This season has made my days busy and left me somewhat broke. No matter, I’m still happy despite my stressed body and my fairly emptied pocket.

     These past few days, I have attended a lot of Christmas parties, outings, and almost all the fun you can name under the sun. Fun is just everywhere!  But what really made me feel light and happy was when we were able to help a poor, depressed, and marginalized community.

     Yes, it was at first only a requirement. The COPAR (Community Organizing Participatory Action Research) is a social development approach that aims to transform the apathetic, individualistic and voiceless poor into dynamic, participatory and politically responsive community (definition taken from my notes). It is part of our (BS-Nursing) curriculum, so whether we like it or not, we have no choice but to comply with it.

    At first we detested it, because in each duty we go home dirty and muddy, we are exhausted walking under the scorching heat of the sun from one house to another (the houses are very far from each other).

    But somewhere along the way, something nudged our hearts that urged us to help the community even without being obliged. We were able to extend help that is beyond the course description. Aside from the vital health teachings that we imparted to them, we were able to help the community renovate and beautify their unsightly, wrecked and abandoned “Purok”. Yay! We became carpenters, gardeners, and painters for a while - for the rich kiddos like some of my group mates, it was indeed an accomplishment. I know it’s not actually a big thing. But seeing the glee on their faces when we offered help, made us very happy.

    The community’s feedback to us is so elating and invigorating. They love us and they really appreciated our prodigious efforts. Wow, nothing beats the feeling of being able to help and reach out to other people. 

    This is why I love the nursing profession very much because it is NOT LIMITED only in the medical field. NURSES are so FLEXIBLE and VERSATILE that even outside the clinical area, we can still make ourselves USEFUL and PRODUCTIVE.

No wonder, why I haven’t blogged for a while. This really kept me very busy. And I bet I’ll be away after the Christmas day because we’re conquering the majestic Mt. Apo once again! Weee! I can’t wait.
Whew, I have a very tiring Christmas ahead of me. ^_^