The Barrio Chronicles: The House-to-House Survey

When I was applying for a slot at the ADZU SOM, during the interview, the panel asked me “do you think you are capable to go to the community?”, frankly, my answer was “yes”, stating my reason to them, but not really understanding what I was getting myself into. I knew that the school’s community immersion wouldsend out their students every semester to care for an entire barangay, but I personally did not expect that it was a very challenging task.

To whoever is reading this, if you are an aspiring applicant to the ADZU-SOM, my question to you is, “Are you up for it? Are you ready to sacrifice the luxuries you have right now to care for others who have nothing at all?” If your answer is no, I would suggest that you think not only twice but thrice as hard before stepping into something you are not entirely sure of, consider your capabilities if you are really ready for this change in perspective in your life. But if your answer is yes, I wish the best of luck to you dear reader.

During our first community immersion, everything was smooth sailing for our team. We had very good accommodation in a privately owned house, accessible utilities of electricity and water, and nearby resources of water for our drinking consumption. We had not done very much for the community then, considering our objectives were to establish rapport to the government officials, barangay healthcare providers and to the locals at the area, and to familiarize ourselves with the grounds of the community. But on the second community immersion however, our team was relocated to the barangay hall of which the community offered for our accommodation during our month-long stay at the barangay.

Our objective for the second community immersion was to gather the primary data of every individual and household for our community health plan and diagnosis. And how do you gather primary data? You ask.

We have prepared and conducted a house-to-house survey of the entire barangay, crossing rolling hills and plains just to reach for the so-called neighboring houses. Our barangay had a total land area of 579.04 hectares and a total population of 956 individuals with 229 household, imagine the leg workout by walking the entire day. For each household, we had to walk a few meters and several kilometers just to reach for the next house and sometimes finding out that the owner was not around. What luck right? Walking under the scorching sun during mid-day, and the occasional walks while raining, our team was by-far prepared for it, with all the long sleeved shirts, hats, umbrellas and sunblock. There were moments wherein we ate our lunch by the creek, under a tree, or on a rock. There were also times when we were chased by dogs, assuming that they were vicious, wild and unvaccinated, we prepared our trusty arnis sticks for battle.

The experience was fun and tough for that matter, especially during the interview proper when you would listen to the stories of how poverty consumed the locals. At the back of your mind, you would really think and consider of how blessed your life is compared to them, wherein you would go back home to freshly cooked meals everyday, potable water to drink and a made-out bed waiting for you every night before you go to sleep. Despite the people’s current situation, you could see it in their eyes that they would like to have better lives, but you could also see the other side of the coin that they are also happy and content with what they have. There were moments wherein you knew that the family had just barely enough survival supplies of food for themselves, but when we arrived and offered our services to them, like the BP monitoring, consultations, you could really witness how down to earth these people could be because despite they had none, they really went out of their way to offer what they have for us. It broke my heart to receive their gifts but it would also be an insult to refuse their offer. All we could say to them was “thank you”, but their replies were even better, because you could really feel the sincerity of their thankfulness of which you barely hear nowadays. This inspires us to help them, empower them, and give them a light of hope of change in their lives. These people have taught us the value of simple living, humility, and contentment of which we take these values for granted.