Men like sex on beads

The number of letters responding to this column’s discussion of the Standard Days Method (SDM) has been astounding. Many of the letter writers, among them husbands, wanted to know where they could buy the CycleBeads. One man wrote that he was always concerned about a safe contraceptive method his wife could use, and asked where he could get the beads which he wanted to surprise his wife with. For the information of these readers, please write or call the Institute for Reproductive Health, 16 Starline Rd., Blue Ridge, Quezon City, tel. 647-1084, fax No. 438-2292, and email: [email protected].

Dr. Lita Sealza told a dissemination forum held in Makati the other day that the NGO Kaanib, which is made up mostly of male farmers in Bukidnon, found that concern for the health of the woman was the most important consideration among acceptors for choosing SDM. Information dissemination was effectively made by couples, and even by male educators.

In Metro Manila, said Dr. Cristina Torres, the Fabella Hospital, the largest maternal facility which has from 500 to 600 clients every day, now includes SDM in its menu of family planning services.

Dr. Erlinda Castro-Palaganas, talking of the experience of couples in Benguet, said SDM empowers women "with their ability to negotiate the time for intercourse and initiate intimacies during the infertile days. The remarkable stabilizing effect of the method on one’s temper has lessened arguments between spouses. The period of abstinence instills discipline, promotes self-control, intensifies good working habits, and facilitates open communication and mutual respect for spouses."

Keeping the "wolf" away has to be done sometimes, though. Some husbands move the rubber ring to indicate safeness on unsafe days. And women have to have "back-up" methods on abstinence days, such as having a child sleep between them and their spouses or going to other activities on their fertile days.

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said the government "is open to SDM and for its formal inclusion as a bonafide method, as it takes into context scientific studies put forward and the issue of acceptability. If we are going to mainstream NFP considering all the methods that have been made available and may have been tested in the past, I think we have to move on the broad front. SDM is really a part of the whole community of NFP advocates."

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ON ANOTHER FRONT, the nationally renowned children’s choir from Bohol, the Loboc Children’s Choir, will be touring several countries in Europe next month. This mixed choir of youngsters ages 10 to 13, has earned three times the National Champion Prize in the prestigious NAMCYA or the National Musical Competition for Young Artists, first in 1993, then in 1995, and most recently, 2001. The choir is being presented by the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Manila in a series of concert tours in Europe dubbed "TUBO: A Musical Journey for Heritage and Peace."

The children’s choir springs from generations of composers, singers, musicians, and conductors, who have become the driving force behind Lobo town‚s numerous bands, rondallas or comparzas, and choirs.

Under the sustained artistic and mentoring guidance of a team of teachers led by the able maestra or conductor Alma Fernando Taldo, the Children’s Choir in the last seven years has begun to enlarge its mark and artistic mettle by holding concerts locally and internationally. They have performed in the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and Hongkong. Everywhere, whether in their hometown or province or abroad, they have captivated audiences with their unique musicality, endearing and spontaneous showmanship, and the kind of genuine and pure spirit they imbue their singing with. The children, chosen from a yearly audition every June, come from the Loboc Central Elementary School.

The Choir has recently figured in a series of activities in collaboration with the Diocese of Tagbilaran and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila which has selected Bohol as a model partner in developing its art and development programs. According to the Choir public relations artists, exhibits and workshops mounted at the Museum and in Bohol, this collaboration seeks "to develop in concrete terms how arts and culture can be major drivers in the total development.of a community.

Major sponsors of the concert tour include the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Beatriz Zobel de Ayala and family, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the provincial government of Bohol, and Imelda O. Cojuangco. Farewell concerts have been held prior to the children’s departure. On September 2, 7 p.m., the children will perform at the Studio at the Riverbank, Marikina, under the sponsorship of the Pinatubo sa Pagkakaisa Foundation

Parts of the proceeds of the September 2nd performance will go to the salaries of teachers at the Wenceslao Village Elementary School at the Wenceslao Village resettlement project in Dau, Lubao, Pampanga.

Tickets will be available at the Studio gate. For more information about this project, call the Metropolitan Museum at tel. 521-1517 and ask for Garby Labad, tour manager, or Ino Manalo, the Museum director.

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E-mail: [email protected].