Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Volunteerism builds Armm's health stations
COTABATO CITY -- Bayanihan is transforming the social landscape of six Peace and Development Communities (PDCs) as community members have led the construction of their own barangay health stations in a bid to reduce preventable diseases in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm).
These PDCs are conflict-affected and vulnerable areas located in the municipalities of Sulu, Maguindanao, and Shariff Kabunsuan.
They are now engaged in development interventions to sustain peace in their localities by addressing social injustice and promoting human security.
Working together to complete their barangay health station, around 1,500 residents composed mostly of Badjaos and Tausugs in Barangay Kabucan, Hadji Panglima Tahil, Sulu, have now the opportunity to improve their living condition as they can access health services which were once unavailable to them.
Kabucan, which is one of the 10 PDCs in Sulu, was ravaged by armed conflict in the 1970s and early 1990s.
Part of the integrated health services offered by barangay health station is maternal and child health care, regular immunization, micronutrient supplementation, de-worming and breastfeeding counseling.
On the other hand, the people of three PDCs in Maguindanao; Kabuling and Upper D'lag in Buluan, and Datang in Datu Paglas, as well as PDC Bago-Inged and Margues in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan also showed their bayaninan spirit when they constructed their barangay health stations that benefits at least 1,750 households.
Through bayanihan work, the residents displayed a strong sense of ownership of the projects in their communities.
The construction of the six health stations was supported by the GoP-UN Action for Conflict Transformation (ACT) for Peace Programme, as part of its initiatives to sustain peace building efforts in Southern Philippines.
According to Suharto Abas, the ACT for Peace Area manager for Armm, the smooth implementation of several health station projects, was due to the strong support and participation of the barangay local government units, peoples' organizations (POs) and Peace and Development Advocates League.
Because of the strong participation of community members, the communities managed to generate support from government line agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH) to deploy a midwife for each health station and provide training for health workers, Abas said.
The enhanced awareness and appreciation of stakeholders in working for peace is the result of the various capacity building activities that are anchored on participation, human rights and resource-based conducted in the communities and strong partnership with local government units and other peace building institutions.
Anchored on Component 2 of the ACT for Peace, the construction of health stations seeks to improve access to basic services by working with other organizations and stakeholders to mainstream and institutionalize activities that strengthen peace in the PDCs. These communities are conflict-affected or vulnerable areas that are undergoing transformation through the help of various development partners.
Implemented by the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco) in partnership with the Armm Regional Government, the programme is assisting in the transformation processes of 246 PDCs in 20 provinces in Southern Philippines in support to the peace agreement between the Government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
The programme is supported by the Governments of Australia, New Zealand and Spain, through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Philippines as the managing agency.
