Health & Home (Nov - Dec 2018)

CONTENTS

November-December 2018

22

Presents vs. Presence

By Rachel Urbina

Youʼre there,

but are you?

24

Inspiring Palaui

By Stanley L. Cabigas

Why itʼs a favorite of Survivor

26

A Wedding and a Miracle

By Mesharee C. Maloloy-on and Mariel D. Maloloy-on

14

6

Christmas in Another Land

By Luzil Joy F. Pontanar

AMCV cares, God heals

Toys Basket

28

A Fatherʼs Love

Anywhere, itʼs always the person

that matters

Unbroken even

by HIV

10

29

12

32

By Chamberlain I. Agtuca, Jr.

On Holiday Hoarding

By Sheryll Ann M. Castillo

A sickness not worth keeping My Motherʼs Gift

By Arceli H. Rosario

Simple yet lasting, common yet instructing

16

Behind the Forehead

By Rowena R. Antemano

Whoʼs in charge of you?

Lovely Hyacinths: Aya Fernandez and Project Lily PH

18

By Lucile B. Tañalas

Burning lilies, helping lives

21

To the Mom Hiding in the Bathroom Right Now

By Bethany Jacobs

Your childʼs love is greater than your fears

By Czarina V. Budayao

Making the basket count Safety Tips This Christmas

By Janelle Buguis, Mary Rose Borca, and Michelle Sarabosing Surviving the holidays literally

8 Things You Can Do When You Have No Money

By Christine P. Factora

So you can have more

34

Can Nonstick Cookware Be Toxic?

By Sue Radd

Pains of dangerous pans

38

Delightful Dill

42

The Turning Point

44

Health and Home Index 2018

By Arlene May G. Corpus

A pinch could be enough

By Julián Melgosa and Michelson Borges

Too complex to exclude a Designer

Coming up… Health & Home Celebrates 60 Years • The Honor Due Parents • Hydrating Deliciously • Pinggang Pinoy for All Ages • Bustling Hong Kong • Introduction to Study Habits • My Girl Friend, a Growling Dog, and Fraidy Me • 1959 Throwback Article

SUBSCRIBERS SECTION

COLUMNS

Text and photo by Mauricia R. Rolle

3 Subscribers Section

My Lifetime

By Mauricia R. Rolle

My Lifetime Companion

Companion

4 Passion and Purpose

By Lucile B. Tañalas

Gift of Presence

5 iContact

Compiled by Dexter O. Quiñones

9 Consult Your Lawyer

By Atty. Silvino L. Sumagaysay, Jr.

The RESA

30 Personal Answers

By Arnold C. Serra

Exchange Gifts

31 Dear Doctor

By Linda L. Varona

Gadgets and Children

35 Food for the Family

By Miriam R. Estrada

Parental Guidance

36 Share a Thought

By Wendy Jel S. Balila

The Best Gift I've Ever Received

37 Word for the World

By Dan Namanya

No More!

40 Children’s Corner

By Janet R. Tolete

Why Are Gifts Wrapped?

ABOUT THE COVER

Gifts bring thrill. Big or small, plush or

cheap, they never fail to give us joy. In this issue, unwrap all that we offer. And we hope you will learn of Jesus, the best Gift of all.

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

I

have been a subscriber of Health & Home for 48 years now. I first saw the magazine in 1970 when I was staying in Manila. It was the couple Matilde and Gilbert Raymundo, Health & Home representatives, who encouraged me to have a copy of my own.

When I started reading the magazine, I knew I will learn many things from it. So even without them asking me, I decided to continue my subscription.

My life is not complete without a bookbound every yearend. As a teacher who loves education and who considers it an important part of life, I believe that Health & Home is a must-have for all who desire factual knowledge.

I love reading this magazine because of its educational contents. The most interesting articles for me, however, are about parenting and foods. At home in Alfonso, Cavite, I am not the only one who benefits from the magazine but my entire family. We always find ourselves a family in the kitchen

with Health & Home open in the food section. We use its recipes to cook delicious and healthy foods.

Health & Home is also a valuable resource for research. For many years, I have been using it as a tool for my speeches in school events.

My grandchildren are using it for science research as well.

What makes this magazine more appealing is its ability to help individuals experience totality. It contains messages that can make someone a whole person, so I don’t stop reading it. As long as my eyes can see and my ears can hear, I will read Health & Home. If ever my eyes become weak, I’ll ask somebody to read it for me. I have the commitment to have Health & Home in my lifetime.

To those who are not yet subscribers, I encourage you to grab your own copy now. It will not only help you deal with problems but will also enable you to face life positively.

Mauricia Rogador-Rolle is a retired principal of Kaytitinga National High School in Alfonso, Cavite.

Health & Home November-December 2018

3

Christmas in Another Land

By LUZIL JOY F. PONTANAR

Christmas Eve

The church members from Ballinacrow assembled at the large lobby of Tallaght Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. Sharon handed out hymnbooks and we followed her to the wards, weaving by beds while singing Christmas hymns. Only later did I notice that there were more empty beds than patients. The staff at the nurses station told me that the patients requested for leaves so they could join their loved ones on this night of nights, promising to return after the celebration.

What stood out for me that night, however, were the health and medical workers. In every nurses station, we received cheery smiles from the staff. When we started singing, however, some cried. The work pay was exponentially better on Christmas Eve but to sacrifice missing the family on this night seemed a longer stretch. I could feel the bittersweetness of their greetings. Our hearts went out to them, too.

We actually didn’t do much. We didn’t even sing like a wellrehearsed choir. We just sang Christmas carols from a hymnbook and from our hearts and helped make a dreary night in the hospital merrier, brighter.

6 Health & Home

November-December 2018

Teen Life

Holiday Hoarding

On

By SHERYLL ANN M. CASTILLO

T

he holiday season signals a lot of things: long vacation as well as parties and merrymaking that come with all kinds of plenty—food, money, gifts, and more gifts! While it feels good to be able to buy something you have saved up for, or receive some fancy gifts from family and friends during the holidays, many of these are actually unnecessary and only contribute to the accumulation of clutter in your living spaces.

Did you know that “hoarding,” which is characterized by persistent difficulty to get rid of possessions that lead to clutter, is considered a disorder? This disorder eventually causes other mental health problems, or some serious financial and social issues that diminish an individual’s quality of life.1 And while hoarding disorder has been diagnosed in adults, psychologists believe that this originates from childhood or adolescence.2

10 Health & Home November-December 2018

T

onight, I am sitting on a plane for a long ride home. Some passengers are sleeping; some are viewing movies. For me, I choose to close my eyes and revisit the scenes of my childhood. The events pass before me in full color and the voices, despite the distant years, are distinct.

There was that one evening. The night sky was dark and the wind whistled through the bamboos that bordered our backyard.

The orange flame of our kerosene lamp flickered as the wind tried to puff it off through the slit of our bamboo walls.

models not subjects of article

My

Mother’s

By ARCELI H. ROSARIO

12 Health & Home November-December 2018

Gift

Grace

models not subjects of article

in the Act

A Father’s Love

By CHAMBERLAIN I. AGTUCA, JR.

I

have been working with people living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) for the past eight years. While my passion for these people is intentional, my introduction to the program was not.

After finishing my residency training in Pathology, my superiors thought of retaining me as an addition to their hospital workforce. While they were waiting for a position to open, one of my bosses was promoted as head of the HIV Treatment Program

14 Health & Home

November-December 2018

in the same hospital. At that time, too, the current personnel tasked to assist him had just completed his contract and decided not to renew. So that was how I got exposed to this job.

Unfolding of a love story

I never thought I would be in for a long ride but I stayed because the experiences I encountered in the workplace reminded me of the simple things in

Lovely Hyacinths:

Aya Fernandez AND PROJECT LILY PH

By LUCILE B. TAÑALAS

photo/Alvin Rae Climaco Galang

S

he looked stunning in her simple white-laced cocktail attire, light makeup, and ponytail. It was the Manila Screening of the 50th Mutya ng Pilipinas and she was the 60th applicant. While waiting for her turn, I had a snippet interview with her. I also talked with her mom, Mariese, while Aya was inside the screening room.

Aya Fernandez, a senior broadcasting student at the University of the Philippines, is no stranger to beauty pageants.

When she was 17, she won Miss Taguig 2015 and Miss Teen Earth Philippines 2015.

Her model and inspiration?

Her elder sister, Patricia, who herself won Binibining Pilipinas Miss International in 2008.

Patricia ranked sixth among the 65 contestants around the world vying for the Miss International crown.

“She really pushed me to join Miss Teen Earth Philippines,” Aya shared.

A Wedding

Stories from Adventist Medical Center–Valencia City

and a

Miracle

models not subjects of article

By MESHAREE C. MALOLOY-ON and MARIEL D. MALOLOY-ON

S

ay “hospital” and most people think of sterile white walls, frightening needles, excruciating pain, soaring medical bills, etc. Yet, hospitals can also elicit positive memories like unexpected caring, effortless birthing, miraculous healing, and, well—an instant wedding!

Adventist Medical Center–Valencia City (AMCV) in Bukidnon is such an institution.

26 Health & Home

November-December 2018

In the hospital aisle

Time seems to come to a standstill Saturdays in the Operating Room (OR) complex.

To observe the holy Sabbath, the hospital does not schedule cases on this day and caters only to surgeries due to emergencies.

It was midmorning back in 2011 when we, nurses, received a call from the Emergency Room (ER) Department telling us to prepare the OR for dilation/dilatation and curettage (raspa in the vernacular) for a patient who was coming.

When the door of the OR complex opened, we saw a beautiful lady dressed to the nines. If not for the blood flowing down her legs and the wheelchair where she was sitting, we would have been unable to recognize her as the patient.

The medical team rushed her to the operating room and started the procedure. Later at the OR, we found out that our patient was preparing to attend a wedding— her own. But because of the miscarriage, she was rushed to the hospital instead of to the hotel where she was supposed to walk down the aisle.

The patient pleaded with her obstetrician-gynecologist to let her go back to the hotel to attend the ceremony, but the request was declined due to her unstable condition.

Seeing her eagerness to pursue her marriage and her deep sadness over how things went, we thought of something to ease her frustration.

“What about a wedding in the hospital?” we asked.

All we had to do was get permission from the administrators.

Fortunately, they agreed.

When we told the patient of the plan, her eyes glowed. As we had suggested, she immediately informed her parents and the groom to continue the celebration at the hotel. The wedding

A Beauty in bloom

The Beauty of fitness

Jan-Feb

The Beauty of choice

Mar-Apr

The Beauty

May-Jun

of commitment

The Beauty of resilience

Jul-Aug

The Beauty Sep-Oct of family

The Beauty of presence

Nov-Dec

Beauties

Own these now.

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