Angelique Tabaco
It was august 9, 2010, our first day in the Cayapes, Kapangan. Just like any other community duties, we first did our courtesy call at the municipal hall of Kapangan. I don’t know anything about this place except from the fact that it is a mountainous area. When we saw the pictures in the municipal hall, I learned more about Kapangan. I was surprised to know that behind the green mountains of Kapangan, lies the magnificent works of nature- the sceneries that the Kapangan people can truly be proud off. From its image forming mountains, it’s cool tree parks, historical hanging coffins, cocoon rich trees, running rivers down to its rich land, all these and more sceneries Kapangan can be proud of.
After our courtesy call, we went to our designated area, Brgy. Cayapes, Kapangan. We took a rest and ate our lunch at the staff house before we started the very tiring and the very long walk to the different sitios in the barangay. First, we started from the farthest sitio, the sitio Lokot. We felt so exhausted from a lot of climbing and walking but the good thing about it was that after we reached the place we were able to have a glimpse of the beautiful overview of the whole barangay. It was so amazing and because of this, I was able to appreciate more our mother nature. It was when we went down to Sadel that the rain poured down suddenly. It was fun as we walked through the fields. Others slipped, some fell down on the mud and one of us got her boots stuck in the mud. It was really fun. The rain started to stop when we walked towards Lower Dagao. The people of lower Dagao are accommodating. They entertained us, and gave us pieces of advice about the shorter route to the staff house.
For the following days of our duty, we were able to render care to the community folks, starting from the home visits and BP monitoring that we did each day; to the health teachings on family planning methods, breastfeeding, hypertension, dengue awareness activities, sight saving lecture to the elementary students, assisting in immunization held at the health center; rehabilitation of the herbarium; and even from our simple walk in the fields-all these made me experience the life and the work of a true community health nurse. The simple interventions we did to the community folks are already a big thing for them. And because of those things that we did, they felt that they are important. I was so touched because every time we go to their place they would say words of gratitude for what we have done. Through these experiences I was able to prove what nursing really is. Nursing is not just a bridge to go abroad, earn dollars and get rich. Nursing, is a privilege to touch the lives of others.
To the people of Kapangan, thank you for accommodating us! These experiences of mine will forever live in my mind and in my heart. Till our next Ultimate Kapangan Duty Experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment