As a part of the Stairway community health program in Baclayan, 6 Stairway volunteers and 2 local health workers have implemented a delousing campaign for students in the Baclayan school.
Since a couple of years Stairway has offered a bi-weekly medical clinic in the mountain village Baclayan, where we support the local school with a feeding program. The health initiative is supported by our local friend, Dr. Francis, who volunteer his service at the clinic, which for the meantime is located in a room at the Stairway farm house. The number of patients consulting the clinic on most of the days that we are there verify the need for first aid and medical attention to a growing village population. During our first years in Baclayan, before we introduced the clinic, we had several emergency calls, where we had to bring several children to the hospital for emergency intervention. For the past 2 years we have had none, so it seems that being able to treat most ailments at an early stage usually prevents them from developing into major health issues, which can end up becoming life threatening. View images
As the clinic consultations allow us to get a closer look at the general health condition amongst the Mangyan population, as well as their common practices in terms of personal hygiene and nutrition, we get new ideas on how to further address their health issues in relatively inexpensive and effective ways, following the saying that prevention is the best cure. To help us approach the idea of a more comprehensive and effective Stairway Health Program in a more organized and scientific way, we have been fortunate to have Chalotte Stecher, a doctor-friend from Denmark, spend a couple of months with us throughout January and February. Her presence has already materialized into a more long term plan for Stairway’s further engagement into the field of public health in our local community.