by Edwin Vicente “Edge” Cinco Bolastig

26 February 2008

As a child, I’ve always wanted a job that would connect me to the most number of people. I guess it’s the extrovert in me that prods me to reach out to as many people as I could. Call me a social animal, or a “Connector” in Malcolm Gladwell’s sense of the word in his seminal book on social epidemics, “The Tipping Point”, or the inveterate gregarious character one always meets in the course of her or his daily life…

Growing up in Samar, an impoverished province southeast of the Philippines’ capital Manila, in a secular school environment where the Jesuit's motto of being “Man for Others” is a predominant theme, it started to dawn on me that as a career, there were two options that would allow me to reach out to the most number of people: either to become a doctor or to become a priest. And the common thread that defines and binds these two vocations is SERVICE.

The path I took is quite obvious. Since I also believed in being a well-rounded person, in raising a family and enjoying whatever else life has to offer, while doing a good service to our fellowmen, hence my choice of the former over the latter.

Even before committing myself to a life of volunteerism as a UNV volunteer, I have, in my own small ways, tried to lead a life of service to other people, despite the risks and the relatively low compensation, or even gratis et amore. Attending to as many medical outreach activities, for example, that I could possibly join as a medical student and as a brother of the Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity and later on as a health professional, working as a Municipal Health Officer in my father’s poor, doctorless hometown right after graduation from Medical School.

Given the relatively small remuneration that one gets as a government physician/employee despite the long hours spent at work, even spilling overnight and on weekends at home, everyday is like doing service, for the love of God and country. Mentally, reward usually comes from knowing that whatever little bits of policy change in the health sector that I have immersed myself whole-heartedly, always in collaboration with all other partners in the sector and beyond. These would hopefully redound to the benefit of the most number of Filipinos, especially the poor and vulnerable, whom I may not necessarily have the chance to personally meet or commune with. But at least, deep inside I know, that in one way or the other, I have touched their lives…

And then the offer to serve Trinidad and Tobago as a UNV volunteer came. It was, for me, like standing at a crossroads once again, choosing between pursuing a budding health policy and planning career back home, the outcome of which I could more or less predict,  or accept a highly uncertain job in a completely unknown territory (“Where in the world is Trinidad and Tobago?”)

But then again, I guess, the sense of adventure, of reaching out to a lot more people, of exploring and discovering the world and of expanding my horizons as a health professional and global citizen, in the name of sustainable human development, got the better of me. But that is not without a hurried but truly profound process of spiritual discernment that I undertook, together with my wife, children, other family members and closest friends, who have been very supportive of this life-changing career shift.

Despite the uncertainty, however, things aren’t as bad as they initially seem to be.

First of all, Trinidad and Tobago is one tropical paradise that me, my wife, and some relatives and friends would only daydream of visiting in one of the Caribbean cruises we planned to do when we would have become old, rich and famous ourselves. So this was like a dream come true, fast forward, without the huge out-of-pocket expense!

Secondly, and seriously, I was assigned to do what I love to do best -- health policy and planning work – at the Directorate of Health Policy, Research and Planning at Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Health. Given my experience back home and my formal postgraduate training in London, I therefore wouldn’t want to be assigned anywhere else, though I was psychologically prepared to take on any clinical or field-based tasks that might have been assigned to me. All of a sudden, I felt like a stranded leatherback turtle being thrown back to the Caribbean waters where I rightfully belong!

It was very interesting and quite comforting to actually get thrown into familiar terrain, or waters, I should say. What was more re-assuring was the thought that since there was no medical doctor who was actually doing policy work at the Directorate, I would therefore have the chance to actually add value to the organization, by way of providing a medical perspective into the health policy development and planning process at the Directorate, and by extension, in this country.

Thirdly, the people at the Ministry were very warm, hospitable, supportive, competent and cooperative, making my work more fun and quite engaging. I joined the Ministry at this time when the Health Sector Reform Programme (HSRP) is in full swing, with almost all of the activities geared towards achieving the goals of the HSRP. The UNV Programme partnership with the MOH that involves almost 100 volunteer doctors from all over the world is, in fact, part of the reform process: that of strengthening the institutional capability of the MOH and the health system, in general.

With my work, I provide technical support to the Office of the Minister by preparing briefers and other communications materials for the Minister’s international meetings and conferences, to the Office of the Chief Medical Officer by conducting document reviews, analysis of various health information and preparing presentations, to the Directorate of Health Policy, Research and Planning (DHPRP) on such areas as health needs assessment, national health research system development, health policy review and development system, mental health policy, occupational health and safety, school health and nutrition, blood banking, and community health care, among others.

At present, I am engaged in providing support to the Ministry’s effort in building the capability of the policy, research and planning personnel of the MOH and that of the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) -- the decentralized and autonomous units created as part of the health sector reforms to manage the provision of health services at the hospital, health facility or community level. With the DHPRP Director’s support and direction, I have developed and am coordinating an In-House Staff Development Training Programme, a lecture-discussion type of technical information exchange among the policy, research and planning officers of the above-mentioned institutions. Although largely experimental and evolving, it has elicited a positive and encouraging response from the participants, and has started to generate greater interest in novel ideas and out-of-the-box thinking, while contributing towards developing a small “community of practice” in the health policy and planning arena in this country.

My engagement as a UNV volunteer in this country, albeit still quite limited, has also given me the opportunity to participate as one of the founding members of the Health Systems Action Network (HSAN) which was launched in Toronto, Canada, last year to champion the cause of health systems strengthening both at the country and global levels, vis-à-vis the implementation of the Global Health Initiatives (GHIs) such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) or the Global Funds Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), to mention but a few. These GHIs have largely been influential in defining the health landscape from the global, regional, national and even down to the local levels, thus there is a need to complement them with an approach that ensures the strengthening of health systems to achieve maximal benefit from all the efforts and resources being provided by these GHIs.  
   
It has therefore struck me in AWE of how my rather simple idea of being “Man for Others” from my small world in the eastern corridor of the Philippines, has actually brought me to the international stage upon which I attempt to contribute, as a UN Volunteer, and in my own small way, towards the grand human development agenda of the UN as a global organization.

From a metaphysical point of view, however, the progression of my life from a small-town boy who is now thrust into the health policy-making of a country apart from my own, and concerned about what is going on in the global health arena, is actually coherent and logical, despite the many crossroads and forks where I needed to discern and decide which road to take. And yes, like what my favorite poet, Robert Frost, says, I always ended up taking the road less traveled -- changing my life’s course, and that of my family, completely.

It is my belief however, that once you do what you love to do best, then you can never go wrong and that all the good things you do for yourself and for others will surely come back a hundred- or even a thousand-fold.

And now, therefore I WONDER, in the midst of all this meandering, where will all these things lead me to? Becoming a service-oriented UNV has led me to this awe-inspiring personal tale and so I wonder now, where will this stint bring me and my family to? It has just been a great one and a half years of my life as a UNV volunteer in Trinidad and Tobago, and so far, life has dealt with me very well. From here, however, where will all these things lead us to, maybe perhaps after my contract?

Again, I am cast into this sense of awe and wonder about the uncertainty of life in this world and as a UNV in particular, but what I am very sure about though, is this – and let me quote the great Robert Frost –

“ Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

And by the way, isn’t volunteerism about making all that difference?