Underprivileged Children Receive Milk Feeding

The children under the care of the Franciscan Sisters at the Casa dela Providencia in Brgy. Recreo, Pontevedra have been nourished by the milk-feeding program of the Province of Negros Occidental.

The milk-feeding program is one of the pet projects of Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon under his seven-point agenda in public service. This program is funded under the nutrition services department of the office of the provincial agriculturist but the fresh cow's milk is produced and processed by the Provincial Livestock Breeding Center and Dairy Farm in La Granja, La Carlota City maintained by the office of the provincial veterinarian.

According to Sis. Dominga Lopez, FSA, mother superior at the Casa, when the milk-feeding program was started two years ago, the malnutrition rate among their children was drastically reduced from 45% to 10%. The more than 300 children under this house receive fresh milk from the provincial government seven days a week. Each child receives a 200-ml pack of milk that they consume during their visit to the house.

Aside from milk feeding, the provincial government also supports the agricultural projects of the Franciscan sisters in their two-hectare property. In order to augment their food supplies, the nuns have people tilling their vegetable patches filled with commonly used varieties, such as bell peppers, green onions, okra, carrots, Malabar spinach (alugbate), patola, and kamote tops. The sizable fishpond that has been part of the property when the nuns bought it through the help of benefactress Mrs. Gretchen Cojuangco is being prepped up for a fresh batch of fish through the help of Gov. Marañon.

The Franciscan sisters' ministry in the area is to evangelize, educate, promote human dignity, and encourage solidarity among the poor. At present, there are a total of 25 children living within the Casa, but more than 200 come over and receive feeding and spiritual formation classes. Sis. Dominga, who hails from El Salvador, teaches Spanish to the students.

But the Casa de la Providencia is only one of the many beneficiaries of the provincial government's milk-feeding program. The municipalities of Moises Padilla, La Castellana, Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Valladolid, and Isabela, which are the areas surrounding La Carlota City where the dairy farm is located, have also been receiving such allotment from the province since 2001. Dr. Renante Decena, DVM, provincial veterinarian tells that the nutrition services department of the province identifies the beneficiary barangay and the individual recipients based on the health standards of the children. The OPV produces the milk and the municipalities are entrusted with the distribution of the milk to the undernourished children in their area.

The provincial government's seven-point agenda has food security, agricultural and industrial productivity, and health as its three topmost areas. The dairy farm and livestock breeding center with a milk processing plant is a multi-million peso project that aims to upgrade cattle stock in the province as well as provide the milk needed for the programs of the nutrition services department. Instead of sourcing the supply of milk from other entities, Gov. Marañon deemed it more feasible that the province should produce its own milk so that the government funds are just returned to the province and for the benefit of the people.