Health & Home (March-Arpil 2020)

ISSN 0115-0839

Forever learning From Family Garage to

Community Library

DEPRESSION

in the Classroom

How Car Seats Can Save Your Kids

A Lesson from CAKES

CONTENTS March-April 2020

REGULARS

3

FEATURES

6

Notes From the Frontlines Melanie Z. Asis

Serving Up Surprises

Dagdag Dunong Learning Center: A Cradle of Knowledge and Faith

4

iContact

Janet R. Tolete

Michelle Anne P. Diamante

A kind family’s garage-turned-library

16

#Kikiam for Breakfast: Tips to Survive in the Age of Information Disorder

On Students and Learning

9

Finance Rose Fres Fausto

Discerning fake news fast

The More You Learn, the More You Earn

20

Buckle Up Your Kids

10

Grace in the Act

22

Extreme Things to Do in Bukidnon

12

Letters From the Heart

14

Education

Melinda T. Quiñones

Michelle Anne P. Diamante

Car seats will soon be required, but why?

Kara Santos

For both adrenaline junkies and explorer wannabes

24

A Love Story Written by God

28

Malunggay Miracles

32

Who Made God?

34

Life After Graduation: The Unexpected Reality

36

The Search

38

7 Signs You're Raising a Responsible Child

Mae Ann L. Castro

Better than finding Prince Charming

Rowena R. Antemano

Backed by science and personal experiences

Sven Östring

A clever question with wrong assumptions

Bianca G. Sagana

Struggling with job hunting

Arceli H. Rosario

Endless discoveries here and up there

Junjun M. Amparo

Parenting goals and areas to work on

Arlene R. Ariate

Angeline’s Faith

Sofia P. Busbus

To My Favorite Teacher

Kate M. Sanchez

Handling Depression in the Classroom

Arts & Crafts

26

Lebette Angel M. Baybay

42

Jecsoon O. Mariñas

Bunny Socks

Echoes of Life E-Learning: The New Trend

43

Word for the World

44

The Power of Hope Series

46

Parenting Portrait

Monica Gallasch

A Tale of Two Cakes

Julián Melgosa & Michelson Borges

How to Overcome Stress

Karl V. Acebedo

The Light of the Home

ERRATUM: The beautiful people featured in our January-February 2020 issue�s �A Village Dream� should have been referred to as Blaan, instead of B�laan. Our sincere apologies.

Coming up… Yummy Yacon • Simplifying Wedding Planning • The Father’s Signature in the Birth Certificate

• H. pylori and Stomach Cancer • Overgrown Plants and Animals • A Day of Healing • Bokashi Composting

47

Word Play

47

Book Review

Jecsoon O. Mariñas

Recollections

Ruby T. Campos

Education

Notes From the Frontlines

Subscribers Section has taken on an expanded form. Notes From the Frontlines features our loyal readers and our dedicated distributors who are at the forefront of our mission to share “healthy, happy, and holistic living to the glory of God and the blessing of humankind.”

Serving Up Surprises

COLUMNS

5

Here and the Hereafter Leonardo C. Heyasa, Jr.

Forever Learning

13

Consult Your Lawyer

19

Dear Doctor

27

Personal Answers

31

Standpoint

37

Food for the Family

40

Children’s Corner

Atty. Silvino L. Sumagaysay, Jr.

Lack of Marriage License

Linda L. Varona

The Beef on Beef

Sheryll Ann M. Castillo

How to Cope

Nathanlie M. Baldoza

Call Him Differently Abled

Miriam R. Estrada

Tofucino

Janet R. Tolete

Bright Fish

Lifelong Learning. One exclaims, “How simple!

Be kind and be humble.” The other can only with his conscience grapple,“Am I living by example?”

Cover photo by Casper1774 Studio from shutterstock.com Photos and illustrations in this issue are from shutterstock.com unless credited otherwise.

In just two years of working as a Health & Home sales representative or literature evangelist (LE), I was able to gather as many as 30 subscribers.

It was beyond my expectations.

Now I have 70 happy subscribers who eagerly await their “bookbound” copies at the end of each year.

My customers tell me that Health & Home is their primary source of information for their school work, projects, reports, and even feasibility studies. Many of them instinctively share what they have read to friends and coworkers.

There are even those who consider the magazine a stress reliever.

Some of my subscribers specifically cite Health & Home for helping them live a healthier lifestyle such as in helping them cook and prepare healthy foods. A few even adapt what they learn into a source of income.

Such is the value of the magazine to the subscribers that copies are sorely missed if a reader loses contact with his/her literature evangelist.

I have met one lady subscriber who is still single but is already a third generation in her Health & Home ︱ 3 ︱ March-April 2020

photo courtesy of author

By MELANIE Z. ASIS

family of loyal Health & Home subscribers. How great was her surprise when she found me presenting the magazine in her office! Why, it had been almost 8 years since she last saw an LE! Quickly she bought a copy and paid for it in full.

Overwhelmed with her joy over the humble magazine, I thanked her and praised the Lord with teary eyes. I asked if I could pray for her. She broke into a wide smile and said, “Yes, of course!”

My job is often quite challenging, but it is also undeniably rewarding.

I feel grateful for the opportunity to serve people, pray for them, and bring them heaven-sent surprises.

Melanie Zerrudo-Asis has been a literature evangelist for more than five years. Aside from being a doting mother to her four kids and a supportive wife to her husband, she goes around Batangas to share familyfriendly reading materials.

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Dagdag Dunong Learning Center A CRADLE OF KNOWLEDGE and FAITH

By JANET R. TOLETE

H

ealth & Home had the privilege of visiting Dagdag Dunong Learning Center in San Andres district (formerly, Singalong) in the City of Manila, to talk with the founder, Ana Maria (Ana) Bacudio, and her supportive husband, Virgilio (Ver), about their 13-year-old project that serves the poor children in the community.

The couple and their own four children—Amiel Ver, a nurse (now in Australia); Ansheline Mae, a lawyer; and Arvin Ver and Aina, both college students—have been working together in providing a safe space for children to read, learn, eat, pray, sleep, or even just take a bath.

How they have been able to sustain their outreach project despite the lack of funds is nothing short of a miracle, according to this multiawarded family.

Dagdag Dunong, says Ana, “has become a place of miracles and a cradle of knowledge, prayer, and faith.”

Health & Home ︱ 6 ︱March-April 2020

Grace in the Act

By Arlene R. Ariate

Angeline’s

Faith

T

he bell rings and the learners run to the flagpole area. They form their lines and sing the national anthem. After that, they perform exercises as part of their health program. Sometimes, the learners would assemble in the school grounds for dance routines as energizers before they start their classes.

As the whole Conconig Elementary School community dances in zest, 6-year-old Angeline Padilla simply watches them as she sits in the pedicab of her grandfather, Mang Bening. This is how she starts her day at school and how the rest of her day is mostly spent—seated in the kiosk or in her armchair as she watches her fellow learners play, run, and laugh under the sun.

photos courtesy of author

Daily struggles Angeline cannot stand, much more walk.

Muscular dystrophy disallows her from performing all the tasks of regular learners in their school. She was born with this joint deformity and has to struggle every day just to attend her classes.

Mang Bening drives his granddaughter to school.

When Grade 1 learners would enter their classroom, Angeline would tightly hold the arms of her grandfather as he would carry her to class. Minutes before dismissal in the morning and afternoon, Mang Bening would be there—ready to fetch Angeline.

“It is also hard for me to take care of her because I am becoming weaker as I age, but it is only my daughter and me who attend to her needs,” Mang Bening explained.

Angeline’s father works as a delivery man in Bulacan and only gets to come home twice a year.

Health & Home ︱ 10 ︱March-April 2020

Buckle Up Your Kids

By MICHELLE ANNE P. DIAMANTE

T

models not subjects of article

hey’re pricey, bulky, and can be difficult to install. Why bother about car seats in the first place, right?

A type of child restraint, a car seat is “designed to reduce the risk of injury in the event of a collision by limiting the mobility of the child’s body.”1 Since children’s bodies are still developing, they are very fragile and more susceptible to danger. The American Academy of Pediatrics said, “Because [a] child’s bones are still growing, he is vulnerable to an additional type of fracture that does not occur in adults.”2 Also remember that, when a car moves at, say, 80 kilometers per hour, everything inside the car is also moving at the same speed. In the event of a crash, the car may suddenly stop, but an unbuckled person inside will continue moving forward—

possibly hitting the dashboard, the front seat, other passengers, or being thrown outside the window.

If you’re not yet convinced, check out car crash simulation videos online to see what may happen.3 Moreover, President Rodrigo Duterte has already signed into law Republic Act 11229 or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act last February 22, 2019.4 As soon as the Department of Transportation finishes its implementing rules and regulations, it will become illegal to have a child 12 years and below in a car without a child restraint system appropriate to his/her height.

But you may still be thinking, “My child has been riding a car without a car seat for a long time and has always been safe. Why should I spend money and effort for a car seat now?”

By MAE ANN L. CASTRO

A

nd they lived happily ever after.” This line gave

me hope as a young girl. Someday I would have my own prince like Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, and the other Disney princesses did. He would be handsome, well-built, strong, brave, and kindhearted. I just had to wait.

So I waited and prayed. I reserved myself. Romance was something I did not pursue until I was certain he was the one. I focused on my relationship with the Lord and with the people around me. My studies kept me busy. I wanted my future life partner to be proud of me when he would introduce me to his family or friends.

What ifs

But there were times when I also got tired of waiting. There were times I was tempted to entertain suitors. There were times I wanted to give up the idea that there was someone out there for me.

There were times I wondered what he would be like. Would we be compatible? What if the waiting years would go to waste?

Or what if I mistook someone for being the one? What if I would enter into a relationship then end up realizing that I should have waited longer?

But what if he had been here all along? Had our paths already crossed? Had we ever been in the same place at the same time?

If he came, would I be ready enough to be in a relationship?

Would I be ready for a commitment?

Could I be a girlfriend? How would it be like being a girlfriend? I didn’t even know if I could stay in love with someone!

Health & Home ︱ 24 ︱March-April 2020

Children’s Corner

By Janet R. Tolete

Bright Fish Q: Can fish learn tricks?

F

ish brain does not have as many parts as the brain of rats, dogs, or humans. Specifically, fish do not have a cerebral cortex, which is the part where memory is usually stored.

Perhaps this is why there is a popular belief that fish only have a three-second memory. Think of Dory in the animated films Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. After just a little time, she easily forgets who she is talking to, where she is going, or what she is talking about.

School of fish Fishes seem like very humble animals, but God has also given them intelligence.

Job once said to his friends, “ ‘But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. . . . In his [God’s] hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind’ ” (Job 12:7, 8, 10, New International Version ).

If God can give wisdom to fish, He will surely and gladly help you with that math assignment, for example, if you ask (see James 1:5).

Better thinker Many studies, however, have shown that fish are more intelligent than what people used to think. Fish may be simpler and lower than other animals with spine (vertebrates), but they can also learn to do tricks.1 Further, scientists have found evidence that fish may have brain parts that also store memory and make mental maps of their surroundings.2 A-mazing!

Goldfish (Carassius auratus), for example, have demonstrated a sense of time. In one experiment, scientists fed the goldfish at a regular hour using a lever that released food every time it was pressed. The fish eventually learned to press the lever at the right time and stopped doing so when time was up.

They even showed excitement as that hour got closer.3 In another study, goldfish were trained to find food in a maze. As time passed, they got faster and faster in locating the reward. In three days, they already knew where to go even when the aquarium was turned to face the opposite side.

What was more amazing was that they still remembered what to do in their maze six months after their last training session.2

Health & Home ︱ 40 ︱March-April 2020

Echoes of Life

By Jecsoon O. Mariñas

E-Learning: The New Trend

Y

ouTube University. Google Research. Virtual Schooling. Web Tutorial.

Any skill you want to learn or information you want to gather? Name it, the internet has it—instruction at its most convenient—and cheapest.

We are a generation blessed with limitless opportunities and a vast range of available information. But are we taking a beneficial advantage of it?

Below are teenagers sharing skills they have learned online. They also share their satisfaction rating of their experience (with 10 being the highest, and one, the lowest).

Having learned a lot from the internet, I am no longer scared to read aloud because I can now read each word correctly. I have even improved my grammar and vocabulary both in writing and speaking.

I also learned how to communicate effectively—maintaining good eye contact, fitting my language based on the audience, building ideas, and a bunch of other useful skills.

E-learning Satisfaction Rating: 10/10 —Arceline O. Bulsao, 17, Suyo, Ilocos Sur

I was only watching cooking shows on the internet for fun when they piqued my curiosity. It was how I started to learn new recipes.

Cooking is one way of making my family happy. I still prefer personal instruction, however, because it is easier to understand.

E-learning Satisfaction Rating: 7/10 —Sam Angelo R. Patalinghug, 16, Silang, Cavite

Learning to type is a necessity in our generation so I am improving my typing skills through internet tutorials. I can now type faster than many students my age.

Having this skill is fun because I can now finish a lot of typing tasks faster.

E-Learning Satisfaction Rating: 5/10 —Lois Allyson P. Yuhanon, 16, Silang, Cavite

Jecsoon Orbina Mariñas is editorial assistant of Health & Home.

Health & Home ︱ 42 ︱March-April 2020

photos courtesy of interviewees

I was determined to play the piano by myself and the internet was a big help. I learned basic piano chords without having to spend money for a piano teacher.

A personal instructor could be more effective, but I prefer learning online. It is more convenient and a whole lot cheaper.

It’s just a click away toward acquiring new knowledge or enhancing existing ones.

E-learning Satisfaction Rating: 9/10 —Jerusha Ruth U. Bongolan, 18, Santa Barbara, Pangasinan

A Tragic Ending or a New Beginning W h e r e i s t h e w o r l d h e a d i n g?

Discover how the Bible looks at earth’s history and what future events are outlined in prophecy.

Find hope in times of despair, courage amid fear, and peace in the eye of this world’s biggest crisis.

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