2020
This is a Finalist in the Government Best Practice Recognition Awards
Title
Adopt-A-Child Program
Organization
Municipal Government of Dingalan, Aurora
Best practice Focus Area(s)
Strategy, Citizens / Customers, Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management
Year Implemented
July 2017 to January 2018
Summary
The Adopt-A-Child Program was inspired by the Padugo/Padigo system, in which neighbors help one another by setting aside a portion of their meal to give it to neighboring houses. It is a form of bayanihan, a Filipino tradition.
The Dingalan LGU celebrated the 2017 Nutrition Month Celebration by introducing the Adopt-A-Child Program, in which LGU Offices adopted severely malnourished children (1st Quarter of 2017) and fed them for six months or until they regained normal nutritional status. The Project started on July 15, 2017, and ended on January 15, 2018.
Through this program, the overall nutritional status of children in Dingalan improved, and it removed the municipality from the top spot on the list of localities with the most malnourished children in Aurora province.
Background and Problem
Dingalan consistently ranked first in malnutrition in Aurora from 2015 to 2016. As a third-class municipality, Dingalan faced difficulties and hurdles in implementing nutrition programs. Feeding programs were too costly and would cut into the budget of other health programs; as a dole-out program, it entailed high costs with limited results.
A comprehensive, sustainable and inexpensive program was needed to reach the municipality’s goals.
Solution and Impact
The Dingalan LGU thus implemented the Adopt-A-Child Program, a community mobilization initiative in which all severely malnourished children in Dingalan were adopted by LGU Offices, NGAs, and BLGUs to nurse them back to their normal weight. Through this program, the LGU reduced the number of children classified as underweight or severely underweight in the Operation Timbang Masterlist as of April 2017.
The Adopt-A-Child Program improved the nutritional health data in the municipality and removed Dingalan from first place on the list of the localities with the most malnourished children in the province of Aurora. It also strengthened the spirit of bayanihan and volunteerism among LGU Offices and community members.
Milestones
The Program started with 58 severely underweight children in Dingalan who were given a portion of the table food from the adoptive offices’ employees’ homes. The food was delivered to the adopted children’s house every day for six months or until the child reached the normal weight.
The program has rehabilitated 100% of these children, with 90% of them improved from severely underweight to normal weight and the rest improved from severely underweight to underweight.