Health & Home (May-June 2019)

Anniver

Since 1959 sary

Perilous straws

Young

at whatever

You're probably ISSN 0115-0839

dehydrated

dering

Taiwan

Age

OUT and ABOUT Exploring past

your comfort zone

CONTENTS

May-June 2019

24

10 Free Things to Do in Taipei Mervin Marasigan

Roam around Taipei without using money

28

Now That We’re Married

Mae Ann L. Castro

10

30

Son, You Are Special Judith D. Galleros

The Grand Modista and the Retasos Weaving a family into a beautiful tapestry

6

Rod Arters

How to get rich in love

8

Raising Treasures (When You Feel Like Rubbish)

32 34

12

How to Make Friends—in Person

Jou Hannah R. Tolete

Finding friends outside the virtual world

16 20

Why I Run Lebette Angel M. Baybay

Gaining health and loving its benefits

The Tragedy of Dehydration Rowena R. Antemano and Janet R. Tolete

22

Are you sick? Drink.

Henry H. Graham

Age is really just a number

Are You Being Watched?

Daniel Kuberek

38

Wise and woke on social media

Lifting the Dark Clouds of Ignorance Through ALS Reniel B. Gerero

You can go to school again

Karen Holford

Your kids are precious. Make them feel so.

How a son makes a hero of Mom Forever Young

Virginia M. Dela Rosa

Emotional Bank Accounts

I choose to sweep, my ego keep

44

Using God’s 9-1-1

46

“Ghosts” From the Past

Victor M. Parachin

Access the divine hotline

Julián Melgosa and Michelson Borges

Understanding suicide

37

Going Raw Sue Radd

What to eat; no, not meat

Subscribers Section Compiled by Mark Jubilee M. Matira

10 Ways Health & Home Has Helped Me

Where Did the Straws Go? Michelle Anne P. Diamante

Skip the sip to save the deep

Coming up… • How Can I Move On? • Phone Photography Tricks • Glorifying Creation or the Creator

• My Mother Is With My Suitor • Becoming a Better Human • Enjoyment in Making Decisions • Broken Crayons

COLUMNS 14 Consult Your Lawyer

here and the hereafter

Atty. Silvino L. Sumagaysay, Jr.

Minor Offender

Anniver

sary

18 Share a Thought

Mark Jubilee M. Matira

Freedom in Freelancing

Try Something—Anew!

19 Dear Doctor

Linda L. Varona

Micronutrients Against Inflammation

27 Personal Answers

Arnold C. Serra

Restless Professional 40 Food for the Family

Miriam R. Estrada

The 3Ds of Processed Meat 41 Word for the World

W

hat you allow is what will continue.” The words struck me. Instantly.

Pointedly. Curtly. Especially since the backdrop of the quote was a picture of a denuded forest—of timbers and tree stumps forsaken on bare ground.

Alarmed by the problem of deforestation and driven by the desire to make some good changes,

ourselves from the quicksand of stagnation. We are implored to explore beyond our usual boundaries and proximities, physically (like exploring Taiwan, p. 24 or starting to run, p. 16), intellectually (like enrolling in the DepEd Alternative Learning System; see p. 38), environmentally (ditching plastics like straws, p. 22), and professionally (freelancing on p. 18).

I have been planning since college to plant trees wherever I go. But so far, I have only planted a few.

You may have also made resolutions now and then only to realize that you fail helplessly. Then you become discouraged and forget your resolve altogether. Now, you find yourself lamenting that you allow some bad things to continue either by becoming lazy, negligent, or apathetic.

Our theme for this issue, Out and About, emboldens us to free

If we do these while staying grounded on God and guided by our values, we should not fear treading unfamiliar ground.

Every day is a new day. We can start anew in trying to become a better spouse, a better parent, a better worker, a better person. Dare to go Out and About!

Kent Kingston

The Jesus Paradox 42 Children’s Corner

Janet R. Tolete

models not subjects of article

Out and About

ABOUT THE COVER

A Wider Horizon. Traveling places, braving challenges, trying new things simply help make life more exciting and full of meaning.

Cover photo from shutterstock.com Photos and illustrations in this issue are from shutterstock.com unless otherwise credited.

Health & Home ︱ 3 ︱ May-June 2019

Leonardo C. Heyasa, Jr. is editor in chief of Health & Home.

Raising Treasures (When You Feel Like Rubbish)

By KAREN HOLFORD

S

arah heard the soft thud followed by the sloppy crunch of broken eggs. “James! How could you be so stupid!”

Her 4-year-old son was already trying to clear up the mess. But the yell startled him. He looked up, sad and scared. He threw a broken egg at Sarah’s legs and ran from the kitchen. “I hate you, Mommy!” he yelled.

“Go away and never come back!” Sarah slumped onto the floor with the shopping. Tears trickled down her face. She never meant to call James “stupid.” But she’d been called names so often that the words came too quickly to mind.

Now she’d made James feel terrible, and she felt worse than ever.

Many of us have huge scars on our sense of self-worth. If the wounds didn’t come from our family, they came from teachers, classmates, glossy magazines, other people’s expectations, and our bosses and work colleagues. Some of our experiences took huge bites out of our self worth, others just nibbled slowly away at it.

If our self-worth is a little wobbly before we have children, then it usually becomes even wobblier once they arrive. Every child is different, none of them come with instruction manuals, and there are plenty of conflicting “experts” telling us what to do.

The good news is that we can help our child develop a healthy sense of self, even when we’re struggling ourselves. It may be a little harder, but it’s not impossible, and helping them feel special will help us feel better, too.

Light up their world

We develop our sense of self from our parents and caregivers. As soon as we’re born, we start learning how valuable we are. A baby knows she’s special if our face lights up when we see her. Something wonderful starts happening between us.

As we play, laugh, smile, tickle, sing, and interact with her, she sees how much we delight in her. Then she delights in us, too, and the hormone of love and happiness (oxytocin) surges through both of us, helping us feel loving and loved.

“Looking back on my childhood I realize we must have been very poor,” said Paul. “Dad left before I was born. My mom worked three jobs. We ate beans on toast. She bought all our clothes in jumble sales.

But what I remember most of all was her smile. She made sure she kept smiling at me. It was one of the greatest gifts she could ever give me because it made me feel special and loved. And it was free.”

Loves me, loves me not?

Healthy self-worth thrives on love. Children feel special when they know we love them unconditionally and consistently.

We show how much we love them when we enjoy spending time with them, listen to their concerns, understand their feelings, and respond thoughtfully.

They feel loved when we keep our promises, provide for their needs, help them with difficult tasks, teach them new things, and do the little things that make life fun and happy for them.

Ask them, “What do I do that makes you feel especially loved?” and then do it as often as you can.

Health & Home︱ 8 ︱ May-June 2019

Grace

in the Act

A

n old workbox fell from the cabinet while I was searching for my box of trinkets. Strewn on the floor were a jumble of parts of a dressmakers’ kit—an old pair of scissors, catalogues, and a few variedly colored fabric scraps or retasos.

A string of nostalgia was plucked within me as I examined the retasos one by one. As if time took a rewind, I found myself transported into the memories of my childhood. It felt so clear that I could hear the whirring of the sewing machine as my mother, in her prime, was busy sewing fabrics together.

Magnificent tapestry Engrossed in her favorite soap opera on the crackling transistor radio, she didn’t notice my sister Romelyn and me approaching her. Sensing we were ready to play our mischievous prank on her, she paused and surprised us instead with two identical skirts made of retasos she took from the sewing machine drawers.

My mother, Julieta SumintacMillama, whom clients and friends call “Manang Lita,” is a fair-skinned, chinky-eyed, frail woman who is wellloved for her warm smile and beautifully sewn crafts.

Although she had no actual formal training, her natural inclination and desire to learn more about the rudiments of dressmaking shaped her as a modista (dressmaker).

As a young child, I admired my mother and called her the “Grand Modista”

By VIRGINIA M. DELA ROSA as a sign of my respect and admiration.

Our Grand Modista had been sewing clothes as far as I can recall.

I remember my mother juggling this with household chores and caring for her brood of five.

She was also adept in making ends meet with my father’s wage as a carpenter and her earnings as a dressmaker. Although we lived simply and frugally, we lived a happy and contented life.

I took pride in wearing my mother’s grand creations. I loved to see her smile as her masterpiece fit right on me and my sister. I gave her back the widest grin as I turned in front of the old aparador (a tall, wooden cabinet usually with a mirror), curtsying in front of the Grand Modista.

Health & Home︱ 10 ︱ May-June 2019

Not fitting in I was in third grade and in high spirits one Monday morning. I wore my favorite dress to school—one of my mother’s special creations. It had ruffles of red polka dots and an assortment of parchments with floral prints and stripes.

While my teacher was discussing proper grooming and appropriate dressing, I was called to the front of the class. Curious and scared, I coyly obeyed my teacher, wondering what would happen next.

She called on another classmate and the two of us stood before the class. The latter was given the admiring approval of how neat and properly dressed to school a pupil should be and I was the opposite. All eyes glued on me with derision.

I just bowed my head in humiliation and felt a tear drop at my feet. Tears fell on the ruffles of my dress. I realized in shame that my classmates might

How to Make Friends— in Person

By JOU HANNAH R. TOLETE

B

ack in kindergarten, I was quite shy. I didn’t like talking to others, especially when I did not see any reason to do so. I didn’t talk unless someone approached me first.

This went on until I transferred to a church school for Grade 2. I remember now that it was then that I became more makulit, talkative, and friendly. My circle of friends widened a bit.

Fast forward to fifth grade, when I transferred to another church school. It felt like I needed to start all over again. I felt like my shyness was about to make a comeback.

Thankfully, though, my classmates were not intimidating.

I even became friendlier and jollier or kalog, they said.

I’m now in high school and along with many other changes in my life, I have come to like making friends with people around me.

Across differences, time, and space

Now, there are many different types of people or teenagers.

There are those who feel shy, who struggle with approaching or getting close to people. There are also those who can befriend people even if they have just met.

With technology available to our generation nowadays, however, these differences can be minimized with social media.

We don’t even have to meet in person to be friends. One click on Facebook, Twitter, NearGroup, or Instagram and one can now feel connected to so many “friends” or “followers.”

Social media may have made making new friends less difficult, but I still go for making friends for real—not virtual and not digital, but physical and actual.

If you agree with me, here are some tips I would like to share with you, so you can have “real” friends: Health & Home︱ 12 ︱ May-June 2019

Go out. Pursuing a hobby or a favorite activity increases your chances of meeting new people who like the same things as you do. If you are not yet ready to share something about yourself, you can easily talk about your hobbies first.

Also try your best to participate in social activities— your school’s getting-to-knowyou programs, field trips, or campings; your church’s social nights, retreats, or Bible classes; your friends’ or relatives’ birthday parties, etc.

I experienced going to a “Bring a Friend” event, where we were supposed to invite as many friends as possible. Its objectives were to help friends bond together and make new ones, too.

And it was great!

Some of my close friends until now were from that event a year ago.

photos/Harold Bryan Namoca

Teen Life

Where Did the

Straws Go?

By MICHELLE ANNE P. DIAMANTE

H

ave you noticed?

Many food establishments are no longer offering straws. Aside from that, grocery stores now add a “plastic charge” to the total bill.

Fast-food chains are now using brown paper bags for takeouts.

Why? It’s all about the problem with plastic.

Global problem, global solutions

Plastic takes almost forever to decompose.

When we throw them away, they don’t just disappear. They are always going somewhere, and sadly, most of them end up in our oceans.

Single-use plastics such as straws are a majority of the plastic waste found in our oceans—trapping, choking, and even killing the organisms living there.1 A number of states and countries around the world have begun implementing plastic bans. Beginning August 2017, Kenya has prohibited not just the use but also the production of plastic bags. Other countries such as Taiwan and France have started banning single-use plastic straws, stirrers, plates, and cutlery.2 Yet you may still be asking: Do all these things even make a difference?

Suffering seas

Have you seen that video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nostril? The poor sea turtle’s air passageway was blocked. It had to go through a painful procedure just to have the straw removed.3 Or have you seen photos of whales that died from ingesting plastic—most of which were

shopping bags?4, 5 The heaviest so far is 40 kilos of plastic in the stomach of a young whale that died in Compostela Valley.6 When the whales’ digestive systems were clogged, they were no longer able to eat and they ultimately died of starvation.

The threat is not limited to marine animals.

Seabirds that depend on the ocean for food are affected, too. They mistake pieces of plastic for food and even feed those to their chicks. One report said that 90 percent of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs.7 We may not be throwing our wastes directly into any body of water, but 80 percent of the garbage in the ocean got there from land-based sources such as sewers and storm drains.

Somehow, our trash finds its way into the oceans even though we live far away from the sea.2

Reduce or don't use

Our government has advocated, time and again, the reduction of plastic use, urging Filipinos to avoid single-use plastics.8, 9, 10 With the Philippines as the third biggest plastic waste contributor to the world’s oceans, it’s only a necessary response to the alarming statistic.11 Banning straws and stirrers may seem like a small step, but what if 100 million people take that step? Imagine the difference we can make!

The following are some ways to help reduce plastic waste:

Health & Home︱ 22 ︱ May-June 2019

Free 10 Things

V

to do in

I E P I TA

Text and photos by MERVIN MARASIGAN

ery few people know that Taiwan is one of the most budgetfriendly destinations in East Asia. Traveling there is not expensive, and there are many activities, tourist spots, and attractions that you can try without paying any entrance or admission fee.

You can definitely explore Taipei without emptying your wallet. Here’s my list:

1

Visit

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a huge complex erected in memory of Chiang Kai-shek, the former President of the Republic of China. Located in Zhongzheng District, it is a national monument, a landmark, and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Taipei. It is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

HOW TO GET THERE: Take the MRT to Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall station (Red Line 2 or Green Line 3).

2

Witness the Changing

Guards

3

of the

Watch the changing of the guards in front of the huge statue of Chiang Kai-shek inside the main chamber of the CKS Memorial Hall every hour, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., every day and Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

HOW TO GET THERE: Take the MRT to Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall station (Red Line 2 or Green Line 3).

Explore

Shilin Official Residence

Located along Zhongshan North Road, the Shilin Official Residence is a designated historical site that is open to the public.

It is the former residence of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling. Here, you can enjoy beautiful gardens with many blossoming flowers and many Instagram-worthy spots where you can take selfies.

Except for the official residence (or the house), you can enter the complex for free. It is open Tuesdays to Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

NEAREST MRT STATION: Shilin Station (Red Line)

Health & Home ︱ 24 ︱ May-June 2019

Lifting

the Dark Clouds

of Ignorance Through A.L.S.

By RENIEL B. GERERO

Confined minds

Most people are still not aware of ALS, and if they are, they hardly appreciate its value.

One can understand how far education is from the mind of those whose main job is to provide for their family to keep their bodies and souls intact.

“Barangay tanod na ako, bakit pa ako mag-e-enroll?”

(I’m already a barangay tanod, why should I still enroll?)

“Matanda na ako. Bakit pa ako mag-aaral?” (I’m already old. Why will I still study?)

“Eh kung sana binigyan ninyo na lang kami ng pera, bigas, o pagkain, mas mabuti pa.” (It would have been better if you just gave us money, rice, or food.)

I cannot blame them. They have been confined to the idea that the doors of life’s chances have totally shut them out.

And even if some people are willing to consider continuing their education through ALS, it is still not their priority.

If only they could see the bigger picture that I see—that it’s never Health & Home︱ 38 ︱ May-June 2019

too late to dream big, that adult education is possible, and that it can make a difference after all.

Physical obstacles

I move around quite often, true to my job as a mobile teacher. With the intense physical demands of this job, I simply envision myself as some sort of hero who rescues the less privileged.

To reach my target barangays or villages, I pass by many zigzagging trails usually under torrential rain or scorching heat. A moment of careless driving on unpaved, bumpy, and tilted roads and I could fall off the ground and get injured.

Add to these the blind curves, winding pathways, and slippery roads when the weather is not fine. Indeed, it takes something like supernatural strength to be with my students.

Emotional and mental struggles

I also have to be emotionally and mentally whole when dealing with people, especially with those who incite opposition to the ALS advocacy.

When I feel that there is indifference and I can hardly get enough people to whom I can

photos courtesy of Reniel B. Gerero

I

have been working as an Alternative Learning System (ALS) mobile teacher under the Department of Education for over nine years now.

My task is to go around the barangays of Bulan, Sorsogon, invite out-of-school children, youth, and adults to pursue basic education, and facilitate their learning.

Although my job description is a bit different from that of regular teachers in formal education, my role as an educator is not far from theirs. And while I am happy as a teacher serving the educationally deprived and underserved, I would like to share, not just to my fellow teachers but to the world as well, what an independent educator like me has to deal with in the field.

Some things pull us apart . . .

Some things pull us close to each other's heart.

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