I am honestly not a fan of reading unless it is a requirement. At first, I thought reading Doctor to the Barrios by Juan Flavier is boring but I was wrong. Knowing the chronicles of a Rural Reconstruction Worker is a privilege for me as a student nurse who is studying about community organizing.
The book was similar to the movie “Mumbaki” staring Raymart Santiago wherein it also tackles about the accounts of a particular barrio and a particular indigenous tribe towards an educated, organized, mobilized and peaceful community only that the book is more emphasized and detailed.
I know for a fact that rural reconstruction is not an easy task nor a trouble-free job, it entails not only your blood, sweat and tears but your life. I was exposed to a community set-up and I was literally exhausted in making a community diagnosis. I know that what we did way back in our AHSE days was nothing compared to the hardships and struggles of the rural reconstruction worker and I idolize them for that.
My understanding broadens when reading this book. Growing in the city, I was not exposed to superstitious beliefs the barrio people have and on how the barrio people live their everyday life without the modern technologies I am enjoying now. This book showed me the kind of life they live and those other factors that you need to consider especially when you are dealing with them. You can’t just simply impose new things to them even if you meant improving their lifestyle. You have to be one with them and being one with them is very difficult. People have different perceptions and preferences, you may see new improvements this time but as it pushes through you’ll see that those improvements are slowly failing. Why do such things happen? When there is not enough rapport and when the barrio people don’t see the relevance of the said “new things” in their life, it should be short-termed. We have to impose things the way they understand in order for it to be successful. Change is something that comes slowly especially if you are trying to change people, it may definitely take a lifetime. Upon knowing the situation barrio people have, I feel their need for help.
I am glad that there was an organization like the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement present in our country. The volunteers are not merely volunteers but for me they are heroes because they sacrifice their living even if it was already favorable for them and I believe that the road they chose is the road less traveled by, I salute them for that. I won’t enumerate everything that are at stake in this reaction paper anymore but I would like to give credit to their service, bravery and dedication because to deal with the problems of the barrio people separately will make them a failure. This is not about individuals; this is about the whole community of different people with different way of thinking.
If only the government prioritize this problem right from the start, most of the barrio people will now have improved lifestyle and health condition and they already gained self-governance. We should be the ones extending ourselves to those barrio people. I hope that there will be more rural reconstruction workers in the future also; the movement will expand as there are a lot of indigenous community that needs help and that the present rural reconstruction workers will never lose hope and strength despite all of those challenges in store for them. To train a rural reconstruction worker is hard but losing a rural reconstruction worker that is serving for so long is harder in terms of experiences.
There is no assurance in this job, but when you see the progress, it will make you fulfilled. “The only stability in the world is God. Stability is faith- faith in our Lord, and strength in our faith”. They wouldn’t have done this without the guidance from the Almighty.
This is my assignment for my community organizing subject. We are asked to react on the novel Doctor to the Barrios by Juan Flavier in relation to our concept. I honestly haven’t finished the book until now. LOL! Actually I have applied some of the topics there on the book because I am now on my community immersion program. This is just a one-page reaction paper.
After I have recited, I suddenly thought of something nursing-ish… and that is to be a Blood Pressure Apparatus or simply a Sphygmomanometer.
