DE JESUS, Graciela Mae R. BSN 5-4 CIP HW: Mulanay Reflection Paper Doctors to the Baryos, Puso para sa Pilipino: A Reflection Paper regarding the Mulanay: Sa Pusod Ng Paraiso Movie Setting foot in an area that lacks familiarity is a challenging task to any individual. However, these personal challenges must be overcome to prioritize societal challenges which are bigger than us. Having watched the movie, Mulanay: Sa Pusod Ng Paraiso, it successfully showcased the situation of public health in a rural community. Being a proponent of Doctors to the Baryos is an astounding way to lend service with extensive and inclusive hands for public health. Although, this is Dra. Ria’s first time to give service following her oath taking ceremony. It is commendable to make a firm decision on serving a rural area rather than in Manila. This reflects one of the principles of COPAR which states that COPAR should be based on the interest of the poorest sector of the community. Even though Manila has its population of economically depressed citizens, it is still a different situation in the provinces where even the basic resources are scarce like clean water and electricity. With this, choosing Mulanay as the community for COPAR is a good starting point. It was evident in the movie that change is a key factor towards solving deep-rooted problems of the community. In Mulanay, the soiled and dirty environment is one of the primary reasons that diseases like diarrhea, flu, and malnutrition are prominent in the community. This is a great conflict in the movie, wherein, at first, the people of Mulanay are having difficulties embracing these changes. Firstly, they were reluctant of these changes in the first place which is observed during their first meeting with Dra. Ria following the community diagnosis of poor sanitation. However, with Dra. Ria’s courage and generosity, her gifts towards the baseball team, was welcomed by the community. They were able to keep the environment clean for a while but after the scene where an OFW returned home to an unfaithful husband, the people of Mulanay reverted back to being environmentally unconscious which resulted in an epidemic related to poor sanitation. One of the principles of COPAR states that people are open to change, have the capacity to change and are able to bring about change. Even if the change was not consistent, a momentous turning point of the movie is when a child died due to the epidemic. This is the first patient of Dra. Ria that has died under her care. This became a big wake up call to the people of Mulanay. With their full cooperation, they were able to build a Butika sa Baryo and at the final scenes of the movie. No longer are the people waiting for the government’s slow action towards their concerns. The people of Mulanay, together with Dra. Ria marched towards the City Hall to voice out their concerns regarding the installation of deep wells in Mulanay. This moment also emphasizes the last principle of COPAR which states that COPAR should lead to a self-reliant community and society. By teaching the people to clean their environment and building a botika for them to manage, it is a more self-reliant approach than just providing them with deep wells instantly. Dra. Ria facilitated COPAR in an organized manner. She was greeted warmly by the people of the city. However, in the barangay, due to her young age; clean and prim appearance, the locals were hesitant on if she can be part of their community. A well known boat man even made her a song called “Pretty Doktora”. Regardless of these assumptions, Dra. Ria still continued her purpose in Mulanay which is to serve the people. She religiously walks around the community to get to know the people. She stayed in the barangay for quite some time after debunking the problems she has observed with the community. The patterns of illnesses which seem monogamous is the first problem she observed. Diarrhea due to the unclean water; Flu due to poor sanitation; and Malnutrition due to lack of food source in the island and broken bridge which grants fast access to the city. She called for a meeting with the key persons of the community. In this meeting, she revealed possible solutions to these problems after discussing them. Nonetheless, the people were hopeless since they do not have the funds for the proposed solutions. Dra. Ria then emphasized the need to keep the surroundings clean as a simple solution that doesn’t require money. Having the money as a problem, Ria went back to Manila to do a fundraiser. She used her connections to get a sponsor for the baseball equipment of the children and funds for the installation of deep wells. Ria only has half the funds she needs for the deep wells so, she concluded the COPAR with the building of Butika sa Baryo to give a somehow long-term solution for the common sickness pattern of the community. Culture played an important role in the implementation phase of the community health development plan. The locals’ evident hesitation to trust Dra. Ria because they are dependent on the service of spiritual healers became a hindrance to implement the programs she advocates such as cleaning. The community is used to having elderly as a source of medicinal help. Examples are an albularyo and a prient. Ria’s young age allowed for assumptions to grow regarding her capabilities to provide help. Some people even questioned her skills as a doctor as she likes to refer people to the hospital when their injuries or illnesses are severe. They believe that the albularyo and the priest can help with less cost and effort. Since most of the people in Mulanay are not privileged enough to have access to proper education, some of them have difficulties reading and understanding the medicines. There was a scene where Dra. Ria asked the local regarding the medications he is taking. The local replied “DOH” since the capsules have DOH labeled to it. Dra. Ria quickly corrected him. Since Mulanay is a small tight knit community, this unapproachable nature gave Ria a rough start in being seen as part of the community. Setting aside hindrances, culture brought positive impacts on the implementation of the community health development plan as well. The gift giving culture of the people helped Dra. Ria to appreciate the community more as they give her food baskets and such. This somehow was a catalyst to give back to the community as a fellow human rather than just a doctor. The film was able to give significance to the concept of health as a social phenomenon. Health as a social phenomenon begins when we acknowledge that all aspects of society are integral to health. The sociological aspect of health is directly related to societal customs and practices which means how the public views health and illnesses depend on these customs. A good example from the film is when the response of the locals affect the progression of illnesses of the children. When a child dies, the viewer can feel the guilt of everyone in the film. Health in this scene is seen as a social phenomenon. Society is able to control how people understand their health, how their relationship to their bodies is mediated by social concepts of health and illness, and how their health affects their relationships with the people in their lives. Lastly, health is a social phenomenon. The film brought emphasis on this concept. The smallest unit of society is an individual. These individuals have the most to contribute to society. So it is most important that they are healthy and functional. If they are not, society will fall. Similar to what happened in the film, when the children became sick, almost everyone was in line for a treatment from the clinic. However, one mother decided to just bring her son to an albularyo because of the line. With this, our culture, not our biology, dictates which illnesses are stigmatized and which are not, which are considered disabilities and which are not, which are trustworthy healers and which are not. Everything everyone believes in impacts their health. It is like a domino effect starting from a mislapse of an individual to the fall of the community. Health is a major aspect of our lives which means everything we do is affected by it. The unsanitary practices and lack of environmental cleanliness of the locals in Mulanay directly resulted in an epidemic. Our choices in our health become a responsibility when we are in a community. In summary, I have learned a lot from watching the film. The film is educational and entertaining. The conflicts in the film were properly resolved in the ending. The pacing of the film is well organized. This film was very helpful in building my knowledge regarding community immersion programs and the principles of COPAR. It highlighted the participatory angle of COPAR, how the people get a say and is well-informed about the problems observed in their community. As an advocate for health, Dra. Ria was able to manage public health and its multifaceted nature. In the succeeding years of my nursing journey, I wish to be able to render service to people in rural communities and immerse myself in their customs and embrace their problems as my own.
