By Niño Manaog
Extension Associate
Capiz State University
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| HAVE YOURSELF A JENNY LITTLE CHRISTMAS. Jennifer Perez Benliro follows the Santa Claus tradition of giving to fellow Yolanda victims days before Christmas. Here she helps dispense chocolate candies to some 250 kids in Sitio Baybay, Bgy. Natividad, Pilar, Capiz in December 2013. |
“As a nurse, I took the oath of literally lending a hand to people. I also believe that I have the responsibility to do so,” says Jennifer Perez Benliro, Nurse II of the Capiz State University (CapSU) Pilar Campus who is profiled for Extension for this issue.
Born on July 10, 1972 in Pilar, Capiz, Benliro is a registered nurse who also holds a graduate degree in public administration. She has also started her doctoral studies in the same field. Currently, she is the extension chairperson of the Capiz State University (CapSU) Pilar Campus.
“Months after I started work at then Panay State Polytechnic College (PSPC) Pilar Campus, I organized the Red Cross Youth (RCY), a group of volunteers who were trained on first-aid services.” Since then, she has always been involved in extension activities of the campus helping and serving the underprivileged sectors of their community.
In various instances, she led the activities of RCY volunteers in conducting first-aid, and also assisted the activities of the Philippine Red Cross. In these activities, Benliro is inspired by the principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies—among them, voluntary service, impartiality and humanity.
Appointed chair of the health services from 2003 up to the present, Benliro has also served as the guidance counselor of the CapSU Pilar Campus since 2011.
For years, she has been Teen Center coordinator for CapSU Pilar, also holding several positions and capacities and helping facilitate medical services and advocacies that have not only engaged and catered to the youth but also helped uplift the welfare of the other sectors of the neighboring communities.
“I grew up surrounded by politicians and public officials mandated to cater to the needs of people; in the same setting I have come to love service for the public,” Benliro says, citing how the place where she lived has inspired her on what to do—or to keep doing what she has been doing.
A graduate of the PSPC High School in 1989, Jennifer Perez Benliro has been doing extension work since 1993, the year she graduated from college. In high school, she also served as regional public relations officer for the Future Farmers of the Philippines. She says that it was during this opportunity that she developed volunteerism and leadership.
“Such involvement and exposures contributed to my personal and professional growth, leading to the years in service which have motivated me to work harder for the University.”
Then after being appointed extension chair in 2011, Benliro’s conceptualized “Skills Development, Advocacy, Volunteerism and Empowerment (S.A.V.E.) Program on Health,” which reaches out to a number of sectors of the community and later benefited hundreds of constituents in Pilar, Capiz.
Three years into its launch, the program covered a big number of extension activities, namely: advocacy and health services and literacy trainings, first-aid services, feeding program, tooth extraction, Oplan Tsinelas, gift-giving, personality development training, blood sugar testing and blood pressure monitoring.
From the beginning, the volunteers consisted of students from the different departments who also composed the first aid team of the campus, supervised by Ms. Benliro.
“Engaging four fields of human activity and cooperation, namely: skills training, advocacy, volunteerism and empowerment, the S.A.V.E. Program is one extension agenda which seeks to make a difference in the communities where CapSU is located,” she says.
Originally intended for health advocacy via volunteerism, the program was later enhanced and expanded to include skills training, advocacy and empowerment of the sectors in the community. In fact, the program was enhanced and polished by CapSU’s RDE team—consisting of Dr. Marcela Buenvenida, Dr. Evelyn Borgonia, Dr. Guillermo Legada, Jr., Dr. Emelita Solante, and Dr. Cora Ferrer Navarra, then vice-president for Research, Development and Extension, who particularly advised her to include skills development in the project.
Among others, the program has instilled the spirit of volunteerism in the students. Sometimes even with scarce resources and faced with difficulties in reaching the target areas, student volunteers still supported the programs with their participation and initiative.
In recent months, the program also included skills development among the youth on the visual arts and other disciplines. Through its varied activities since its beginnings, the program has taught youth participants that nothing could repay the happiness and contentment given by the opportunity of being able to help others.
During the 4th Regional Extension Symposium sponsored by the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) VI held in September 2013 at the Punta Villa Resort in Villa, Iloilo City, the S.A.V.E. Program was cited first runner-up in the Health Category. It also won first runner-up in Poster Category.
With this towering achievement both in the recognition by her peers and the benefit to the community, Benliro feels “fulfilled that through the little things—activities and involvements in the community—I am able to make it a bit better.”
Though I have not served as a nurse in the hospital, directly tending to the sick people and the patients, I feel that my involvement in the activities in the communities enabled me to help more people and make a difference.”
Having launched the S.A.V.E. Program in 2012, it is noteworthy to say that Benliro has broken new ground for CapSU—blazing the trail for others to follow.
The advocacy program she launched could serve as prototype for others, even as they are also mandated to make a difference in their respective communities.
“I believe that the advocacy I started in our campus will serve as an example to others,” she confides.
For now, Benliro only wishes that hazard pay be given to medical or public health workers of the university like her. She is also concerned about how CapSU’s extension programs can be effectively funded and sustained. For her, addressing these issues will reinforce the efforts of extension workers like her to be able to reach out to more people and even create more impact in the communities.
THE COMMUNITY NURSE
Jennifer Benliro takes to relief the fellow members of the community where they are coming from. As the community nurse, she makes sure that the health of basic sectors—from the children to the elderly—are literally kept in check.
Jennifer Benliro takes to relief the fellow members of the community where they are coming from. As the community nurse, she makes sure that the health of basic sectors—from the children to the elderly—are literally kept in check.
