One of our major objectives for this community engagement was to conduct a house-to-house survey to take a peek at the lives of the people in our community, to determine their health status, to zero in to their health needs, and to discuss the problems they wanted to solve in our community. The results of our survey would ultimately lay down the foundations of all the programs and projects that we would organize and lead for the betterment of the community.
Even weeks before we went back to barangay Lumbayao, we were already preparing for the survey. We had to edit the survey tool to make it more efficient and simpler, and we had to translate it to Cebuano to make it easier for our groupmates who are not yet as proficient in speaking the language to ask the questions during our survey. We also had to print and photocopy hundreds of copies of the survey tool.
On the first day of our surveying, we were really anxious but we were also eager to learn about what and how our community beats. At first, it was a struggle, as we were still trying to find the right rhythm in asking the survey questions. However, after interviewing a few households, we quickly got into a more efficient rhythm and made the survey much more bearable. Although most of us in our group identify as introverts and thus have limited social energy, there was still such a joy and an enlightenment in getting to know barangay Lumbayao and its constituents more. However, what we didn't expect was the warmth of the people of Lumbayao in receiving us basically intruding into their lives, and it really shows how willing they are in improving their lives and their barangay. Some even gave us vegetables and fruits as a symbol of their thanks and gratitude.
After almost two weeks of tirelessly wandering around Lumbayao and interviewing the community people, we finally finished the house-to-house survey. Through all the sweat, the heat and dizzying sunlight, the forceful winds and rain, we have not only survived but we also thrived. Hopefully, we have laid out strong foundations to build our community programs on.
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