An ethical evaluation and analysis of Silliman university extension program in barrios mag-aso and Magsaysay, Dauin, Negros Oriental

Abstract

There has been a growing awareness and concern among Christians of underdevelopment of people everywhere so that the issue of human development has become a pressing concern of the Christian church as a whole. Silliman University, as a Christian institution) in an effort to heed the teaching of the Lord has engaged in the development of man through extension programs in some rural areas in Negros Oriental. One of these areas is the town of Dauin, where an integrated program of food production, nutrition, health and environmental sanitation and family planning is being done. This integrated program is being carried out simultaneously in two barrios, namely, Mag-aso Magsaysay. These projects are designed by the University to improve the living conditions of the people. In short, the object of the University in these two barrios is for human development. This study sought to find out whether the Silliman University Extension Service has achieved the objective of its projects in the said barrios. In other words, the researcher sought to ascertain whether these said projects arc really for human development. The researcher there- fore analyzed and evaluated the effects of the projects on the lives of the clients against the Christian norms of freedom, equality and justice. Freedom, in the Christian ethics context, moans freedom from want, ill-health, dirty environment and superstition which hinder the development of the human person; justice and equality mean the effort to bring about equal opportunity to every person to live a decent, humane and happy life for a more productive living. The researcher used the normative survey method using the questionnaire as the main instrument for securing responses. This is substantiated toy personal interviews, both with the Extension Service REACH program personnel and the clients of the said program. The researcher interviewed 49 respondents or 55.68 percent out of 88 households enjoying the REACH program projects. The findings of the survey show that the Food Production project registered, several successes and a few failures. The successes are: a) The respondents have learned new ways and techniques in food production and arc applying them, particularly: seed selection, using commercial fertilizer and controlling diseases and pests by using insecticides. b) By adopting these new techniques and practices, the clients' income has increased. The failures are: a) Superstition is still observed by the majority of the respondents in that they continue to observe the tide of the sea and the phases of the moon, and offer food to the spirits before planting. b) In animal raising, majority of the respondents do not use commercial feeds, thereby resulting in poor quality of animals. The result is that the clients are consuming poor quality moat and their animals are not fitted for commercial purposes. As a whole, this project is relatively successful in bringing to the clients a relative freedom from want and is beginning to give them the opportunity to live a better life. The results of the Nutrition project show the improvement in the nutritional aspect of the client's lives--their diet is more balanced, food are better pre- pared and better selected, although some of the respondents still adhered to food fads and fallacies at the time of the interview. Ethically, the said project is successful since it has brought to the clients freedom from ill-health due to malnutrition and under nutrition, and has given them the chance to live healthier and therefore happier lives. The Health and Environmental Sanitation projects improved the sanitation in the homes and their environments through the positive response of the clients by adopting and practicing proper garbage disposal, building sanitary toilets, sterilizing eating and cooking utensils, isolating the sick members of the family and observing good health habits. Therefore, there is improvement of the health condition of the community, thereby freeing the people from dirty and unhealthy environment. The project has essentially given the clients an opportunity to improve their health. However, there are some failures in this project. The people still practice traditional medicine and few people have received immunization. Some positive results arc also gained in the family Planning project. The respondents who are practicing family planning arc using modern contraceptive methods, despite the fact that they are all Roman Catholics. This means that the methods used are effective, and that the birth rate is therefore expected to decrease, thus freeing the people from high dependency burden, thereby giving them the chance to improve their living standard. In instituting these projects, the clients are encouraged to participate in the planning and decision making. This means "democracy at the grassroots" since it gives the people the freedom to decide what they desire and what is good for them, thus giving them the opportunity to develop their human potentials and personality. The Siliman University Extension Service in Dauin is therefore for human development. Moreover, this research has ascertained that the object of the REACH integrated program is to improve the living condition of the people in order that they can live humane and decent lives. This is an act of recognition of the Christian perspective that every person is a child of God and that His intention for every man is for him to live a happy and productive life.