Ongoing Issues In The Philippines

Another tropical storm is working its way through the Visayas this week.  Tropical Storm Qunita has put Bohol and other islands in the area under Storm Warning Level 2, which is the second of four possible warnings in relation to tropical storms and typhoons.  Qunita is taking a more northerly path through the Visayas, avoiding Mindinao and traveling through Cebu province.  I haven't heard of any injuries or serious damage, but things can change rapidly and with little warning.

Quinta

On a different note: A recent report from the Education Department of the Philippines shows that over half a million students are seriously malnourished.  I will copy the entire news article from the Philippine National Inquirer:

"MANILA, Philippines — While Christendom is feasting on holiday food, poverty pushes over half a million elementary pupils to severe malnutrition.

The Department of Education (DepEd) disclosed that 562,262 pupils in kindergarten and elementary levels (Grades 1 to 6) enrolled in public schools this year have been considered “severely wasted” based on a nutritional status report as of Aug. 31, 2012.

These pupils are the target beneficiaries of a school-based feeding program to restore them to health and to keep them in school.

The DepEd through its Health and Nutrition Center (HNC) said, however, it could only feed 42,372 schoolchildren, or 7.54 percent of the identified severely malnourished pupils, in 1,010 public elementary schools in 28 provinces.

For the feeding of more than half a million malnourished pupils, school officials and teachers should collaborate with their respective local governments, nongovernment organizations, parent-teacher associations and other community volunteers for support, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said in a recent directive.

Schools were also encouraged to plant malunggay (moringa) trees and establish vegetable gardens to source ingredients for the children’s hot meals.

The school-based feeding program used to address “short-term hunger” experienced by children who do not eat breakfast and/or walk long distances to reach school, resulting in their inattentiveness in class or in frequent absences.

Malunggay

But since its implementation in 1997, the feeding program has shifted to addressing the more serious problem of undernutrition among schoolchildren, the DepEd said.

DepEd said the feeding intervention has been targeting young pupils in the critical stage of mental and physical development and vulnerable to illnesses and malnutrition. The dropout rate is also higher among younger pupils.

Luistro said the feeding program aims to rehabilitate at least 70 per cent of the severely wasted schoolchildren back to normal nutritional status at the end of 100 to 120 feeding days.

The program also seeks to increase the children’s attendance by 85 to 100 per cent and to improve the children’s health values and behavior.

The DepEd said each hot meal would cost about P15 based on developed recipes using malunggay.

From being a breakfast feeding program, it has been renamed as a school-based feeding program so as not to limit the feeding to breakfast time and to let school officials decide when best to feed the children."

What the report does not indicate is the number children who do not attend school who are also malnourished. 

Malunggay is a tree found in naturally in the Philippines which provides an extremely high level of nourishment and can be used in a variety of recipes.  A source here on the internet reports that: Malunggay has many nutrients. Each ounce of Malunggay contains 3 times the iron of spinach, 7 times the Vitamin C found in oranges, 4 times the Vitamin A of carrots, 3 times the potassium of bananas and 4 times as much calcium as milk.

I have had meals with this plant - I don't know if it will survive the winters here in New Mexico, but I will surely check it out.