Fieldwork Reflection: Helping Hands

A reflection after the NSTP Fieldwork:

Naomi Yedda Francisco 

C-Eng 18 UST

Sir Adrian Romero

Bonding time with new friends hehehehe

1. Conduct a research about the condition of Filipino children in the Philippines and children’s rights. What are the problems of the Filipino children? How can we address these problems? What are the solutions in these problems?

2. What have you learned from our fieldwork? How did you conduct the fieldwork activity in your group? Explain the process you did in conducting the activities for the children? What are your realizations after the activity? What is the memorable and challenging part of your fieldwork?·

3. How did your NSTP experience changed and helped you become a better member of your family, a better Thomasian, and a better citizen of the country?

Every Filipino child has a right to be born and have a name, a right to have a name and a nationality. Every child has a right to be free, to have a family who will take care of him/her  to have a good education, and right to have enough food and shelter. Every child has a right to be given protection against abuse, danger and violence due to war and conflict. Everyone has a right to live in a peaceful community and to be defended and assisted by the government. These are just some of the basic rights of every Filipino child in our country.

Drawing

The Infant mortality rate in the Philippines is high. Furthermore, more than one out of every five newborn children suffer from dietary deficiencies from birth. This may further cause problems and death if not managed correctly. Approximately one out of three children lives below the poverty line. Because of this, they often suffer from hunger and malnutrition, mental and physical retardation. According to recent statistics, more than 10% which may further be the cause of other health-related problems including of Filipino children are forced to work instead of go to school so they can  scavenge public dump sites where they can be infected with a number of serious support the basic needs of their families. Almost a million Filipino children diseases. Almost 17% of Filipino children are not officially registered in the identity. Philippines. Most Muslim and indigenous children still lack an official  In order to solve these problems of the Filipino youth, a cooperative effort from every Filipino is required. Primarily, the government must take the first step. Appropriate programs and laws must be given and

everyone must follow.

During the fieldwork, I have experienced the different side of life, the life of children in such areas that we barely see.Both happiness and sadness can be seen in their eyes. Happiness in having hope for a better future and sadness felt from the recent disaster that they have encountered. Most of them are too young to suffer form harsh conditions, children should be living a happy life free from traumas brought by disasters.In our NSTP group, I was in charged with the preparation of food. I felt an unusual yet fun experience having an opportunity to prepare food for those children. The memorable part is that when I saw the faces of the little children glittering with smiles. However, maybe the challenging part was during the preparation of food because I do not really cook in our home. I'm not a pro when it comes to cooking. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the experience together with my nstp-classmates because they became my new friends.After the NSTP fieldwork, I realized how blessed am I to study here in the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas. Also, that Im blessed because I can eat more than thrice a day. Now, I value things/blessing more. And that I should not count the things that I cannot have, instead, count my blessings and be thankful. Let us make this opportunity to help and enlighten each others.