teens brainstorm to keep kids worm-free
By Maria Shiela C. Pacino
UP Mass Communication
LIKE many teenagers, 16-year-old Bap Palen dreams of making a difference. The difference is she has actually done something to make this happen.
“We the youth are not just the future leaders, but we are also the present leaders,” says Palen, a Young Minds Academy (YMA) Season 2 scholar.
Palen belongs to a team of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas Cebu College (UPVCC) high school alumni that won the Influential Young Minds Award and the Ramon E. Aboitiz Medal for Team Excellence during the Best of Young Minds Conference and Awards held last Sept. 6, 2008.
Team Kalingag, Palen’s group, proposed a “comprehensive learning program” for the battle against intestinal worms in Sawang Calero Elementary School. Other members of the team are Camille Anne Garcia, Lea Angela Manulat, Patrick Pata and Ann Carmel Vidal.
The team’s name, Kalingag, comes from a tree, usually six to 10 meters high, which is only found in the provinces of Surigao, Davao and Zamboanga. Oil extracted from its bark has anti-fungal and anti-diarrheal effects and is often used as a folk remedy.
Members of team Kalingag have also worked with the Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network (SEALNet), a cross-cultural network between students and professionals interested in Southeast Asian developmental issues. The team has been a part of SEALNet’s citywide “War on Worms” campaign.
Reality check
After that experience, the team decided to continue their campaign through the YMA.
An assessment of five public schools in Cebu City by the University of the Philippines National Institute of Health showed that in the third school district, 89 percent of the Alaska Elementary School’s pupils had worms. Sawang Calero reported the second highest figure, at 69 percent.
Since SEALNet has a project in Alaska Elementary School, the team decided to focus on Sawang Calero instead.
“Because innovation is YMA’s call, we decided to have computer-aided programs for the students of Sawang Calero Elementary School. This approach to information dissemination has proven effects,” explained Pata.
The project uses a computer-based awareness campaign, in which pupils learn about preventing gastro-intestinal worms by using games, puzzles and trivia quizzes.
For reinforcement, the group plans to distribute deworming kits with slippers, soap, hand sanitizers and nail cutters.
Through the YMA, Team Kalingag is optimistic about getting support from interested organizations in implementing the project.
Emerging leaders
The group received P20,000 along with the Ramon E. Aboitiz Medal for Team Excellence. They are planning to give a part of it to the UP High School Student Council.
Garcia, the team anchor, said it was difficult to manage a group with diverse qualities and ideas, but teamwork was the key.
Asked how they view their fellow youths today, Manulat said, “We tend to be apathetic but whether we like it or not, we’ll still be affected by the problem and it’s not difficult to make a change. We just need to do the things that we really want, pursue our passion, and the effects will just ripple.”
Garcia and Vidal are both accountancy students at the University of San Carlos, while Palen and Manulat are management students at UPVCC. Pata is a psychology student at UPVCC.
The YMA, which started in October 2006, is a youth development and citizenship program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. With the support of City Savings Bank and Union Bank Philippines, YMA plans to continue its work of developing young emerging leaders, 12-30 years old, to become responsible citizens.
During its second season’s conference and awards, 21 teams, including Kalingag, presented proposals on public health, barangay health services, adolescent health education, teenage pregnancy and child mortality.
YMA Season 3 was launched on Sept. 29 at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center in Cebu City.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (October 13, 2008 issue)
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