Comval employees continue “Adopt-a-Child” program

Compostela Valley Province, June 1, 2015---  The provincial government employees continue leveling up its meaning of true public service  with the launching of the “6th Batch of the Adopt-a-child Program.”  

This year, a total of 91 malnourished children will be supported for 120 days in coordination with the barangay and municipal LGUs. Kick-off ceremonies were held on May 15 in two municipalities: Mawab with 26 children identified and Brgy. Elizalde, Maco with 12 children. While kick-off ceremonies happened in Brgy. Pangibiran, Mabini with 15 children and Pantukan with 38 children on May 18.

The Adopt-a-Child Program is conceptualized as a direct intervention to arrest the prevalence of malnutrition in the province. Specifically, it identifies severely underweight children and conduct program orientation to parents and municipal and barangay health workers and nutrition scholars; provide food supplies for nutritional needs and conduct medical check-up of severely malnourished children; conduct nutrition education to parents and backyard gardening seminar, as well as enhance the capacity of parents to generate more income; and strengthen the moral, social, and spiritual values of the family, among others.

Shelling out from their own pockets, the heads and employees pool their resources together to help children who are nutritionally inadequate because of poverty, poor sanitation, low educational attainment, and poor health seeking behavior.

Each week, the focal personnel visit their “adopted-child” to bring nutritious food for the child, check on their development, give orientation and briefing to the family, among others.

Aside from nutritional and health interventions given to severely malnourished children, the program also provides the communities with series of activities for a more inclusive and community-based health and nutritional development. Activities include food pack distribution, medical and dental outreach, cooking demonstration, supplemental feeding, hair and nail cutting, cooking contest, story-telling, and among others.

The program, initiated in 2010 by the Provincial Nutrition Council, was created through Executive Order 036-2010 by Governor Arturo T. Uy.  

To date, it has already adopted a total of 163 severely underweight children; 67.20% of them have improved to normal while 29% of them have improved in nutritional status. (w/ reports from J.Labrigas, FeM/IDS Comval)