Cebu City's Badjao community uplifts living conditions
By Amorganda A. Saludar
CEBU CITY June 25 (PIA) -- The Badjao community in Cebu City is exerting effort in making their community in Sitio Pungtod, Alaska Mambaling, Cebu City, a clean and orderly area through the aid and support of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) Bajau Integrated Area Development Project (BIAD-P).
The 10 cluster leaders of the Badjao community were designated to lead the community’s efforts of keeping their surroundings clean and safe as the rest of the community were also taught proper sanitation practices that include frequent washing of hands and daily bathing.
Jovelyn Amad, a Badjao cluster leader, said, "We are now well-disciplined that we take a bath every day and keep our children always clean."
Another cluster leader, Lydia Jamare, said that based on what they have learned in trainings on best parenting practices, parents wake up early in the morning to prepare things and groom their children before sending them to school.
On Mondays, the Badjaos hold a general cleanup activity where they practice bayanihan. Each household was also encouraged to plant trees, which has become a contest in every cluster to motivate them to care and nurture their plants.
“We now know how to do waste segregation, and we have appreciated the importance of plants that's why we plant,” Amad added.
The Badjao attested that through maintaining cleanliness, there have been few cases of common ailments, such as cough and colds, in the community.
“There is really a difference now in the Badjao community in terms of cleanliness in their surroundings compared to when we first arrived in their locality,” Anthony Fuentes, BIAD-P project development officer, said.
BIAD-P is an initiative by RAFI through its Integrated Development unit, Presentation Sisters, and the University of San Carlos, which aims to make the Badjaos a self-sufficient, progressive, and self-reliant community with a sense of pride and belongingness.
BIAD-P is a program under the Integrated Development focus area of RAFI, helping communities overcome the vicious cycle of poverty.
RAFI’s other focus areas include Micro-finance & Entrepreneurship, Culture & Heritage, Leadership & Citizenship, and Education.
For more information on BIAD-P, please contact Anthony Fuentes at 418-7234 loc. 515, or visit www.rafi.org.ph or www.facebook.com/rafi.org.ph. (AS-PIA7, Cebu/ PR from RAFI)