Lettuce saves the day
Life must go on after typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan), even to a 43- year old mother of four (4) Flora Moreno, a native of Brgy. Mangorocoro, Iloilo. Growing up in the small fishing village was difficult, but Yolanda made life even more difficult not just for Flora but also for her family. Fishing was […]
Mobile theatre play explores sexual and reproductive health for students in Camarines Sur
How do you make health class more exciting? The EMBRACE project in Camarines Sur is tackling teen reproductive health knowledge through an interactive theatre project called “Love Your Life,”aiming to teach high school students the importance of taking charge of your reproductive health. Performed by Team Kriyeyyytibs, a group of creatives and performers from Manila, […]
Cozo’s Silver Linings
In the town of Casiguran, 358 kilometers north of Metro Manila, rain heralds transformation. After four days of relentless downpour, rice paddies turn into lakes, roads swirl into rivers, and unluckier residents find puddles in place of floors when they get home. But ask the Dumagat Agta who live in the sitios (outskirts) of Barangay […]
Planning for parenthood
For the second to last weeks in January, the EMBRACE MCH Field Assistants set to work in their communities with the the second in a series of Reflect Learning Units. This unit focused on the importance of family planning in parenthood, child spacing, options surrounding family planning, and the risk factors with pregnancies. The EMBRACE […]
Taking a stand against SAM
Naga City was the spot for medical professionals in mid-January, as the MCH team unveiled their training on severe acute malnutrition (SAM) for health care leaders within the four communities of the EMBRACE project. The training aimed to tackle a serious and heartbreaking issue within health care – preventing the deaths of severely malnourished young […]
On Her Own Two Feet
When fire struck the Market 3 compound in Navotas’ Fish Port Complex in the early hours of Tuesday, January 10, Teresita Gediela had to leap out of her burning house to stay alive. This was no mean feat: Aling Teresita is 64. But she’s spent three decades in the Market 3 shantytown, and if the […]
Combating malnutrition takes a village
In the heat of the midday sun, groups of community health volunteers (CHV) dispersed across the island barangay of Sumaoy to start collecting data on the families within their own communities. The women, all important leaders within their community, were tasked with interviewing family heads and finding important information on the ways in which malnutrition […]
Building Brighter Futures in Bantayan
When leaders embrace learning, the future of their communities look bright. This is how Melanie Nidamo, a community leader and health worker, sums up what she learned from attending the two-day training on Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction Management conducted by ADRA Philippines in partnership with the Adventist Community Services (ACS). Ms. Nidamo and sixty more […]
Canadian Ambassador Graces Embrace Launch
This July, ADRA Philippines, ADRA Canada, and the Canadian government came together to kick off their combined efforts in the EMBRACE project (Enhancing Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Remote Areas Through Revitalized Health Care and Community Engagement). The launch of this project occurred at the Villa del Rey in Pili, Camarines Sur – the […]
No More Holding On
Renelyn Cuevas remembers the fear she felt as she hid with her sons in a corner of her house while the violent winds of Yolanda battered her home, yet she also remembers what she thought during the storm “I just held on to my faith in God during that moment”. As she held on for […]