Frisson. A word that we believe best describes the way we, the six medical students from Ateneo de Zamboanga University, felt before embarking onto the journey of empowering, mobilizing and changing the barangay Pasobolong for the betterment of the community. Feelings of excitement and fear rushed within us as we approached the date of our immersion onto the community. We were excited to discover and learn new things, excited to meet and interact with new people and we were excited to see just how much we can do as a group for this community. But at the same time, we had these feelings of fear or anxiety of immersing onto a community where we had little to no knowledge about their cultures, beliefs and attitudes. Almost like immersing into the unknown. But despite these feelings, we all shared one goal in mind: to redefine the healthcare at the level of the community. And although this goal may seem far-fetched to many but even little changes that we may be able to contribute to the community, may later on hopefully, cause a ripple effect towards the betterment of the healthcare system.
With this one goal in mind, we started our immersion in the community. Of course, just like anything we do in life, our initial journey had a lot of bumps, twists and turns. But we faced this challenges head on. We did feel frustrated at times, tired, and even disappointed when we could not meet our goal for the day. But we made sure to support each other and trust each other. We believed in the capabilities we have as a group and the capabilities of each individual members.
Just like the team’s name Via which means “the way”, or “traveling through en route to a destination”, our journey towards our goal begins with a single step. We will be facing many more challenges in the future but we will take each step one at a time until we reach our destination. Until then, we will continue to support and trust each other, continue to keep the fire burning within us and above all, continue to pray that God will lead us through the right path.
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