Parents have committed to serving their families with nutritious food to produce healthier generation of Filipinos during the weeklong Lusog Tibay Caravan of Republic Cement in Taysan, Batangas.
Republic Cement recently launched an education campaign to help curb the incidence of hunger and malnutrition among children in Taysan, a remote community in Batangas.
The Lusog Tibay program is Republic Cement’s follow-up initiative after crucial learnings from Kusina ng Kalinga in Taysan, a central kitchen Republic recently set up, in partnership with Gawad Kalinga (GK), through which over 700 kids are provided free daily nutritious lunch meals for one school year.
“We observed that some parents were requesting for salty processed food to be served, in lieu of the nutritious vegetable dishes that the Kusina prepared. This led us to the realization that simply providing nutritious lunch meals in school is not enough. If we wanted to see long lasting positive impact on the children’s health,we needed to address nutrition at home as well through the parents,” says Republic Cement President, Nabil Francis.
The Lusog Tibay program is an educational campaign for parents on proper health and nutrition, lifestyle changes, and healthy habits that encourage and promote holistic family health and wellbeing. Said program was rolled out in six public schools in Batangas, namely, Taysan Central School, Mapulo Elementary School, Bilogo Elementary School, Pag-asa Elementary School, San Jose Elementary School, and Bagong Silang Elementary School.
The activity featured a cooking demonstration from a GK-nominated chef, who shared a quick and affordable nutrition-packed recipe to the moms and an inspirational talk from Bettinna Carlos, who shared about her experience as a mom to 6-year old Gummy.
“Bettinna’s daughter is about the same age as most of the Kusina beneficiaries. More than nutrition education, we wanted the program to impart values, so we asked Bettinna to share her personal testimony on the daily challenges a mom faces and what she does to ensure her child is nourished in mind, body and spirit.” shares Republic Cement Corporate Communications Manager, Vida Rodriguez.
The program culminated with an oath taking ceremony, which marked the community’s collective commitment to live out what they learned on proper health and nutrition and, ultimately, to help nourish their children’s dreams.
“We believe Republic’s Lusog Tibay program supports what the GK Kusina ng Kalinga is all about—the philosophy of ‘walang iwanan’ which means every child should have access to their basic needs regardless of social strata,” says Gawad Kalinga.
While the Lusog Tibay program was initially cascaded in Batangas, Republic Cement intends to roll it out in other areas.
“Ultimately, we see this as an investment in the future. Nourishing our children today really means we are strengthening the Philippines’ future movers and shakers. After all, stronger kids make for a stronger Republic,” Francis shares.
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