It takes anywhere from one to two hours on foot or horseback, motorcycle or tractor for the villagers of Barangay Datalpandan to get medical treatment in the town center of Guindalungan.
But when the clinic under construction at the remote and hilly village of 400 households is completed by next month, health services will be available in their midst.
Adiamin U. Abdulhamid, a community organizer of the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), recalls that a pregnant woman had died because of blood loss on her way to the nearest health facility in Guindalungan proper.
“The health center will be a great help for the community to lessen the health risks of residents because of lack of access to health facilities,” said Abdulhamid.
Ground-breaking ceremonies as well as Operations and Maintenance and Project Monitoring Workshop were held on January 27 and February 1 respectively at Datalpandan for the project – one of 19 outlined in the $3 million phase three of the Mindanao Trust Fund-Reconstruction and Development Project (MTF-RDP/3).
CFSI and BDA train the community residents on project management and on how to sustain the health facility once built.
These projects are being managed and implemented by the humanitarian Community and Family Services International (CFSI) with partner BDA.
They were designed as part of a process to rehabilitate six major camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and move forward a peace process with the government.
Datalpandan is one of 11 barangays in the municipality of Guindulungan. With a population of around 20,000, the municipality is part of Camp Badre.
When completed, the Datalpandan facility will have a health center, a birthing clinic, and a pharmacy. It will have a midwife station; a consultation and treatment room for immunization for measles, polio, and other programs of the Ministry of Health; a ward; and a delivery room.
Half a dozen clinics are being constructed – one in each of the six MILF camps under the MTF-RDP/3, scheduled for completion in March.
Ten private companies have agreed to participate in the internationally-funded initiative to hasten economic recovery in the conflict-affected region.
The projects are administered by the World Bank with grants from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Sweden, New Zealand, and the United States. The infrastructure component also includes the construction of roads, multi-purpose centers, agri-trading and production facilities, and training buildings with accommodation.
Private companies have agreed to participate in the projects in the MILF camps, indicating confidence in the peace process between the government and the MILF.
Established in 2005, the MTF consolidates international development assistance for the socio-economic recovery of the rebellion-torn communities in Mindanao and seeks to advance the normalization process with the MILF.
From 2005 to 2017, a total of 614 community sub-projects were completed in 332 barangays across 114 municipalities in Mindanao. Some 640,000 people have benefited from the projects built at the cost of PhP 706 million ($ 14.12 million). #