In order to fully accomplish the team’s goal which is to develop and implement an effective public health strategies that can prevent the increasing cases of teenage pregnancy in Barangay Cag-an, the team must next administer the pretest to the teens.
Thinking that the pretest for the teens would be easier compared to the parents because they will be gathered in just one area as compared to the house-to-house method implemented for the pretest of parents, it was still just as hard. Considering the location plus the fact that teenagers have short attention spans the team devised a team building kind of pretest. With a goal to not just administer the pretest but to establish good rapport and gain the trust of the teens not just for this pretest program alone but also for future activities.
Since Cag-an has the largest land area, composed mostly of agricultural land and highlands the team decided to administer the pretest per cluster. Cluster 1 is composed of Sitio Tangkong and Sitio Giragid, Cluster 2 is composed of Sitio Cabancaban, Sitio Litik and Sitio Inadlawan, and Cluster 3 is composed of Sitio Proper and Sitio Lampuyang allotting atleast 2 hours a day per cluster because the teens are also working to help their families.
The program is divided into 3 parts. First part is the giving out of the pretest for the teens to answer individually, followed by games with moral lessons in order for them to bond and at the same time express what are their views towards certain situations, and the last part is an interactive discussion part wherein the team discusses the reason why they are conducting the pretest, what are the implications of the games and the proper reaction for every situation given while also allowing the teens to share their own views of what they did earlier.
Before starting the program the team made sure to introduce their selves and what the project is all about and also ends it by inviting everyone to attend the upcoming lectures and workshops as a continuation of the STEP-UP Project in line with the Sa Tamang Panahon project of Anilao’s Local Government Unit. The team started the pretest with Cluster 1 last April 10, 2017, Monday around three o’clock in the afternoon at Apurillo Elementary School with participants both from Sitio Giragid and Tangkong. While Cluster 2 with participants from Sitio Cabancaban, Sitio Inadlawan, Sitio Litik, and was held at Cag-an Primary School last April 11, 2017, Tuesday around 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Lastly, Cluster 3 was held at the chapel of Sitio Proper with participants both from Sitio Proper and Sitio Lampuyang last April 12, 2017 also around 1 o’clock in the afternoon.
The pretest are excerpts from the lectures to be given by different speakers from the local government unit of Anilao that focuses more on Gender Sensitivity, Sex Education, Self Defense, and Children’s Code. It targets the teens’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the stated topics above. The questions were translated to Kinaray-a to help the teens understand more clearly and eliminate any language barriers. After checking the test papers a median score of 16 and average of 15.7 was calculated. With these the team concluded that there are still a lot of areas that needs improvement regarding the KAP of the teens.
After surpassing the pretest, a kind of serious and boring part of the program, it is still obvious that the team has not yet gain the trust of the teens. Shy girls are just sitting in the corner whispering to their friends and boys look bored and want to leave the area. But the team is prepared enough to not end the program on a sad note. It is time to for the team building part of the program. Games were not just ordinary games for them to enjoy, it was made for them to also learn.
Like what our mothers taught us ever since,” All work with no play makes jack a dull boy”. Since the team has accomplished the “play” part it is time to end the games to give room for the discussion. One important part of the program where the teens can freely share what they think of the pretest and also listen to the team as they evaluate each situations given as a part of the games.
Just like any program being organized it is just normal to encounter a few problems. From “What outfit to wear so that the teens will not be intimidated”, to “Will the teens attend and cooperate?”, and “What if the program is boring?”, Oh no “There is no wall available for the powerpoint to be projected”, “The macaroni soup to be given as snacks are now all macaroni and the soup is nowhere to be found”, and “Are we walking more than 10 kilometers to reach home?”. But with the help of Anilao’s LGU for the transportation, Peer Helpers of Badiang National Highschool for the help in gathering and ushering the teens, Baragay Kagawads of Barangay Cag-an, the three day activity was successful and productive. The warm welcome are enough for all the time, effort and energy the team sacrificed. Every risk the team took was all worth it.
A boundary may be defined as a limit where two things become different but as long as there is hope and determination no boundary is hard to break.
Stay tuned for more updates!