Caring for other people’s children

Lola Salud, 53, has ten children and eight grandchildren. During the day, she babysits up to five other toddlers as a volunteer day-care mom for children of poor working mothers. She does this in a space less than 20 square meters adjacent to her home in Barangay Catadman, Catmon, Cebu.

Maricel Dicdiquin, 25, was doing field work as a mobile child development worker throughout her pregnancy, walking for hours just to reach and teach parents about proper child care in Balindog, Kidapawan City.

Tita Daya, 62, receives P1,000 per month as a day care worker in Barangay Flores, Catmon, Cebu, looking after up to 80 children daily, ranging from three to five years old. When asked if that was enough, she smiles: "I just let it be enough."

Erlinda Lagunsad, a 45-year-old midwife, provides primary health services such as immunization, maternal health care, and a feeding program for kids in barangay Mateo, Kidapawan City. Her husband, a government employee, agrees to her doing all these things from their home, 24/7, "because he loves me and he knows I love my work".

They are the field workers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Early Childhood Development (ECD) project who were honored for their dedication and exemplary service, which they do not consider to be work at all. At the awarding ceremony early this year, DSWD Undersecretary Luwalhati Pablo noted, "Both national and regional officials focused on identifying and selecting the most inspiring effort among all the ECD project achievements."

DSWD was the lead agency implementing the ECD project with the Department of Health and Department of Education. It was funded by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. About three million children were served by the project through its various service delivery packages starting in 2000, reaching 1,522 barangays in 132 municipalities in 13 provinces where half of the country’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable children are located.

The project provided integrated services in health, nutrition, psychosocial development and early education for disadvantaged children up to six years old, considered as most critical to a child’s development. At this early stage, the physical, mental, social, and emotional facilities of the child are being formed which requires proper nutrition, health care, mental and psychomotor stimulation, emotional nurturing, social acceptance and support. Otherwise, certain irreversible damages may occur and the child may not function properly as an adult.

The local government of Catmon, Cebu was twice awarded for its strong commitment to the project due to the strong commitment of Mayor Estrella Aribal, herself a former teacher.

"I saw that this project can help the people of Catmon a lot, especially the poor children in the farms. Before the program started, when we were still a fifth class municipality, we really had a major malnutrition problem. So ECD was really able to help. And our service providers were really devoted to their job. Even if the farms were far, they would go. And the farms here are in steep hills, no roads, and in really difficult conditions," the Mayor said. Now, access is easier with the construction by the local government of roads in practically every barangay in Catmon.

From dilapidated nipa huts with rainwater from the roofs dripping on the children, the centers are now made of concrete and with sturdy roofs. Almost 250 barangay health stations and 933 day care centers were constructed, while almost 500 barangay health stations and almost 1,000 day care centers were either repaired or upgraded.

Saludita Buton or Lola Salud provides a temporary baby-sitting facility for infants up to two years of age. She sings and dances for them, reads books, gives them milk to drink, and does practically everything that any mother should do. She does not get any salary; only fish, or rice, or small monetary donations.

"She just likes to take care of children," the Mayor says of Lola Salud who was a long-time barangay health worker. Her day care home, constructed with funding from the ECD project, has toys, a baby crib, table and chairs, blackboard, children’s books, cassette player and tapes, cooking and eating utensils, water jug, and thermos.

"Those who are rich can afford maids. Those who are poor and have to work can leave their children here with me. But those without work cannot leave their children here," Lola Salud says.

Rosalinda Densing or Tita Daya has been a day care worker in Barangay Flores, Catmon for ten years. Out of the 80 children under her wing, 30 attend the morning session, and 50 the afternoon session. She has eight children, ages 22 to 39, and 13 grandchildren, one of whom attends her afternoon session. At day care, the children learn arts and crafts, good manners and behavior, and have outdoor and indoor activities.

The ECD team in Kidapawan City also received a DSWD award. They attribute their success to good teamwork, regular inter-agency meetings and consultations. The fact that all of them in the team are mothers also helps.

"I am very grateful for their cooperation," says Erlinda Solis Doblas, the city’s social welfare and development officer and ECD action officer. "I am also inspired seeing them cooperate because our vision for our children here in Kidapawan is common. We want them to be competitive in whatever field." Under the project, expectant mothers are now aware of the benefits of pre-natal care.

Enriqueta Prudente, who represents DepEd in the team, points to the positive influence the project has on the child’s school performance. "They perform better and can already socialize, because of the training they got from ECD workers," she says.

The project provides the centers with vitamins and medicine, usually for upper respiratory tract infection, gastroenteritis, and diarrhea which are the top illnesses in the area, according to Dr. Jocelyn Encilenzo, the city health officer.

Marilene Capilitan, city nutrition officer, noticed that the children who go to feeding sessions prefer natural food to nutripacks. Mothers bring in whatever vegetables they have in their backyard to augment the food at the supplemental feeding for the malnourished.

To motivate the mothers to have their children immunized, they are given free grocery items and a certificate that the child has been fully immunized. The city boasts of a 99 percent fully immunized children (FIC) rate.

Erlinda Lagunsad, a 45-year old rural health midwife, received the best service provider award. "I probably won because of the cooperation of the people. I did not know I won because I am doing this daily on my own. This is my routine," she says. She provides prenatal check-ups, immunization, and delivers babies. The ECD project provided her materials and supplies. Ms. Lagunsad knows the job has many challenges and problems and she only has reassuring words for her peers. "We should accept all the challenges. And we should be willing to work hard," she says.

Her husband, Anacleto, is proud of her being best midwife for she is "a best wife" too. "By supporting her, it’s just like supporting the people because I also happen to be a public servant," he says, having worked in government for 30 years.

An important component of the project was the Parents Effectiveness Service (PES) which involves the parents in the ECD program. More than 100,000 parents and other caregivers attended PES training, where they were taught about existing laws on the rights of the child, responsible parenthood, responsibilities of early childhood development, management of younger and older children, issues in husband-wife relationships, prevention of child abuse, health care and parenting issues. More than 8,600 service providers like day care workers and midwives have been trained.

In Balindog, barangay officials passed an ordinance stipulating that at least one parent has to attend all nine modules of the seminar before a barangay clearance can be issued. About 930 households have attended the seminar, and only 100 households have not attended.

Maricel Dicdiquin, the mobile child development worker, did not have a hard time giving birth, a fact she attributes to the exercise she got walking five kilometers or two hours to her target families. "There’s no tricycle there and even if you ride the tricycle, you have to pay the fare back and forth. So you just leave early so you can reach your destination," she relates.

"They depend on me. If I am scheduled to go there, I have to go there because they are waiting for me," she stresses. "They appreciate the stories, the toys, and the materials that I bring because they have not seen those before. I pity them because, I wonder who will do this for them when I leave?"

She laments the lack of awareness among poor rural folk about parental responsibilities. "Some just give birth and give birth. Even if the midwife or the barangay health worker advises them to go on family planning, they are stubborn and do not listen. But when PES was implemented, they were taught that they have a responsibility to their children, not just to themselves, because they need to feed them, educate them," she says. "It’s okay for people to have children as long as they can feed and educate them."