Community brigade, volunteers initiate school rehabilitation
By Amorganda A. Saludar
CEBU CITY, July 4 -- The School Community Brigade initiated by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) mobilized around 1,000 volunteers to conduct school rehabilitation in the municipal communities of Catmon and Bantayan last May 24 and 26.
Various stakeholders from different organizations, volunteers and other concerned individuals through the brigade gathered together with collaborative endeavors to improve school facilities with the aim of giving schoolchildren of the two municipalities a better learning environment.
Participants of the two-day activity were parents, teachers, barangay officials from the local government units, nanays and employees from the RAFI Micro-finance Bantayan branch, and other volunteers. Pupils also did their part to help in repainting the chairs.
“Through joining the school community brigade, I learned how to paint walls, ceilings, and chairs. In activities like this, one should not mind whether or not he knows how to do the task. If everyone is willing to cooperate, the job will surely get done. As a mother, it is my obligation to help in the activities related to the education of my children,” said 47-year-old Eufemia Ybañez in Cebuano who is a mother of three pupils in Tamiao Elementary School.
The volunteers took part in activities like school clean-up, painting of classroom furniture and school buildings, minor repairs and the preparation of Indigenous tree nurseries, among others.
Next month, the RAFI will turn over 21 classrooms to the school administrators of the six elementary schools, which include the Vito Elementary School, Tamiao Elementary School, Baod Elementary School, Sillon Elementary School, Kabac Elementary School and Panalipan Elementary School.
The municipalities of Catmon and Bantayan in northern Cebu belonged to the first batch of beneficiaries of the School Rehabilitation Program of RAFI, now on its third phase of implementation.
The School Rehabilitation Program is one of the initiatives of RAFI's education focus areas, believing that shaping the next generation of talents begins with nurturing the love for learning. Other focus areas of RAFI include integrated development, micro-finance & entrepreneurship, culture & heritage and leadership & citizenship.
For further details about the school rehabilitation program, contact Jicel Reve Gabriel at 418-7234 loc. 209 or visit their website www.rafi.org.ph or www.facebook.com/rafi.org.ph. (FCR/AYS-PIA-7, Cebu/RAFI-PR)
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3-day veggie trade fair kicks off today in Cebu City‘as part of Nutrition Month celeb’
By Fayette C. Ri�en
CEBU CITY, July 4 (PIA) -- Safe, fresh and cheap vegetables and fruits of upland farmers in Cebu City are on display at the Plaza Sugbo fronting City Hall for a three-day vegetable trade fair that kicks off today until Friday as part of the Nutrition Month celebration.
Cebu City Agriculturist Joelito Baclayon said the activity is part of their efforts in helping upland farmers provide a venue to sell their produce at the same time offering cheap-priced fresh and safe vegetables and fruits to the public.
“The city government is providing free transportation to the farmers selling their products at the trade fair so the public can buy it at lower costs and direct from the producers themselves,” said Baclayon during this morning’s Kapihan sa PIA that featured the annual observance of Nutrition Month.
Baclayon said vegetables produce from Cebu City uplands contributed 20 to 25 percent of the total vegetable production of the province. But it was also admitted that Cebu has insufficient supply of vegetables for its population consumption and is importing vegetables from other regions to meet its consumption demand.
This year’s observance which carries the theme ‘Pagkain ng Gulay Ugaliin, Araw Araw Itong Ihain!’ comes amid the declining consumption of vegetables among Filipinos today.
Dr. Parolita Mission, chief of the National Nutrition Council 7 in the same forum said that since 1978, a trending decline in the consumption of vegetables among Filipinos is seen.
“Instead of the recommended three vegetable servings per day per person, Filipinos only consume at the most two servings daily which fell short of the ideal intake of needed nutrients the body needs,” said Mission.
In Central Visayas, people only consume 102 grams of vegetables per person per day which is short of the ideal 191 grams per person per day, this is said.
Factors attributed to the decline in vegetable consumption were the lack of influence in homes where parents do not give much importance in eating vegetables to their children, the proliferation of fast food chains and the convenience of buying food in food stalls and the lack of knowledge on the nutritive value of vegetables to health.
Mission said that with the declining trend on veggie consumption which impacts on health particularly on the emergence of diseases linked to poor diet, the government is promoting vegetable gardens in schools, hospitals, day care centers, community and even in residential areas.
“One need not have a huge space to plant vegetables. One can even just get a can or plastic bag where one can plant the vegetable seedling,” disclosed the NNC 7 chief.
As a means to promote urban vegetable gardening, the Department of Agriculture (DA) 7 is giving out free vegetable seedlings to interested individuals while Baclayon also said their office is likewise giving out free vegetable seedlings at the trade fair venue. (PIA-Cebu)