Cebu’s team blueprint bags Ideas Positive Run 5 Championship

MANILA, Philippines - Team Blueprint emerged the grand champion in Unilab Foundation’s Ideas Positive Run 5, besting four other finalists in a field of 14 teams that were given the opportunity to implement their projects.

The winning team is composed of engineers and engineering students from Cebu. The team’s name, blueprint, means design or plan and is usually used by engineers.  Members of the team are active members of Rotaract, the youth organization of Rotary International. They are team leader Warren Rowell Flores, Chloe Lourdes Taboada, Meossa Marie Medallo, Nino Iligan, and Reina Frances Requieron. They were mentored by Elcasmer Acedo, a mining engineer.

The board of judges included Unilab Foundation’s Executive Director, former DOH Usec. Dr. Teodoro Herbosa,  Commissioner JP Penol,  Col. Victor Tomas, and DSWD Usec. Celia Yangco who used the following criteria for judging: health outcomes (25%), behavioral change: social outcome (20%), sustainability (20%), community engagement (10%), bayanihan spirit (10%), effective use of resources (10%), and presentation and defense (5%).

The team’s project, W.A.S.H.Ed U.P. Can-asujan (Water Adequacy, Sanitation and Hygiene Education to Uplft People of Can-asujan) chose students of Tagaytay Elementary School in Sitio Tagaytay, Barangay Can-asujan, Carcar City, Cebu as their beneficiaries. There are 502 students in the school including high school students from Can-asujan High School who have classes in the school building.

Blueprint zeroed in on the hygiene and sanitation problem besetting the school because of the inadequacy of water supply. Barangay Can-asujan is an elevated area  42 kms. from the city proper. Water is rationed in the area. Families and students are not aware of proper hygiene and sanitation practices.  The team found out that open urination and defecation was common in the community and community members were prone to diarrhea, skin diseases, and intestinal worms. To address these health issues, the team provided the community with a water tank made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and conducted a series of seminar workshops on sanitation and hygiene.

The construction of the water tank involved  2,915 PET bottles 70% of which were collected by team members as well as the community especially the women. As 25% of the schoolchildren’s parents are into construction, the male members of the community helped in putting up the tank in cementing the bottles together and in the finishing of the walls.  Bayanihan spirit was evident as students did their share in filling up the bottles with sand to make them sturdy.  Compared to a steel water tank, the water tank introduced by the team is 50% cheaper.

The team also partnered with civic organizations and government agencies to conduct deworming, seminars on proper handwashing, and medical consultation on skin diseases. Other activities introduced by the team included wash play,  slogan making called KKK for Karatula sa Kalinisan at Kalusugan, poster-making, and placement of tarpaulins with the six steps in proper hand washing near  faucets.

To make the project sustainable, the team has come up with a Wash Manual and established a Wash Club with the students as members. From the seed money given them for implementation of their project, Blueprint saved P33, 599.00. When asked how they will use the rest of the seed capital, Warren Flores, team leader, said they will use the money to produce WASH manual that can be used by all the children in the school as well as the community members.

Now on its fifth run, Ideas Positive is a nationwide competition for innovative ideas from those belonging to the 15-25 age bracket of the population which when implemented can solve an identified  health problem  of a community.  The program was launched to empower the youth to be active partners in the promotion of a healthier Philippines.

 “There are young Filipinos who have always wanted to make a difference and change the world, but they lack resources,” explains Unilab Foundation Executive Director Rhodora Palomar-Fresnedi. “That is why we tap them through Ideas Positive, and equip them with the skills and funds they need to turn their ideas into reality.”