Even in the midst of pandemic, the provincial government of Davao de Oro continues its school-based feeding program dubbed as Bayanihan para sa Kalusugan – Kusina ng Kalinga.
During the Laging Handa Network Briefing on February 19, program focal Mark Tenio said the provincial government never halted but even intensified its feeding program this COVID-19 pandemic.
Started this February, the Kusina ng Kalinga program targets to feed this year, 25,250 kids from Kindergarten to Grade 6 in the province, compared to having fed only 7,742 kids last year.
Tenio revealed that the stoppage of face to face classes has been a challenge in the implementation of the program; however, he saw that this concern has even fired up the ‘Bayanihan’ spirit of the stakeholders.
“Lahat ng barangay captains ay nag commit na kahit wala nang face to face na ginagawa ng DepEd, sila na yong maghahatid ng pagkain,” he revealed.
For 120 days, the barangay officials, including the purok officials, are distributing meals and milk to the houses of the identified children following the minimum health standards.
Tenio also disclosed that the meals are prepared by volunteers at the 14 central kitchens in the province.
“Sa mga GIDA (geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas) namin, we have 51 barangays na hindi na talaga na naabot ng sasakyan para ihatid ang mga lunch boxes. So the provincial government and the local government unit have put up special kitchen para sila na yong magluto ng kanilang pagkain ,” he said.
According to the data from the province, the average success rate of Kusina ng Kalinga in rehabilitating wasted to severely wasted kids from 2017-2019 is around 90%.
Data also showed that the program helped in the decreasing school-based malnutrition rate in the province from 8.4 in 2017 to 7.4 in 2018 to 7.0 in 2019. As of now, 2020 data are still being collected. (Michael Uy | Michael Manguhig, RPN DXKT Davao OIC)