Diplomas, Not Diapers!

It has been a busy few months for us at Roots of Health!

In May we celebrated Sex Ed month and undertook special activities and events to ensure that more young people could access information about their bodies and their health.

We noted that May was #SexEdForAll Month, but that young people still find it difficult to access sex ed. We’re working closely with educators and youth leaders to ensure that essential information on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) reaches young people in schools and communities. Our team constantly creates age-appropriate and localized resources for teens to learn more about ASRH. We also work with the Department of Education to mainstream our resources and teaching methods into the public school system.   

Young people deserve accurate and comprehensive ASRH information  designed for them, so they can make healthy decisions about sex and relationships, now and in the future

On May 19th, we also commemorated #InternationalAIDSCandlelightMemorialDay

Every year, the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day is held to remember the lives lost to AIDS.

More than 7,000 people have died from AIDS since the first HIV case was recorded in the Philippines in 1984. Nearly half of them had advanced HIV upon diagnosis.

At Roots of Health, we actively promote programs and policies aimed at preventing the spread of HIV and building a community that is supportive of people living with HIV (PLWH).

HIV is no longer a death sentence, especially if diagnosed early.

Together we work on prevention, screening, and linking people with HIV to care so no more lives are lost.

In June, we celebrated Pride Month.

Here at Roots of Health we stand in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community. We embrace everyone for who they are and empower others to do the same everyday.

Roots of Health offers non-judgemental sexual and reproductive health services to all. We partner with LGBTQIA+ organizations, increase access to free clinical services and contraceptives, train health workers on non-discriminatory community-based HIV screening, and provide comprehensive sexuality education to young people.

While this month is dedicated to the celebration of pride, our celebration continues everyday of the year. Join us as we continue to fight for everyone’s freedom to be their most authentic selves.

In July, we went back to couples to whom we had provided training on couples communication to find out if they were utilizing what they learned. We were delighted to find out that our skills training really helped!

We recognize that building healthy relationships is essential to women’s reproductive health.

Our Young Couples Communication program is centered on effective communication and consent, nurturing the foundations of positive and respectful partnerships. See the photos below to learn about one couple;s reflections on our training. 

We are continuing our efforts to provide high quality programs and services to reduce unplanned pregnancies and new cases of HIV. Thank you for your continued support and for being our partner in this journey.

Dear Friend, 

We’re Growing our Roots Together! 

2023 was a year of growth for Roots of Health as we moved towards expanding our roots and going further in addressing systemic challenges related to teenage pregnancies and HIV! This was not an easy feat especially in the context of new government leaders, rising inflation and media misinformation. The best way of going about it was to have our stakeholders - government workers, teachers, youth leaders and community members take part in the action.  

We are proud to share our 2023 highlights made possible by your continued support! 

Expanding our Roots: Systems Strengthening

Our community of passionate changemakers expanded as we trained and continuously engaged 617 local health workers and 75 public school teachers. We recognize the importance of these government frontliners in shaping the experiences of women and young people in Palawan. The trainings helped our partners overcome their limiting beliefs, understand that there are existing reproductive health laws that support their work, and learn the right tools and information to provide age-appropriate sex education and non-judgmental sexual and reproductive health services. 

We’re proud of our growing volunteer community!  We trained 31 new Youth Advocate leaders and 106 Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council) members last year and they are now making our services more accessible by providing peer-to-peer support and connecting young clients to our Youth Clinic. 

In 2023, our team also trained 109 Community-Based Screening motivators for HIV, double the number from the year before. Bringing free screening services to neighborhoods is critical in combating the increasing HIV cases in the Philippines, whose epidemic rate has been tagged as the highest in the Asia Pacific region. 

Beyond training for information and service delivery, we’re honored to have shared expertise and passion on data management systems with local government units (LGU) in Palawan. We’ve rolled out our Comprehensive Household Information System (CHIS) in Puerto Princesa City, which is an online data collection system that allows government field workers to update household information of people in their communities in real-time. The system harmonizes data across departments and not only will allow LGUs to effectively plan health programs and strategies, but also to respond faster when disasters hit. 

Apart from CHIS, our team also regularly dialogues with key decision-makers in the City and 12 municipalities across Palawan to share health data, identify critical areas of improvement, and collaborate on finding solutions for better health outcomes. 

Branching Out: Access to Services

We continued to provide critical clinical services. In 2023 we served 4,591 women with reproductive health care in the form of contraceptives bringing the number of clients currently protected from unplanned pregnancies to 17,048. 

Our branches continued to reach beyond the confines of our clinics, extending into the communities including isolated indigenous peoples’ villages. We also distributed 20,000 commodities to local governments this year. Inventory support is important to prevent contraceptive stock-outs in village health centers and to ensure that people will receive care whenever they need it. 

Responding to the rising cases of HIV in the region, the Roots of Health team ramped up activities for HIV awareness and early detection, screening 1,748 individuals across different communities. We followed our continuum of care by linking individuals who tested positive to needed medical services and mental health support. 

We’re always looking for ways to provide the community with credible and engaging sexual and reproductive health information. In 2023, we continued to promote Comprehensive Sex Education by teaching 2,600 students through our in-school program. We taught 2,486 more young people in communities with the help of our SK partners. 

Recognizing where our young audience are, we embraced the digital space and pushed further our content to provide localized sex education content for the youth. We reached 15.9 million people in 2023 and generated 4.5 million engagements as we explored more creative formats! We’re gaining traction in doing Facebook live sessions and TikTok videos. Our goal is to enhance the active involvement of our community, provide the right information, link people to reproductive health support, and foster connections. 

We were delighted when the national Department of Health took note of our efforts, awarding our work with partners on theI CHOOSE campaign a gold award, and the work of our organization overall a silver award at the 2023 Healthy Pilipinas Awards.

Leaves of Innovation: New Initiatives and Fresh Ideas 

To further our pursuit of advancing reproductive health, we explored new initiatives in 2023. These efforts were a direct response to the insights gained from our 2021 youth survey, guiding us in addressing barriers through targeted programs. 

The Astig Pre-Campaign, a groundbreaking effort aimed at men and boys, addresses a crucial insight – that men and boys can become barriers but also partners to women's reproductive health. Through educational campaigns focused on consent and healthy relationships, we strive to cultivate a supportive environment that transcends gender norms.

Recognizing pressing mental health care needs, we widened our "Gets Kita" initiative. We provided mental health care support to 84 teens in our Youth Clinic and during efforts in the local city jail, creating a safe space for open dialogue and healing.

We recognize that building healthy relationships is essential to women’s reproductive health and wellness. Our Young Couples Communication program engaged 88 participants in activities centered around effective communication and consent, nurturing the foundations of positive and respectful partnerships. We have introduced this program in two regions beyond Palawan and are optimistic about replicating it in more.

As we embark on the journey ahead, we express our gratitude for your support.

Your continued involvement nourishes our roots and enables us to grow and reach new heights in reproductive health care in our communities. 

Together, let's cultivate a future where reproductive health is accessible to all! 

Links:

• Roots of Health website