VPHCS staff members served as resource persons on reproductive health in a two-weekend seminar on reproductive health for college scholars of the Enfants du Mekong(EDM) organization.
The seminars conducted last Feb. 5 and 12 discussed human reproductive system anatomy and physiology, methods of birth control, and sexually transmitted infections. About 40 students joined the seminars conducted by VPHCS staff members Lynsy Linao, R.N., Dr. Erlinda Posadas, and VPHCS volunteers Jethame Paglinawan, R.N. and Chester Lagado, R.N.
The students are all beneficiaries of the scholarship program of the EDM. The EDM is a French non-government organization which helps children and teenagers of poor families to study in order to have a better life, get a job and help their families. The scholars studying first to second year college live in the EDM college center in Banawa while the third and fourth years students stay in boarding houses near their schools. Aside from sending the students to school, EDM programs help them to develop their personality with regular activities and personalized follow-up. The EDM college center in Banawa is managed by French volunteer Elise Dubec and social worker Dorothy Fortuna.
EDM was established in 1958 and started in the countries where the Mekong River flows. To date, the scholarship has helped more than 60,000 children in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, China and the Philippines. It has been in the Philippines since 1997 and has helped more than 3,100 children to go to school. In the Visayas, it has 45 scholarship programs in Cebu, Bohol, Negros, Samar, Camotes and Leyte which have benefitted more than 1,500 kindergarten, elementary, high school and college students.