Goducate … Go And Educate! – Page 140 – Helping Asians Help Themselves

2012-07-06

Goducate screens for hypertension in Sabah

Most of the community served by Goducate literacy centers do not have access to state health services. Hypertension is common there because of the high salt diet. However, people there with hypertension are unaware of their condition and do not seek treatment until complications, such as a stroke, occurs.

ScreenShot110 — Explaining about hypertension to parent

Goducate has decided to take a preventive approach with our anti-hypertension program. Armed with a simple consumer-grade digital blood-pressure machine, our health educator visits villages where Goducate has a literacy center to check the blood pressure of the students’ parents and to explain to them what hypertension is, how it comes about, and how to look out for its complications, such as heart problems, stroke, and kidney failure.

Those found to have high readings even after repeated measurements are advised to help themselves by doing the following:

– Lose weight if they are obese
– Make dietary changes such as cutting down on oil and salt
– Reduce or to quit smoking
– Exercise more, for example, by doing more gardening
– Seek medical treatment (for those with the more severely high readings)

The health educator will return to the village every 6 months to monitor the parents’ blood pressure.

2012-07-03

Deworming takes effect in Goducate centers in Sabah

Since the start of our deworming session in April this year, our local health educator has visited 18 of our 24 literacy centers. She educates both the students and their parents about worm infestation and how to prevent it by paying attention to good hygiene.

Our health educator also measured the students’ heights and weights before giving them a dose of anthelmintic (deworming) medicine. These height and weight measurements will be used to give us an idea of the efficacy of the deworming program.

From the first round of measurements, about 20% of the students fall within the underweight growth curve, whilst 5% fall within the severely underweight curve. Feedback from the teachers, parents, and students from centers that have had the deworming sessions is that at least 70% of the students excreted parasites and are much more alert and energetic now.

Our health educator will be revisiting each center in 6 months’ time to re-measure heights and weights.

2012-06-292012-06-29

Teaching basic electronics to underprivileged youth in Laguna

Unemployment and underemployment continues to increase in The Philippines. Out of 100 children who finish elementary school, only 14 proceed to college. Thus 86 do not have the requirements for a stable job.

High-school graduates in our area tell me that they do not proceed to college because their parents cannot afford to send them there. Hence, although my main responsibility in Goducate is the music project, I thought that I could try to pass on to them whatever basic knowledge I have on electronics, to help them find jobs.

I started the class with 3 students, but by the second session 4 other boys and some fathers joined us. The classes are held in the porch of the home of one of the students. I hope that this little start will help needy students to eventually help themselves.