Barangay Cagsao is one of the poorest coastal communities of Calabanga, Camarines Sur. The ASF’s assistance to the community started in 2009 when the Cagsararo Community Organization (CCO), that is composed of parents, daycare teachers and barangay health workers, requested ASF to assist their daycare center.

To date, ASF’s assistance to the community includes the following:
• financial and technical support to the daycare center for two (2) school years, from 2009 to 2011, extending service to a total of 85 pre-schooler children and their parents.
• financial and technical support to CCO’s health/nutrition project focusing on 36 undernourished children
• financial and technical support to CCO’s on-going rice trading project that seeks to make rice more accessible to residents of the community

In addition to assisting the project financially, ASF also assisted CCO in developing their organizational capacity to implement these project. These interventions include inputs on organizational and financial planning and management, leadership, nutrition monitoring and nutrition data interpretation.

Health and Nutrition Project

CCO implemented the 120-day supplemental feeding project that provided 36 undernourished preschool children with a daily nutritious meal from June to December 2011.

Improvements in the nutritional condition of 36 undernourished children were noted by the end of supplemental feeding activities. Other significant accomplishments achieved were: conduct of mothers’ class monthly, and the provision of health services such as deworming, medical and dental check-up, increased access to supplemental medicines (vitamins), and monthly weight monitoring. In addition the project helped facilitate the repair the health center was repaired that was used as venue for feeding and health education and a kitchen was constructed.

The parents/mothers benefited from the project as well. They were given health education seminars on immunization, breastfeeding, parasitism, control of diarrhea and newborn screening. They were also taught how to prepare and serve low cost but nutritious meals and participated in actual feeding activities. Prior to the conduct of actual feeding, health education was also done through DVD viewing. The municipal health office provided the DVD discs.

CCO was able to mobilize resources from the barangay and municipal government units. The barangay provided assistance in terms of the construction of kitchen and feeding area. The barangay health workers and nutritionist also actively participated in project activities, particularly in menu planning, weight monitoring, actual feeding, and health services. The rural health office was rendered health services and provided supplemental medicines during the medical and dental check up activity.