Czarina's Work with Child Family Health International in the Philippines

Czarina Datiles is a 3rd-year global health major with a minor in biology in Eleanor Roosevelt College. She is passionate about mental health, women's health, and brain health. She enjoys working with communities and always look for opportunities that allow me to connect with people and listen to their stories. Outside of academics, she volunteers at Sharp Memorial Hospital and work as a student research intern at the Women Inflammation and Tau Study. She loves to travel, write poems, read, and try new cuisines.

Child Family Health International is an NGO that aims to increase global health education through offering programs, research, internships, and leadership opportunities abroad. They emphasize collaborative leadership, global citizenship, and ethical engagement. Their programs are held around the world in the Americas, Asia, and Africa, and they hold a special consultative status with the United Nations.

They were tasked to contrast how healthcare is administered in highly-populated cities vs how it is practiced in low-resourced, remote islands. They interned under Dr. Paolo Medina in Manila to observe patient care in the Philippine General Hospital, which is the biggest public hospital in the Philippines and always packed with patients, as well as observed consultations with Dr. Toy Gallo in Pampanga for low-income patients. They were then deployed to Alcantara municipality in Tablas Island in the province of Romblon where they worked under Dr. Jobin Maestro for three weeks. They travelled with Dr. Jobin, his nurses, and his midwives around the 12 barangays (communities) to observe prenatal check-ups as well as TB and measles vaccinations. They learned how to diagnose rabies with its different categories and what vaccinations should be administered. They also sat in for a tooth impaction surgery with the dentist and created a lactation room. At the end of the program, they delivered an exit report.

"Some challenges we faced were the extreme heat as well as the storm season. The Philippines has a warmer and tropical climate, so the heat combined with the humidity was sometimes hard to manage. It was very important that we stayed hydrated especially when we travelled to the barangays (communities). What I love about Filipinos, though, is that wherever you go, whoever you are, you will always be taken care of. That meant, whenever we went to the barangays, the barangay health workers (BHWs) always brought us water, sweetened ice tea, pandesal (bread), or sometimes fresh coconut juice right inside a whole coconut. Since we went in August, we were right in the storm season, so we did experience a bit of flooding. When it comes to weather, the only thing you can do is adapt, so we did our best to have a positive attitude, avoid deeply flooded areas, and, when we did get caught in a flood, take antibiotics to prevent leptospirosis."

One of her biggest takeaways from her trip was how they work with patients and not on them. As they interned under Dr. Jobin and his RHU staff, they experienced what it was like to build a close and personal connection with the people they were serving. Because it was a small town, everyone knew each other, and so the care provided to patients was curated to account for not just their social and economic conditions but also whatever was going on in their personal lives. Everyone, including the interns, referred to the midwives as Mama, since when they would conduct check-ups with pregnant women, they cared for them as a mother would do to their child. They would provide the women water, a blanket, and a pillow; sometimes, they would even scold them if they weren't taking their supplements. These moments are the memories that will always stay with me because it showed, regardless of income and resources, when you have a supportive community, you will be cared for and you will heal.

Their island proctor, Dr. Jobin, loved taking them on excursions and being our photoshoot director. They went to many beaches: Binucot and Aglicay, both of which were on Tablas island. They also went to the province's main island, Romblon, where they walked along a sandbar and toured the island's marbled architecture. On our proctor's birthday, they went to Boracay Island for three days where they swam, snorkeled, and partied with Dr. Jobin. After clinic, they also did karaoke and attended local fiestas.

Currently at UCSD, she is part of S4GH as an intern in the community engagement committee. Alongside other members, she helps plan service events that allow them to work with communities and engage hands-on with public/global health issues. She hopes to plan a service event that allows us to collect quality syringes to donate to the rural health unit she worked in at Alcantara for their immunization efforts.

She highly recommends interning with CFHI, especially in the remote island and global health program in the Philippines. She explains, "again, with Filipinos, you will never be hungry or bored". The doctors they interned under were very kind, nurturing, and incredible in showcasing the social, political, and cultural factors that play into the Philippine health system. Especially in Dr. Jobin's care, you get hands-on experience and first-hand exposure to issues learned in a global health class. You'll also discover how, what they learn in lectures, can't always translate effectively in real-world cases, and you'll observe how communities adapt and address issues in their own ingenious way with what they have.