Second Week

Day 10: Back to work (Monday, June 20th)

Today we are in Tabon, Pulilan, Bulacan. I got to follow Mary Ann and observe the interviews. I was also able to ask some of the questions, however, it takes a lot more time this way since I ask the questions in English and it has to be translated into Tagalog. The interviews are already pretty long, so it was better if Mary Ann asked the questions and I help with the anthropometric measurements. I also get to interact with some of the kids and families from the households/neighborhoods we visit.

Interviews occur in all sorts of settings. Whether standing, sitting, inside, or outside, with an electric fan or without, the interview is conducted and can last up to hours depending on how many members are in the household. Sometimes it’s necessary to come back to finish up because there is too much to do in one setting.

Day 11: Leaving Team 3 (Tuesday, June 21st)

We interviewed more households today. One of them had up to 1o members and consisted lots of kids. Some Filipino families are pretty big. I learned that sometimes (or maybe most), the kids stay in the same home with the family even after marriage. Households can consist grandparents, siblings, and all of the grandkids all in one house. The families here are very tight knit, in addition to the surrounding community.

During the 24 hour recall, I learned that some of the kids only had a cup of coffee for dinner, or could only have a little bit of rice with oil and soy sauce–nothing substantial. After learning about the nutritional requirements for the pediatric population last semester, it was difficult to comprehend the lasting impact of the lack of resources available to these kids may cause.
In the Philippines, iron deficiency anemia, vitamin a deficiency, and iodine deficiency are of major concern. So with the surveys, the government is working to determine what kind of changes to implement. The food store and food establishment team are able to discover what kinds of foods are available and what kind of foods are consumed the most, so that they can figure out what kind of changes would make the biggest impact. For now, the incentives for participation in the survey are a small effort to help with the vitamin A rich squash noodles, iron fortified rice, and protein rich rice and mongo curls.

Day 12:  Team 4 (Wednesday, June 22nd)

Today we are in Santo Cristo, Pulilan, Bulacan. I figured it’d be like most of the days we have spent here–start work at 8 am, copy some forms, conduct house hold interviews, and collect height, weight, hip, waist, arm circumference, and blood pressure measurements. Our work days have been pretty routine that it became easy to just cruise through and do what we had to do. We are always greeted with the brightest smiles and so much hospitality. But today, I got to see a glimpse behind some of the joyful, fun-loving Filipinos.

If I am being completely candid, I’ll admit that I shed quite a few tears as I journaled tonight. I always do my best to stay objective, and I think it may come off as emotionless in some situations. Today we interviewed a household and asked the same questions we have been throughout our field immersions. However, this time the interviewee began to cry as questions pertaining to not having enough food were being asked, questions such as: in the past 30 days, how often did you not have enough food to eat? Immediately, I was ready to cry with her, but somehow I maintained my composure for the rest of the day. From the very first household, it hasn’t gotten any easier. These people smile so brightly as if they don’t have a care in the world, while in reality, they face so many hardships and have to work so hard just to get through the day. I have always known that there are many people in the world that don’t have it as easy as I do. I’ve been granted everything I need, everything I want in life, and more–but I’ve barely lifted a finger for any of it. My objectivity of knowing that situations knowing that situations such as where people may have to skip meals and go hungry due to lack of resources exist, was brought to life the moment that kind-hearted and spirited woman sitting across from me started to cry. It’s so unfair how some of the world gets to live their lives without any worries, while others deal with so much hardship from day to day. I think I am at that phase where I want to do so much to help these people, and am working towards being in the position to do so, but am unsure of my capability to make the kind of difference I strive for. Some day, I hope that we can all help those who need it most so no one has to suffer.

Day 13: Team 4 (Thursday, June 23rd) 

Today is our last day in the barangay Santo Cristo. This was probably one of the more wealthy barangays we have been to, as the capitan owns a few resorts around the Philippines. He invited us to one of them during our break day on Sunday, which was a really nice gesture. He even invited us to a barbeque by the pool at his place after work that day. The pool felt so nice after a long day working in the heat.

Day 14: Team 5 (Friday, June 24th)

Today we are in Lombac, Pulilan, Bulacan with team 5. I actually really enjoy the set up of spending a couple days with each team in the area. That way, we meet so many different teams and experience working with them, as well as experience all of the unique differences in all of the barangays. Longos, Pena Batan, Tabon, Santo Cristo, and Lombac, are respectively all of the neighborhoods we have visited. Here in Lombac, there are lots of fruit trees. We have seen so many different fruit trees here such as duhat (black plum), wild cherry, santol, sugar apple, jackfruit, pomelo, avocado, banana, and more.

Day 15: Team 5 (Saturday, June 25th) 

Team 5 taught us a pretty great phrase today: Para sa bayan! It means “for the country.” They say it when they’re working so hard and are all tired–they hold up a fist and say “para sa bayan.” I love the mentality of the people we work with as they have such positive attitudes that create such a positive environment, even in the most difficult situations. They are always cracking jokes and have smiles on their faces. I think I keep reiterating this fact, but it’s so true and it’s the one thing that really stands out to me here in the Philippines.

Day 16: Break day (Sunday, June 26th) 

Photos have not been loading for me this week, so I will have to go back to post them later throughout the week and continue to edit some of my posts.

First Week

Day 3: Orientation to FNRI (Monday, June 13th)

In the last 2 days, we were able to acclimate ourselves to the weather, enjoy some really great food, and navigate the city with the help from Tito Mon and his son, Kuya Mellord, and the 2 orientation leaders at UP Los Banos. So today, we were ready to start our internship and get a better picture of what our time will look like in the upcoming weeks. We left UP Los Banos at 6am today to make our way to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) and found out that we will actually be leaving tomorrow for another city. During our time here, we will hit Balacan, Aurora, and Taguig city for our immersion into the field.

We stopped by Jollibee on our way to the institute and tried it for the first time. Apparently McDonald’s is the number one fast food restaurant everywhere in the world, except for the Philippines because of Jollibee. This restaurant was described to me as McDonald’s, but with a Filipino taste. The breakfast chickenjoy was recommended to me and I decided to give it a try. It was a piece of fried chicken and gravy, with rice, and egg

Driving up to FNRI was a huge shock to me. Before coming to the Philippines, I searched the area to get a sense of what it would be like. I looked for nearby restaurants and stores, and it only came up with a mall 20 minutes away on foot. I figured that maybe the area wouldn’t be so crowded. I was wrong. Turning onto our street, there were crowds of people walking and plenty of cars, hondas, trucks, and jeepneys. There were vendors up and down the street leading up to the mall. What seemed like would only be a 5 minute drive easily became 20. The traffic did not let up all day, as today is the first day the kids go back to school, so it was a little more crowded than usual. It was neat seeing all the kids in their uniforms walking to school on our way to the institute.

Anyway, we ended up arriving early since we left early to account for the traffic. The amount of hospitality we were shown here at the institute was like nothing I have experienced before. We were treated with more Jollibee for a snack and were introduced to everyone who was working at the institute, going from office to office, desk to desk–it will take some time to learn everyone’s names. Later, Serena took us to the mall to pick up some items we may need in the field, and showed us the route from our condo to the research facility for when we come back. It was so nice of them to take the time to show us around and give us such a thorough tour of the facility. Everyone has really made us feel at home here in the Philippines since day 1. 

Day 4: Rest before Work (Tuesday, June 14th)

The Philippines is divided into 3 main divisions of islands: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. After, they are divided by provinces or regions, then into municipals, then into individual neighborhoods, or barangays. We are going to be staying at Leticia’s Garden Resort in the province of Bulacan, Pulilan, Calumpit until the end of June.

As I am starting my work tomorrow, I’d like to give a brief synopsis about what my internship is about. A national survey is conducted every 5 years about the nutritional status of the Philippines. However, the survey that we are going to take part in is a local updating survey so they are still testing out their interview questions and approaches to get a better sense of what to ask and what to focus on to get the best information. Also they are collecting more local data from the community rather than using a national census to get more information that may vary within the communities. Also, there are teams that look into and map food stores and food establishment for accessibility and affordability of certain foods in addition to more detailed questions that take more time to complete and would not be able to be included in the national survey. There are 6 teams in Bulacan working in all different barangays, and the number of households in each barangay can vary considerably. We will be able to experience working with all the different teams in different locations throughout our stay here in Pulilan, Bulacan. The teams consist of mostly nutritionists, dieticians, researchers, and nurses. They collect data through interviews, biochemical collections, and anthropometric measurements to get a sense of the nutritional status in local communities.

I will go into more detail about the work we are doing once we start. It was about an hour and a half from FNRI to get to our resort, but first we got to meet the mayor of the municipal. He shook our hands and welcomed us to the Philippines. After, we got to meet all of the team leaders that we will be with throughout our stay in Pulilan. I’m definitely excited to be working with all of them.

Keila and I shared adobo rice and shanghai rolls for lunch with the team leaders

 

Day 5: First Day of Field Work (Wednesday, June 15th)

After a whole day of rest, we were all ready and eager to start working. Especially after meeting the team, all of their positive energy rubbed off on us. It was so fun getting to know everyone. I don’t know if I have just been lucky enough to encounter the best people in the Philippines, but Filipino people are the most fun group of people I have ever been around.

We began our day at 7am to meet the Municipal Nutrition Action Officer of Pulilan, who was very kind and met us at McDonald’s for breakfast. Afterwards, we went to the Captain’s house in the barangay we were going to conduct the surveys in (each barangay has its own captain). We also met his parents, and they all provided us with a nice lunch of tilapia and soup. It was delicious–masarap! 

There are 8,000 people in Pulilan, so 1,200 people were selected through randomization. In a day, the team is able to survey about 9 households. The work hours depend on how early the households wake up and how late they stay up. Sometimes farmers wake up at 4am, so some team members go to their households as early as 3:30 am to measure their breakfast and coffee. These are the food weigh ins and 24 hour food recalls where we measure the amount of intake within 24 hours 6 times a day (before and after each meal).

The first household that I was able to observe was located right beside a landfill. Suprisingly enough, the garbage did not smell too bad despite the 93 degree weather and humidity. Apparently they treat it with something to make it that way. The house had 2 rooms, one where they stored food and would sit in, and the other where they slept. Their bedroom was probably not much bigger than 1 and a half twin sized beds put together, and the area we sat in could barely fit 3 people sitting, and it was hot. Typically, seeing a single ant or spider would be enough to scare me away. However, the living space was in the open and ants were crawling all over the walls and floors, flies were buzzing around, and lizards would make occasional appearances. I was told that the family goes to the dumpsite to collect leftovers or food around the streets to wash and eat. The 8 year old girl was in the process of making rice while her mom was breastfeeding her one week old son. I sat in while Jennifer interviewed the mother and interacted with the girl who pulled out a book and showed me how much she could read. What surprised me most about this household was that despite what seemingly little they had, they still had the brightest smiles on their faces and almost looked content. It is really difficult being in situations like this because it just makes you want to do everything you can to help, and you realize that so many people are in similar situations and struggling to get by that you can’t help everyone. I talked to one of the team members about this and she told me that the survey is one way to help them because they collect and analyze all of the data to see what kind of changes they need to implement. Also, they get incentives for participating in the surveys, which I will also post about later. 

Dumpsite behind the household

First household experience

Day 6: Leaving Team One (Thursday, June 16th)

Taking blood pressure

Weighing the rice

On the second day of our field work, we continued to help taking blood pressures, observed the interview process (most of it is in tagalog), and watched how they measured the food weigh ins.

We also packed the incentives since it was the team’s last day in the barangay as they are finishing up their interviews and getting all of their data together. We went back to my first household and got to give them their package. It consists of rice fortified with iron, pansit canton noodles made from vitamin A rich squash, and 7 packs of rice snacks with protein for the kids.

We forgot the keys to the building so we took pictures to pass the time

Umbrellas for the rainy season and to block the hot sun

People getting together from the community to play bingo

It was sad leaving this team after only two days. They were a great group to start out with and we will definitely miss them. We might get to see them when we go to Aurora though for our next field experience in July! Maybe they’ll teach us some more tagalog. Thanks to them, I can now ask Ano ang pangalan mo (what is your name) and Ilang taon kana (how old are you), which are great phrases to ask all of the kids we encounter!

Day 7: Joining Team Two (Friday, June 17th) 

The team dynamics are so great here. The first team was a lot more talkative than the second, but everyone worked so well together and still had so much fun. I am excited to see all of the different work dynamics. From my experience so far, I have noticed so much positivity and energy despite their long work hours in the heat. We have been lucky enough so far to have air conditioned rooms with enough space to work in, but that is not always the case. So working well together and having fun is a great way to stay motivated.

 

Team 2 collecting anthropometric measures (height, weight, bp, hip and waist measurements, and mid arm circumference)

We rode a tricycle for the first time

Day 8: Leaving Team Two (Saturday, June 18th) 

We got to visit the market next to the building we are located at.

We tried teaching the kids how to play thumb war, and they showed us their own version.

We also met this talented lolla, who showed me the hat she is weaving.

Day 9: Break Day at the Sandbox (Sunday, June 19th)

My day to day posts have been getting shorter and shorter as the days seem to fly by. The days go by so fast, but we seem to fit so much in a single day. We have already experienced so much both academically and culturally, and we still have 50 days left! We have been learning a lot about the people we work with, the food, the values, the culture, the differences in lifestyles of all of the households, about the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, and government implementations. I’ll have to go back and add some more details when I find the time–and internet access. On a typical work day, I usually get up at 6am to journal and get ready and we leave by 7:30 or 8am. I think we usually get back around 9pm, depending on how the households work out but I’m usually ready for bed by the time we make it up to our room. It’s hard to imagine how the researchers are so energetic throughout the day as they are out so much longer and working so much more–without any days of rest. We’ve already had 2 rest days since being in the Philippines, and it is barely our second week here.

 

 

Arrived in the Philippines!

First, I would like to thank the Freeman Asia Foundation for making my experience in Asia possible. I am truly so grateful for this opportunity and for the support from all of my professors, friends, and family.  After spending all night recounting everything I have done and experienced these last couple of days in the Philippines, I realized that it is not possible to convey it in a way that I feel does it justice. I will, however, do my best to share some of the highlights and insights that I learn throughout my time here.

Day 0: The Flight (Friday, June 10th)

I left my house on June 9th at 7am and headed to the airport for a 59 day adventure in the Philippines. After a 14 hour flight to Seoul, 4 hour layover, and a 4 hour flight to Manila, and a couple hours to our dorms in Los Banos, we were finally ready for bed. 

Even before we landed in the Philippines, I could sense the openness and friendliness of the Filipino people from the interactions I had during our flight. I tend to try to avoid generalizing, but everyone that I have encountered so far have shown me nothing but pure kindness. By the end of my stay in the Philippines, I hope to hold on to my initial impression that Filipinos are truly hospitable people.

This bowl of spicy udon was 4,500 wan, which translates to about $4–pretty decent for airport food

Day 1: Orientation to the Philippines (Saturday, June 11th)

We all woke up around 8am and grabbed breakfast at a nearby art cafe. We were all staying at Los Banos for our orientation where we learned about the history, culture, and language of the Philippines. I came in thinking that the national language of the Philippines is Tagalog, which is a common misconception. Their national language actually evolved from Tagalog into something they call Filipino, because it takes all of the variations of the different languages and merges them into one common language. I found the language pretty difficult to learn because there are so many syllables and emphasis on the wrong syllable can turn a word into something else completely. For now, knowing kamusta ka (how are you) and salamat (thank you) seems to suffice, as most Filipinos know English. One of the orientation leaders joked that she likes to answer “mabeauty” to kamusta ka, instead of the proper response “mabuti,” meaning she is beautiful, not just good. I love a good pun, and puns in a foreign language even more.

After our orientation, we were treated to dinner on a “floating restaurant.” We (all 18 of us) took a jeepney to the restaurant and ordered our own drinks in Filipino (gusto ko–), so we really started #becomingfilipino on our first day. Tito Mon ordered a variety of Filipino food for us to try such as pork and chicken adobo, pansit (rice noodles), sour soup, grilled tilapia, and pork belly. My experience with Filipino food so far has all been positive, even when I think I may be disappointed, I end up surprised with how flavorful it all is. In the middle of enjoying all of these different foods and great company, 3 guitarists and a bass player come and start playing some songs for us. They were so talented and had great voices. Great food, great company, and great atmosphere–what more could I hope for?

Day 2: First Free Day (Sunday, June 12th)

It may have been jetlag, but I woke up around 6am and was ready for breakfast. We visited the art cafe again, we probably came here 3 or 4 times during our stay. This place was pretty unique because I think the art inside is done by local artists. There was an artist outside carving clay outside in the hot morning sun who allowed us to take a picture. When we came back later in the afternoon, he was still there working on it.

Since we had the whole day to ourselves, we decided to explore our surroundings and took the jeepney by ourselves. Jeepeys are a cheap and local form of transportation that is unique to the Philippines. We walked up quite a way up a hill before we realized that we were not heading in the direction we wanted, but we eventually found our way. We put the phrase saan ang (where is the) to use today.  As we got closer into the city, the sidewalks got increasingly crowded and the air became thicker from all of the congested traffic. We walked through the markets and got some fresh coconut juice. Apparently they take jaywalking very seriously here, so it’s best to use the crosswalks. When we walked out of the city, the air was so cool and suddenly the humidity hasn’t seemed so bad since. Later, we went on a hike behind the university thinking that it would take us up to the mountains. However, our hike was cut short by some dogs claiming their territory and chasing/barking at us to leave. Tip: If a dog barks at you–don’t start running away, because they will chase after you, and chances are, they will be faster.