Early mornings, long boat rides, and hot and humid days – this is the typical scenario when traveling to Agutaya, one of the hardest-to-reach group of islands in Palawan, Philippines. Though the villages are separated by sea, people are never strangers. All happily greet each other as they gather at the local health center to avail of their contraceptive of choice during an outreach mission led by Roots of Health
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Mar 2022
Roots of Health Launches New Tagalog-Language Online Website and Chatbot for Reproductive Health Solutions
Through ugatngkalusugan.org, women, young people, parents, teachers, and health care workers can access RH information and services in a more accessible language. by Romar Miranda March 25, 2022, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan—Roots of Health (ROH), a non-profit organization based in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, in partnership with the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, recently launched its new Tagalog-language website. This is one
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Jan 2022
Active Rehabilitation: Civic groups partner with Odette-hit communities in Palawan for recovery
by Romar Miranda One fundamental truth about humanity is the idea that help will come no matter the disaster. A day after Typhoon Odette (international: Rai) ravaged central and northern Palawan, local communities were in shock because of the unprecedented damages to life and property caused by the typhoon, with a total estimate of more than P7.8 billion. With the local governments already stretched thin from managing the COVID-19 pandemic,
Diane Santos’* then partner advised her to jump a couple of times and drink plenty of water after sex to expel sperm. She did what she was told. Unexpectedly for her, however, she still got pregnant. Diane was one of the 119 girls Roots of Health selected to participate in a research project to assess contextual factors associated with teen pregnancy in Palawan, Philippines. She was later on selected again
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Jul 2021
Roots of Health Launches Guide on Providing Continued Reproductive Health Services During COVID-19
by Romar Miranda Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, PHILIPPINES―In an effort to help address the reproductive health disparities and vulnerabilities that women and young people face during the COVID-19 pandemic, Roots of Health (ROH), in partnership with WomenStrong International, is launching its Learning Product, “Communities, Contraceptives and COVID-19: Ensuring Continued Access to Reproductive Health Services in the New Normal” on Friday, July 9, 2021. The Learning Product was ROH’s brainchild after
COVID-19 created so many challenges to the work we do. But because the pandemic put more women and young people’s lives at risk, we knew we needed to make sure we could keep providing life-saving essential services, education, and stakeholder trainings. Thanks to our supporters, we managed to continue providing all this in 2020, and more. Here’s a quick recap of what we couldn’t have done without our passionate supporters
Advocates, health care workers, educators, parents, and civil service organizations can learn a thing or two from how a small organization in Palawan changed thousands of women and young people’s lives. As a professor at Palawan State University, Susan Evangelista witnessed how her students dropped out of school after getting pregnant, usually unplanned. She saw, through her students, that unplanned pregnancies usually derailed young women from what would’ve been a
Because of strict COVID-19 lockdown rules, women can’t even visit a health facility or pharmacy two blocks away to get birth control. Meanwhile, contraceptive supplies are dwindling in health facilities due to supply chain disruptions. This could lead to a surge in unplanned pregnancies. An unplanned pregnancy disrupts a woman’s life in so many ways—even more so during a pandemic of this magnitude. With little to no opportunities to work,
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Mar 2019
2018 Annual Report
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Apr 2018
Our 2017 Annual Report
We are happy to report that 2017 was our most impactful year to date. We would like to invite you to read about our successes, challenges and exciting developments in this year’s Annual Report.
