PAW-C

Advocacy Narrative Report

 “Rabies is deadly; protect your pet and family.”

 

      To start, we had to decide what campaign we would choose. It took us a while to pick, but later on decided with anti-rabies campaign. When that was the final, we assigned each member the task they would do.  For the project, the first step we did was to create an advocacy that highlights our campaign and an abstract about our campaign giving some insights about our activities which is our Concept Paper or Project Proposal. Then we had to come up with a name for a website we created where we can compile all of our activities. After many choices, we had chosen ‘PAW- C' as our campaign name.  

      The project had many processes to finally be conducted. For the following days, with the help of our subject teacher, Sir Joel Mangallay, we wrote a permission letter to the principal in order for us to conduct the campaign. Then we also wrote a request letter to Hon. Bernard Waclin and Sir Franklin Balanban – so that we can know if we can join the anti- rabies vaccination. When we were sure that we can join, the next step was to plan when and where we will conduct the campaign. Originally, our schedule was supposed to be on May 10-12 but then there were sudden change of plans so our schedule was moved to May 23-26. And our area of designation will be based on the vaccinator’s current status.  

For the three day advocacy campaign, the plan is that we were supposed to go together as one but Doc. Franklin Balanban, the one who we requested to join the campaign said that we were too many that’s why we were grouped into two. We decided that the first group will be the one to go on the first day while the second group the next day and all of us will be joining the third day.  

      For the first day, the first group was the ones to join. When they went to the clinic, they were again grouped into two because there were two vaccinators, Sir Franklin Balanban and Sir Mark Salas, and they were asked to accompany them. That day, they were tasked to list down information about the dog that is to be vaccinated. The information needed includes the owner, the name of the pet, age of the pet, breed and color. According the first group, they said that what they did was an easy task although you need to be fast because the vaccination only takes seconds. But the real challenge was the heat and the hiking they experienced. Walking up and down in the scorching heat is very difficult. Overall, they finished the day with the accomplishment of vaccinating over 300 dogs and realizing that most of the dogs in Upper Tram are Shih Tzu, Chihuahua, Chow Chow and Pomeranian, they also saw some dogs like Rottweiler, and Dalmatian but they are not able to vaccinated it for some reason. 

      For the second day, the next group joined the campaign. Like the first group, they also felt nervous. But that day, the vaccinators were late because they had to get the vaccines in the office first. Before they started, they taught them what they have to do. Like the first group they were also grouped into two. To make the work much easier, the two groups were designated into two areas. For this day, the task was much easier than the first group, I guess, because the dogs that were to be vaccinated is gathered in one place so the vaccinators didn’t need to walk much. It was such a nice walk but then we needed to stop for a while because it rained for a little bit and they said that it will be bad for the dogs if they get vaccinated and later they will get wet. We were finished early that day because there was not enough supply of vaccines. We finished the day with a smile on our faces. 

      For the third day, all of us went to the clinic. That day isn’t like the other past days because we didn’t go straight to our areas. As it was our last day, Sir Frank decided to share us some knowledge about rabies. For that day, we have learned that rabies came from the saliva. It is also known as “lyssavirus” which can be prevented but cannot be cured. Once infected with rabies, there is no chance of survival. He also shared some tips on how we can be a responsible owner to our pets and the things that we have to do. With that lecture, we can say that “PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE”. 

      So far, the experience was very nice. Those three days of campaign made us learn a lot. It made us realize that some things maybe challenging to do but very satisfying when finished. One thing we learned from this project is that ‘sometimes even if we don’t agree on one thing but if it concerns the welfare of others, we have to do what’s best for the many’. You can’t only experience fun when you are with friends rather true fun is when you love what you are doing. The time was short but the learning’s exceeded our expectations.  If given a chance, we would like to join more campaign that can help us be more aware or our economic problems and needs.