By Maricar M. Calubiran
Volunteerism knows no age just as service to the people is without limits.
Eighty-year-old Rosalia Alfonso chose to spend the twilight years of her life by being one of the six active, from the original 24, community volunteers of Kalahi-CIDSS in Barangay Puis, New Washington, Aklan.
A former barangay health worker (BHW), she says she finds happiness in serving the community, especially with her participation in the conduct of the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) profiling during the Participatory Situational Analysis (PSA) without pay.
The CBMS data is integral in the conduct of the PSA because it deals with the needs of the barangays, the possible interventions, and the community planning. Moreover, the subproject conceptualization and proposals will depend on the results of the data reflective on the local conditions.
Lola Rosalia’s remote village, where basic services are not readily available, has not undergone a similar survey before.
“Nasanay naman ako sang una mag-conduct survey sang BHW pa ako pero iba sa Kalahi-CIDSS. Nagbibigay kami ng mga vitamin sa mga kabataan at nag-immunize sa kanila (I used to do surveys when I was BHW, but those are different from what we do in Kalahi-CIDSS. We would give vitamins to children and immunized them),” she says.
Lola Rosalia was in-charge of the survey in Sitio Limpawan, where she also lives. Together with Marichu Alvier and Rosalini Casidsid, the team starts the household survey at 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. and resumes at around 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.
She explains that households are asked questions related to health, nutrition, shelter, water and sanitation, basic education, income, employment and peace and order. In particular, the respondents are asked whether they own the house, they have comfort rooms or access to safe water.
A product of Gabriel Foundation which molds the spirit of volunteerism, Lola Rosalia observes that “Meron man gasabat tuod, meron man nahuya (Some answered our questions truthfully but there are those who were too shy to answer).”
Though the job seem tiring for an elderly like her, whose face and hearing are not reflective of her age, Lola Rosalia says she believes volunteerism runs in her blood.
“Palagi man ako ga-volunteer sa barangay (I always do volunteer works in our village).”
“Libangan ko na ini and may energy pa man ako sa paglakat (This is my pastime and I still have the energy to walk),” she quips.
The conduct of survey lasted for three weeks and the result was presented in a barangay assembly. The community, then, agreed to construct a two-classroom building under the Kalahi-CIDSS – Millennium Challenge Corporation First Cycle implementation in New Washington.
The project was chosen to address the classroom needs of the growing number of elementary pupils in Barangay Puis Elementary School.
Lola Rosalia notes how the community appreciated the result of their work because the residents were informed of the real situation of their community.
She shares she is ready to join her fellow volunteers in trainings that Kalahi will institute to finally realize the village’s dream school building.
This early, she is beaming with excitement in the preparations made by the community for the Municipal Inter-Barangay Forum-Participatory Development Planning and Resource Allocation.
Like her teammates, Lola Rosalia is hoping their proposal for a two-classroom building will be prioritized for funding assuring that as the spirit of volunteerism continues to fire within her, she will work hard to help in making Kalahi-CIDSS projects in their barangay successful.#