Lucky are the mothers who complain of leg pains after a long day of shopping. Lucky are the students who experience headaches after completing long school assignments. Lucky are the children who get disappointed because they don’t like the new toy their parents bought them. If you have experienced any of these situations, you should be thankful enough because these everyday situations are only dreams for most of the residents of Pulang Lupa, Puerto Princesa City.

For nearly three months I have been working for Ugat ng Kalusugan as a nurse focusing on the health of the mothers and children in Pulang Lupa. I perform check-ups and Pap-smears, provide pre-natal and post-natal care as well as contraceptives, reinforce the idea of family planning and teach basic health concepts. I have seen the picture of life in Pulang Lupa and I now understand how hard it is to live there. I can see this clearly from the windows of my improvised clinic and even more clearly when we conduct house-to-house visitations and interviews.

Kids aged seven and up usually help their mothers in taking care of their younger siblings instead of having fun outside as more fortunate children do. Most of their fathers work as garbage collectors or are locally described as “pajob-job lang”, which means they pick up short term jobs where they can, but don’t have steady income.  The majority of the mothers in Pulang Lupa stay at home, caring for three to eight children, and waiting for their husbands to come home with some money so that they can buy something to cook for dinner. It is these mothers that I see regularly for scheduled check-ups. I also drop in on families, to gather data for Roots of Health or to see how the women are doing.

I once visited a family whose children were wearing soiled clothes and had dirt on their faces. I sat there while they ate their lunch, which consisted of only plain coconut (niyog). The mother explained that they didn’t have any other food to eat or even water for baths. Like all parents she wished she had something more to give her children such as toys and new clothes, but she couldn’t provide these things because there was barely enough money to satisfy their daily needs.

Even though the situation at Pulang Lupa is very sad, as I write this article I have a smile on my face. I think these people are fortunate in other ways: they have their own houses, they have community, and they certainly know how to smile. They have embraced Ugat Ng Kalusugan and the maternal health classes conducted by Ami and Lyn.  They are eagerly working the vertical gardens that Marcus helped them set up, so that they’ll harvest safe vegetables for their food.  They get excited over the stories Evetha and Jane read to their kids, and the education the kids receive.  They appreciate the health care services because the Barangay Health Center is really too far away.   They know and have an appreciation for each member of the Ugat staff. Their ready smiles make us feel as though our efforts are being rewarded.

Now… don’t you consider yourself blessed with what you have?  Right now you are lucky because you are using your computer to read my blog entry. You may want to start thinking of ways to share your blessings — indeed many people are waiting for your helping hand!