MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA)--Barangay health workers (BHWs) from the municipality of Ditsa-an Ramain in the province of Lanao del Sur were grateful to have one unforgettable day of seizing their personal time away from their usual daily routine and most of all, the stress brought about by their tasks as frontliners. 

This, as the Community and Family Services International (CFSI) spearheaded a stress management training under its Marawi COVID Recovery Project (MCRP) that taught its participants how to de-stress after a straining day of work. 

BHW Baimah Lucman expressed her happiness as her stress was at least addressed, and she was given ample time to just look after herself and rest for a while. 

She shared that being a 12-year health worker is not easy as perceived by others, considering that they take a lot of workloads and the constituents of their barangay rely much on them. 

Apart from the relaxation, Lucman added that they also learned important lessons such as how to breathe out when already overwhelmed by stress. 

“Nagpapasalamat kami sa CFSI na medyo nakalimutan muna namin in one day ang trabaho namin as BHW. Marami rin kaming natunan. Nalaman namin kung ano nasa deep inside ng mga kasamahan namin na hindi nila mailabas because of this program. Sana maulit pa ang ganitong program nila,” said Lucman.

[We are thankful to CFSI because we somehow forgot one day our work as BHWs. We also learned a lot. We learned what is deep inside our colleagues that they could not share, but now shared because of this program. I hope this kind of program will happen again.]

BHW Amerah Baraontong, who has been in service for 51 years already, also attested that CFSI indeed gave them a wonderful chance to have a break from their work. 

She assured that all the learning she gained from the training would be passed on to another set of the populace.

“Ang CFSI, marami na silang natulong sa amin. Sa training na ito, nawala ang stress ko. Malaki ang natunan ko dito. Pag-uwi ko sa aming barangay ay maituturo ko rin ang naituro sa akin ng CFSI,” said Baraontong.

[The CFSI has already helped us a lot. With this training, my stress vanished. I also learned a lot here. When I go back to my barangay, I can teach what has been taught to me by CFSI.]

For her part, Naima Saripada who is a 36-year BHW highlighted how she was relaxed by the host organization and that she was gratified to have a refresher on the things needed to do to defy stress.  

“Naituro ang mga gawain na makakarelax kasi napapagod kami sa barangay namin. Enjoy na enjoy naman kami ngayon. Happy na happy kami sa tulong na ibinigay ng CFSI ngayon,” she said.

[We were taught things that can make us relax because we get tired in our barangay. We really enjoyed this day. We are really happy with the help given by CFSI now.]

The municipality of Ditsan-an is one of the covered areas of the CFSI along with Marawi City and the towns of Piagapo, Masiu, Marantao, Lumbayanague, and Butig. (CRG/PIA-Lanao del Sur)