New Corella wins Green Banner award anew

NEW CORELLA, DAVAO DEL NORTE There is nothing sweeter for New Corella than to receive Regional Green Banner Award for the second time around. The town seized such award in the municipal level category during 2011 regional nutrition awarding ceremony held at Garden Oases Resort and Convention Center, Davao City. In 2010, it received the same award as Mayor Nestor “Bebot” Alcoran was recognized as green banner awardee. New Corella's ALCORAN Services The initials is termed as the town's compass to become Davao Del Norte’s cartel for nutrition excellence was the executive thrust coined as Alleviating Life by Creating Opportunities and Rendering Accessible Network of (ALCORAN) Services. This propelled the Municipal Nutrition Committee (MNC) to streamline government resources and forge partnership with various stakeholders. Intervention Schemes The committee ensured the efficient implementation of health and nutrition program through legislation and other related services. It activated barangay nutrition committees (BNC) in 20 barangays to mobilize its volunteers like brgy. nutrition scholars (BNS), brgy. health workers (BHW) and brgy. extension workers (BEW) with the help of the Council of Women, Brgy. Captain’s Spouses Association, Women’s Sunrise Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Lapanday, Doña Luisa Foundation, Sumifru and other socio-civic organizations. This convergence has sustained “Gulayan sa Kabahayan” to bring healthy food in the family table by enormous planting of malunggay and other green leafy and yellow vegetables in the backyard of households, schools and purok centers. It also facilitated the achievement of other programs that includes nutrition education, micronutrient supplementation, food fortification, supplementary feeding, and nutrition essential in maternal and child health care services, among others. Provision of technical skills and livelihood trainings such as carpentry, masonry, driving, computer hardware servicing, food processing, meat processing, animal production, handicraft and soap making harmonized the nutrition activities. The trainings generated income development for families with malnourished children. Best Practices The establishment of dairy processing plant in New Corella strengthened the efforts of the government to combat malnutrition. Geared towards the vision of Mayor Alcoran that every child will drink a glass of milk daily, MNC integrated milk drinking to supplementary feeding for pre-schoolers. The committee guaranteed food sufficiency through vegetable and goat production. This has been monitored in the regular conduct of evaluation on “Gulayan sa Barangay”. Production of Bio-N and organic fertilizer complemented also its implementation. Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) projects like potable water system, rubber nursery production and other infrastructure development contributed to the reduction of malnourishment. Parallel to said contribution was the construction of Farm-to-Market Roads (FMR) under Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP) and Growth Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program. For better focus on nutrition services, MNC Chair Mayor Alcoran shared the responsibility with the barangay by organizing Brgy. Nutrition Action Officers (BNAO) to coordinate with the MNAO. Lambo New Corellahanon True to his commitment to uplift New Corellahanon families, Mayor Alcoran reported that the prevalence of severely underweight (SU) and underweight (UW) pre-schoolers had reduced from 7.86% to 6.59%; and of schoolchildren, from 7.4% to 6.7% in 2010-2011. “This significant rate of reduction only tells that we are consistent in our dream to have healthy, happy and intelligent children in the 21st century,” expressed the mayor. He lauded too the untiring works of the MNC members and the convergent efforts of stakeholders that raised New Corella again its green banner. (New Corella, MIO)