Another Season Has End

                                Our last week in the community was filled with mixture of excitement, triumph and heartbreak. Excitement as we finally go home for good, triumph for we have survived six-weeks of intense community immersion and heartbreak as we bid farewell to the homes that temporarily sheltered us. Turning back on the days we spent in the community, I mused on the significance of my stay and what I have learned thus far. During our block evaluation, this question was also raised and it seemed as though each and everyone has their own views and explanations about this immersion.

                While others may find the past six-weeks futile and a waste of time, I find it fruitful and an eye-opener. Witnessing people in dire need of health services is nothing new to us but exploring deep down into the roots---psychosocial and even political causes is what community immersion has taught me. If the entire internship is a movie, this rotation is the “behind the scenes”. It made me understand why an old man who is a TB suspect with atheromatous aorta had to wait a month after consultation to go to the laboratory and have his sputum examined and his chest x-rayed. Because he has to wait a month to adequately fatten his pig in order to sell it at a reasonable amount that will cover his medical expenses. It made me understand why an entire family came in with impetigo contagiosa which apparently started from the mother who had prior check up at the same health center and was given meds but still the skin infection persisted and even spread to her younger children. Because there is shortage of Cloxacillin at the health center and since she cannot afford to buy the said antibiotic to cover the entire regimen, she took the meds one capsule daily instead of taking it 4 times daily for a week. It made me understand why a three-year old boy who came in due to cough and colds can be mistaken for a 2-year old. Because he is the youngest in the brood of six to a 30-year old housewife mother and a fisherman father who earns at most P200 a day. Ultimately, it made me understand clearly the bitterness of social hierarchy. Those who gets better education can acquire power and wealth and most often than not, such assets are used as weapon against those who fail to acquire such. The latter are being displaced and ripped off from their own lands with a little compensation by the former that will be benefited for the rest of his life. Sounds more like the Hispanic era in the land of the Indios, eh? Indeed, history never fails to repeat itself.

                A colleague mentioned that we might as well leave these people alone and allow them to continue believing that a boy who seizes is “nasapian” or a girl who has cerebral palsy is a result of “karma” to his parents or a woman who had anaphylactic shock is “nabarang”. Accordingly, what we are doing in the community is just complicating matters to them and the aftermath is piles of debts from medical expenses. In simpler terms, we are ruining the peaceful life in the community. I beg to disagree. We are not heroes to change lives (we can’t even change ourselves, much more others). We are not here to turn the lives of community people into another direction we perceive as the better one. We are not here to change their beliefs and tell them not to seek the traditional healers. We are here to implement primary health care defined as equal distribution of health care for all people regardless of culture, race, religion, and social and political status. We are here to give them the options and show them that there is another path aside from traditional healing. What is education for if not being shared and applied in a manner beneficial for all? 

                We may never return to San Juan, Batangas for community medicine (we may go back for the beautiful beaches though) but the impact of the entire experience will forever be with us. For every patient we see in the ER or at the OPD or even those haggard-looking patient-watchers we ran into the hospital hallways, picture of where they came from will always flash in our minds so we can have a better understanding of them. We may have miniscule role in the empowerment of the community, but it is undeniable that the community itself has a major role not only in our medical career but as human beings per se. Therefore, our six-weeks were never put to waste. Others may not have realized it yet, but I know they will.

               

Oh that O! O_O

Old houses

I don't know if it's a municipal ordinance to preserve their century-old homes or perhaps renovation is prohibited but houses at Poblacion, San Juan, Batangas are really old and vintage!! Remember my entry about Cafeno? Last week, we were introduced to Orange Grill restaurant. I thought it was just an ordinary old house like its neighbors until I saw the tarp plastered at the fronthouse. I presumed this used to be a home to a prominent family and they decided to turn it into a restaurant which is a smart idea because people from the metro will definitely visit this place for that unfamiliarly cool ambiance. 

 Look at those enormous windows! It certainly felt like time traveling to the 19th century where you were gulped by a strong wind and ended up standing at Kapitan Tiyago's mansion where Maria Clara was sitting covering half of her face with a fan.

Gastronomic satisfaction guaranteed!!

 If you live in this house, you will definitely suffocate in too much ventilation! You will have excessive amount of sunshine, wind, rain, and unsolicited visitors!

Ultimately, they got great foods!! We ordered for Orange Chicken and Chicken Teriyaki which are both approved by our tastebuds. What we loved most was their Orange Lemon Iced Tea which comes at a super cheap price of P30!! Imagine?!? 

Chicken Teriyaki with fried camote on the side. 

Off-key

I know, I know. I am not supposed to post this because we are not supposed to meet at the community unless it's a Tuesday or a Saturday due to the NO-BARANGAY-HOPPING rule,  but hey, we are adults!! (alright, are we?) Anyways, last Friday night, our block decided to sleep over at Alaric's place (he's from San Juan, Batangas by the way) for practical reasons since theirs is near the staff house where we conduct our weekly Mortality and Morbidity report before going back to Manila. Now, guess what? They have a videoke machine at home!! Us, girls, sang our heart out, non-stop, from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm!! We didn't notice the time as we continued to enter songs! 

Biritan na 'to!!

I have many discoveries among my blockmates that night such as:
a.) Crystal, our elitistang blockmate can turn into the most jologs person ever!! Well I guess, every person has that secret side.
b.) Suzie can actually rock Linkin Park's Papercut and rap In The End!! Memorize niya ang lyrics!!
c.) Tina is not just your average doctor-to-be, she has the capability to join in a singing contest!
d.) Alaric keeps on singing "Dahil Ikaw" by True Faith and up until now he cannot perfect the song...nice try by the way.
e.) Irving!! *Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang starts playing in my head now!* Woot, Julius Babao!
f.) Despite singing off-key almost the whole time, I picked Adele's Chasing Pavments to be included in my videoke song box!! LOL. Yun lang ata yung nakanta ko ng medyo tama!

Any of my blockmates will kill me if they get to read this!!

OMJ--as in Oh My Journal!!!


Suzie and I worked last night at Figaro to finish and "rehearse" our journal reporting that took place today.

Here, Dane is reporting on their cluster's journal. Reporting was done in front of 4 consultants, 2 residents and members of the 3 blocks currently rotating in the community: Block U (that's us!), Block T and the newcomers, Block S. Unintentionally, my crush is in the photo!! Yiiiheee! Kaya pumapalakpak puso ko while reporting. Hihihihi. 

Ombrella!!

Can I spell umbrella that way, just now, please? For the sake of this entry. Hehe. It's raining so hard. Another low pressure area, I guess. 

Ombrella display at the UP College of Medicine. 

***

We got only two more weeks of packing and unpacking!!

Reflections

*this was what i wrote on our third weekly reflections in the community.

The medical field may be broad but the vastness brings one to narrow down into an array of choices. After passing the boards, a new physician may choose to a.) further master a specific specialty by going into residency, b.) earn financially by “moonlighting” or c.) become a public servant by going into isolated communities where there is scarcity of medical doctors. I see myself going into the third option before proceeding into the first one. This is not merely dictated by a particular scholarship that demands a 2-year compensated community service, but because of some personal wishes I want to fulfill before going hard core in the hospital for residency. Being a community doctor is advantageous in such a way that I get to have a break from the toxic hospital environment, I will have to spend more time with my family (or probably have my own family then), I get to give back to my community and to the government which provided me my education, plus the monetary compensation is not bad.

However, it is not all perks. Being a community doctor breaks all the clinical idealism in a new physician. Although we encounter benign cases, inaccessibility to simple laboratories such as x-rays, urinalysis and blood exams interfere with the accuracy of our diagnosis. We are taught not to rely on laboratory exams for diagnosis but it is undeniable how helpful labs are in confirming diagnosis that leads to proper management. Now it gradually dawns on me why patients from far-flung areas arrive at a tertiary hospital already on the terminal stage of the illness.

Few nights ago while we were watching the news reviewing what the current administration had accomplished on their first year on the seat, there was an emphasis on their negligence about health. Sadly, our country is filled with too much politicking that our beloved government officials deals only on projects that can be seen by naked eye such as infrastructure and agriculture and least on the core that allows a human being to act and think efficiently---health and education. I believe that our progress as a nation is impeded due to our failure to deal with the basics; we jump into the tip of the problems without knowing the roots. Unfortunately, our public officials address problems which answer only to their personal interest. They are unaware of what is happening into the less civilized part of country, how those people behind the mountains suffer physically and economically.

As a would-be community doctor, I will be dealing with a whole lot of the abovementioned social problems. I don’t know yet what I can do about it, solutions are definitely not seeping into my mind yet. But what is two years of dealing with social disease? It won’t be long, I would face physical diseases again which is way easier to cure. 

*we're about to begin our 5th week, and yes, about to end. which reminds me, i haven't written my fourth weekly reflection yet!!!

Cafeño

My likeness for coffee shops is a known fact,  not because I'm a coffee addict but because of the ambience. I look for coffee shops filled with eternal silence where people do their own thing, either getting their noses buried in their books or wandering in the world wide web. Here in the community, there's Kappe Brako just within our vicinity so it's not much of a problem where to loiter around. Just this Tuesday after our arrival in San Juan, Batangas, Alaric introduced us to this old-school coffee shop that is quite famous not only for their kapeng barako but because of its vintage interiors. It's not like they actually meant the place to look vintage, IT IS REALLY OLD!!! This is owned by a Batangas old-rich family and they have preserved the place from its original form dated back in the 1950s.

I googled this. 

Googled, too. 

Here, Suzie showing her back at the camera. Look at the interiors. Anay na lang ang kulang. Haha! Seriously, it has this 1950s-1960s feeling. Missed my lola's old house. 

Aside from kapeng barako, they're also famous for their tamales, sticky rice suman with shredded coconut bits.

Block U at Cafeño. :D

Yes, this is the generation where women stands up while men are sitting comfortably. 

Unusually Better... Or Is It Just LUCK?

How often do we fail our expectations? How often do we heave a that's-life sigh while accepting our fate when things turn out worse? Or, what is the probability that things will turn out BETTER?

I was having some anxiety attack prior to our 6-weeks community immersion due to the possibility of having a not-so-nice experience from my would-be partner, would-be foster family and the community itself. I was faced with many issues and what-ifs like what if my partner (a choice between Crystal, Suzie and Tina) is someone who isn't tolerable enough (okay, that is vague), what if my foster family is reluctant to have a Muslim foster child, what if we need to hike kilometers of muddy and unpaved road to be able to get to the health center, how about my safety and security in the place? A lot of questions were running through my head I almost didn't wake up on Tuesday for our early morning trip.

Our block is divided into four clusters: Bataan, Bulsa, Imelda and Laiya,  meaning two sets of girls and another two sets of boys. We draw lots with our hands in tremors. Luck was on our side that fateful afternoon when Suzie and I picked LAIYA APLAYA!!! It's the farthest yet it's the best! For one, our foster home is a public resort which only means that our room is the one rented by guests during summer vacayes. It's not the million-dollar worth kind of resort but hey, it is absolutely NOT BAD as we expect it to be! Imagine the comfort!! Suz and I decided not to brag about our place to avoid depression among our blockmates who are, well..... unfortunate. Sorry guys. :'(  The distance of 22 kilometers from the poblacion of San Juan, Batangas is all worth it.

So guys, welcome to our home!!

Island Sky resort is owned by Ate Edith Abanilla, our foster ate who lives with a lola (non-blood related to Ate Edith, apparently, inampon daw niya si lola kasi pinalayas ng anak!! ) and her niece whose parents are OFWs. Our room is that brown door immediately from the terrace while Ate Edith lives at the back house, that silver-colored door at the rightmost. Technically, we don't live together as a "family" in it's real sense. Well, they're not a real family in the first place. I think that defeats the purpose, but we don't care so long as we have a tiled CR with a ceramic bowl, two large beds, fridge, electric heater and an aircon!! Ok, that part we do not want to brag to our blockmates coz they might cry sands and stones!

Another good thing is that the health center where we hold clinics every Wednesdays and Thursdays is just a five-minute tricycle drive from our home. Hailing a tricycle is one of the difficult things in our place but thankfully, Kuya Raffy's just one text away! We mingled with Ma'am Ellen, the barangay midwife and some of the barangay health workers who are more than willing to accommodate us. Most of our cases were just upper respiratory tract infections and systemic viral infections, rarely do we have hypertension and others. The most toxic one was a diffuse toxic goiter which we referred to the district hospital for the work-ups. Alhamdulillah. Things went really just fine on our first week.

We had a courtesy call to the Barangay Captain on our second day. This captain is not your ordinary captain because he owns Kabayan Resort  and most business establishments at Laiya Aplaya. He welcomed us into his mansion within his resort, and he offered us their trademark kape barako. His friend, Mr. S. from the Aplaya Corporation was also there that morning. Too bad we weren't able to linger around the resort kasi nahiya kami!!! 

Kap also owns this quiet and quite high-end coffee shop located just a few meters away from the HC. We arrive here after clinics at around 3:00 pm and that's the time they turn their aircons on, which could only mean that we are probably their only customer for that day! LOL. We stay there until nearing curfew time connecting with the rest of the world through the world wide web aka Facebook and Twitter. 

Meet the lucky duo, Suzie and I! 

Hello, Laiya Aplaya!!
If you woke up everyday to this magnificent view, don't you just wanna lie down and daydream all day loooong? 

FIVE WEEKS TO GO!! :)