AN INVITATION TO BE PART OF ISANG BATA ISANG TASA (IBIT) FAMILY

Isang Bata Isang Tasa (IBIT), loosely translated as One Child One Cup, was the name I put together to describe the celebration we did during my birthdays in the last fifteen years. We gave “lugaw” (rice porridge) and other food items to children within my Barangay (village) in San Pedro Laguna, and they were asked to bring cups to enjoy the meal. It started as a once-a-year affair participated by friends and funded privately, mostly from my savings.

When friends joined in, we added more items to the kids fed with rice porridge. We gave anything we could afford, like slippers, towels, hygiene kits, milk, and breakfast items.

In 2018, I registered it as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) because I saw the potential for the organisation to reach more children beyond my village. With good friends, IBIT, Inc. was registered and legalised. We expanded our target to not only children under five years old but also to include children with disability that are deprived of proper nutrition because of a lack of food and means to prepare the food they can eat.

During the pandemic, we lost our momentum to operate and reach more children, but it did not stop us from delivering services to the most vulnerable children.  IBIT was introduced to Mana Packs by my club RC Metro San Pedro. Through them, we could access the Mana Pack, which became the food supplement standard for malnourished children, which we have a lot in San Pedro. Although the plan we coined with the officers back in 2021 was perfect, Covid-19 reduced it to serving fortified rice and hoping the children improve. Even monitoring was a challenge, but we persisted.

I saw an opportunity to include Mana Pack within IBIT programs since our mission is to provide children under five and children with disability access to good and nutritious food and implements to facilitate feeding. The city of San Pedro has an organised nutrition program. The Barangay Health Workers (BHW) identify, register, and monitor malnourished children while providing parents with knowledge and skills in food selection preparation that is economical and nutritious. 

Since I don’t live in San Pedro full-time, I have friends that help make IBIT active and plan activities for our target group. A good friend was appointed program coordinator responsible for mobilising resources and coordinating with the different partner organisations to help reach targets and deliver services. She sometimes single-handedly provides IBIT packages individually to reduce the risk of children contracting Covid-19.

We were granted Mana packs to share with our kids through the RC Metro San Pedro. So far, we have received several donations from RCMSP that we happily gave to malnourished children. In March last year, we decided to focus on providing support to children under five and include children with cerebral palsy that have difficulty eating, especially those that use a nasogastric tube to eat.

Many parents contacted IBIT asking for support and requested a food blender to help their children eat.  We then decided to raise funds to buy food processors, and during National CP Day, we identified 50 children and donated the blenders. Since then, we have received only positive feedback from parents at the same time, received more requests for support.

We want to continue the “Blend & Shake Project” while providing them with fortified food products like the Mana Packs and other items that can help improve children’s nutrition regardless of their medical situation.

The only way for the IBIT project to succeed is if you and your friends, colleagues, and family join us and be part of the IBIT benefactor in kind and cash.

Your contribution will allow us to respond to our target beneficiaries' needs while simultaneously allowing them to enjoy participation in activities within their families and community. You are also welcome to join and volunteer during IBIT activities.