Barangay Camandag, Sitio Ulnoy is a half hike from the main Poblacion of Ambaguio, Nueva Vizcaya. It is most commonly reached using a private single motor or hired single motor for P600.00 for a one-way trip. The mountainous terrain meanders into a landslide prone area with stony ground and steep slope that becomes hazardous to trk during rainy season. It is nearby the neighboring mountains of the Ifugao Province.
For the past years, Teacher Arsenia Dagya of Sitio Ulnoy employs an alternative learning system for the day care pupils for lack of a formal school to present her lessons. She would gather the children underneath a treee for fresh air and shield them from the scorching heat of the sun and when it rains, they make use of “tolda” in a nearby vacant lot.
The class usually starts at 8:00AM for with their frail bodies, it takes them 3 hours to hike. Some will be fetched by uncles or grandmothers at 10:30AM, the dismissal time because their parents are either busy with the household chores or their fathers tend to their farms.
In 2014, Barangay Captain Nelson H. Maddawat participated in the Local Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT) during the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Assembly on the Bottom-up-Budgeting (BuB) identification of priority projects. It is no secret that among the 8 sitios of Barangay Camandag, only two sitios, Sitio Ulnoy and Sitio Cupang and Manabang, are left without Day Care Center. However, Sito Ulnoy presents an extraordinary circumstance considering that the children share classrooms with students of Pacdal Elementary School located in Ulnoy, Nanlapunan, a 1.2 kilometers ascending trail from the home of the beneficiaries.
After a series of meetings with the community and active involvement of parents during the CSO Assembly and LPRAT meetings, the community submitted a proposal fro the establishment of a center for their children to avail of the early childhood care and development services of the DSWD.
Specifically, the project will provide a standard, Day Care Center building unit in Sitio Ulnoy, Camandag, Ambaguio, Nueva Vizcaya. It is a 6.0 x 8.0 structure that will cater to 22 Day CAre Children and improve the quality of day care service to the pre-school children through the construction of a child friendly Day Care Center nuilding within the neighborhood.
The DSWD Field Office 02 released Php 500,000.00 for the construction of the said Day are Center with LGU counterpart amounting to Php 125,000.00
There were challenges met during the realization of the project one of which is the logistical nightmare in delivering the construction materials from the lowland up to the drop-off point and from the drop-off point, it had to be hauled manually to the project site. Nonetheless, some aggregates like gravel and sand was lessened and changed with locally available lumbers to make up half of the sidings so then the sidings are half concrete and half lumber, hence, the project was continued and finally finished.
The construction of the Day Care Center fueled the enthusiasm of the proponent of the project particularly the parents.
“Kaasi dagiti ubing nu awan ti botas ken payung da. Nu agtudtudu ket kasla da lang biliit nga haan nga sumrek ta matudwan da. Daytuy lang gamin Sitio Ulnoy ti awan day Care nan (During rainy days, the children are like birds in going to school. They need boots and umbrella fro protection from the rain. Sitio Ulnoy is left behind in terms of availability of Day Care Center to date),” shared Kagawad janet B. Bahel. ### By: Valerie Blue D. Claveria, BuB Project Development Officer II