Page 10 - EMBRACE Book
P. 10
10 11
Winefredo, Philippines
“ADRA has helped me to become a better father. I used to do to have a healthy pregnancy. The recommendations for
believe that as long as I was working hard and providing food good nutrition for the mother while she was pregnant
for my children that I was doing my part. ADRA has taught sounded like good advice to me and so we made sure that she
me that even if I am very busy, I need to make the time to had a good, balanced diet of nutritious food during that time.
spend with my children. We have learned that we should We quit all junk food and processed foods, even stopped
never wait for things to become very bad before we give our drinking coffee as it would not be good for the baby. We
attention. As parents, we should be so aware of our children’s followed all of the recommendations for check-ups,
development that we are guiding and encouraging them immunizations, and supplements.
every step of the way so that they never develop extremely
negative behaviours. I have fully adopted this into my life Now, we breastfeed exclusively. Before, according to the
and am determined to be a good father and parent. tradition of our village, we would never bring a newborn
baby outside into the morning air and sunshine. But because
I am also following ADRA’s advice on what I can do to be a of ADRA, we are doing that. New mothers also traditionally
better husband. I am much more attentive to the needs of my stayed inside a dark room after the baby was born. ADRA
wife now. I am more caring. As she recovers from the birth of taught us that it is healthy to go out and get fresh air,
our third child, I am doing a lot of the housework. I am sunshine, and exercise. We followed that advice and it was
washing the clothes so she can rest. good for my wife! Other women in the village have noticed
that we did that and how it helped my wife recover.
I am cooking the meals. I do a lot of the cooking for the family
and I have changed the way I cook to make it healthier for my Because our village is isolated, and many of the people who
children. We are incorporating a lot more greens and live here are poor, ADRA came up with a way that would help
vegetables and really cutting back or eliminating artificial pregnant women get into the nearest clinic for check-ups as
flavourings such as MSG. well as emergency transport to the hospital if needed. It is
called the COMBAT system. It stands for Community Based
ADRA taught us about gender roles and how husband and Transport System for pregnant women. Individuals from our
wife can share the household chores and taking care of the village were selected to be COMBAT officers and they were
children. I am doing this, and I have realized that ADRA is given special training on how to handle and care for pregnant
right. Our marriage is much better now. We have more open women during transport. There was training on basic first aid
communication. When we have conflicts, we now talk it and life support. I am very happy for this. Sometimes the sea
through and resolve it. I believe open communication is can be rough, and it can be a difficult journey for a woman
important. who is full-term as she makes her way to the hospital.
I am not one for saying all the sweet things because I find that ADRA has started a very innovative Savings and Loans group.
kind of corny. But who knows? One day I might give that a try. We have no bank here in our village. With the Bulsa group
For now, I am concentrating on showing my wife by my that ADRA has started, we now feel as though we have a mini
actions and help around the house that I care. bank here in our village. If we have a need or an emergency,
or we want a little start-up cash for a small business idea that
I am not one to just hang out with the guys in the village. I we can run from our home, we can easily apply for a loan. In
want every day to have purpose, meaning, and our group we have set a service charge of 5% per month for
accomplishment. When I am not working, I spend time with those who take a loan. This is high, but as members of the
my family and playing with my children. group, we also get direct benefit from the service fees in the
pay-out every six months. So in many ways, it works out very
We have made many changes in our family as a result of the good for everything to have this ADRA Savings and Loans
EMBRACE trainings. We learned a lot about what we should group in our village.”
Photo: © 2019 ADRA | Frank Spangler
