Health Center Brings Joy to Camp Rajamuda

Fatima Digaon-Pigkaulan, 20, enthusiastically anticipates the completion of the first medical center under construction at Brgy. Sadangen in Camp Rajamuda.

She lives adjacent to the site of the internationally-funded project administered by the World Bank to advance the peace process between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Fatima considers this as a blessing. She hopes to deliver her first baby in May in the maternity ward of the facility expected to be completed next month.

“When I heard about the plan to construct a health center nearby, I almost jumped out of joy. I told my husband that we do not need to go far when I give birth to our child,” said Fatima.

Medical emergencies are usually rushed to the municipality of Buluan, about 45 minutes away from Sadangen. It costs Php 80 (USD 1.66) to hire a motorcycle to reach Buluan.

Fatima owns a sari-sari store while her husband is a farmer. They were also members of the Sadangen Farmer Pamana Marketing Cooperative People’s Organization.

The People’s Organization is the custodian of the Sadangen clinic under the Mindanao Trust Fund-Reconstruction and Development Project (MTF-RDP/3) being managed by the humanitarian Community and Family Services International (CFSI) and the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA).

As a member of the People’s Organization, her husband sometimes assists in the construction of the center, aware of its benefits to the community.

Anadjah Abdulnasser, Fatima’s sister-in-law, is as eager as the couple. Anadjah is the auditor of the People’s Organization.

“Our goal is to finish the project within the targeted time frame,” Anadjah said.

CFSI Executive Director Steven Muncy and BDA representatives visited Sadangen on 09 February.

The PhP1.8 million-health project will also serve three or more remote barangays in General Salipada K. Pendatun (GSKP) municipality with little or no access to basic facilities.

“The health center will not only provide easy access to medical services but will also reduce the time and cost spent by the people in the communities,” said Kadafy Sinolinding, a BDA community development officer.

Sinolinding cited the Barangay Local Government Unit (BLGU) proposal to have the project site as an area of development where a government center would be built.

Also established in the area was a solar-powered water system from the previous MTF-RDP/2.

“The MTF-RDP projects have paved the way for the BLGU to have this development initiative,” he said. “Years from now, we foresee a changed and progressive Barangay Sadangen serving people from various communities.”

Sadangen is one of the 19 barangays in the GSKP municipality.  It is one of the service areas for MTF-RDP/3, which is constructing a health clinic in each of the six major MILF camps.

The facility in Sadangen will have a health center, a birthing clinic, and a pharmacy. This will be managed by a trained health worker who will facilitate consultation and treatment, and other programs of the Ministry of Health, such as immunization for measles, polio, and other similar undertakings.

MTF-RDP/3 is a project partnership between CFSI and BDA and is in line with the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro. It aims to enable identified communities in the conflict-affected areas of Mindanao to access socio-economic opportunities as well as basic services. CFSI functions as the Project Management Unit and Trust Fund Recipient of MTF.

This project’s third phase, scheduled until the end of March, seeks to foster participatory governance through purposeful engagement with several line ministries of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

A total of 39 infrastructure projects have been delivered to the service communities under the MTF, with grants from the European Union, Sweden, Australia, Canada, the United States, and New Zealand. #