Mobile days are good days.

***

In the past month and a half, I've seen a drastic improvement in my mental health despite doing pretty much the same thing as before, which is vaccination work. A change in scenery made all the difference.

I didn't realize how much of my negative outlook before was brought about by my work surroundings.  In the vaccination post where I used to work, the temperature was always uncomfortably hot and humid. It was a closed gymnasium with tiny windows, so the air circulation was awful. Also, because it had poor ventilation, it drove me crazy to see patients with their masks lowered, mouths agape, noses exposed. Poor ventilation plus unmasked people in a pandemic situation equals bad news. 

If I were a Sim, my mood meter would instantly plummet into the red upon setting foot into this place. I was constantly sweaty, uncomfortable, and angry at unmasked people.

But the worst part of it, in hindsight, was that work didn't feel meaningful to me. I was one of two doctors there, and the workload (on regular days) was right for just one. If I'm being perfectly honest, we didn't even need to be there at all. I felt like my services would've been more useful if I could return to my old job at the Libertad Main Health Center, where I see patients and hold consultations in different barangay health centers. I haven't had face to face consults in nearly a year. 

Then one day, a vacancy opened up in my original vaccination post, a big gym inside a local private high school. It's just 5 minutes from my house, has amazing ventilation, is very breezy, and is where my staff from the Libertad District work. I asked the vaccination supervisor if she could transfer me, and she said yes. 

Anyway, just like that, I was transferred back to the OG vaccination site in Butuan City. Yay! I was with my old staff, was no longer constantly sweaty, and the commute took only 5 minutes.

And then two weeks later, the city announced that it would be closing the site down. Boo! 

Just kidding. Not boo. The site was being closed so the city could shift its resources into mobile vaccinations, a term that means going from barangay to barangay, vaccinating in their covered courts or elementary schools. Remote rural barangays would be prioritized over the urban ones. All the staff from the closed vacc post, including me, were going to be transferred to this mobile activity. To me, a frustrated Doctor to the Barrio who spent most of her days bored out of her mind in a hot sweaty crowded vaccination post, this idea was a godsend. 

Being part of a mobile vaccination activity feels like such a big win for me. There are just so many perks!

Free food. The barangay usually feeds us with snacks and lunch (even dinner if we end late). The usual fare is tinolang bisayang manok, saging with ginamos, buko with milk (side note: it's called lamaw here, which my parents find weird, because where I'm from, lamaw means pig feeds). So much yum in my tum. 

Travel travel travel. From foggy forests to sprawling city views, there's always something beautiful to see on my daily commute. Sometimes the ride going there can take longer than an hour, but that can be helped by a pair of good earphones and a nice playlist. Plus, as the only doctor in the team, I usually get to ride shotgun so I don't get carsick :D

Meeting interesting people. Just yesterday we did mobile vaccinations at the Butuan City Jail. There was one kind gentleman who assisted us all throughout the activity, an inmate at the jail. He ushered patients, assisted the seniors, reprimanded fellow inmates who didn't wear masks. Very helpful guy. When I later asked him what he was put in jail for, he replied with an awkward laugh, "He he. Murder." Convicted felons aside, I get to meet people from all walks of life on a daily basis. Barangay officials, laborers, students, stay-home parents. It really broadens one's perspective on things and I feel like I learn something new from them each day.

Actually being useful. If I have time and energy to spare, I do consults for patients at the vaccination post. Skin rashes, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers... A lot of the health problems in remote barangays though are still pretty bad and require further workup, like laboratory testing or referral to a specialist. Still, a bit of primary care is better than no primary care at all.

So many new experiences. From near-encounters with NPA in a remote vaccination site, to meeting murderers and potential Abu Sayaff members in the city jail... For better or for worse there's certainly been a huge upgrade in the excitement factor. On a less dangerous note, these novel experiences are helping me to learn more about myself and, I think, are somehow helping to build my confidence. 

Getting to know my staff better. I spent a lot of my time in an island by myself at my previous work. I had a desk that was pretty far from anyone else's, and when I was still working at the center, I had an office to myself. It made me feel shut off from the my staff, since a lot of organic workplace conversations happen when you're constantly in the same proximity as another person. But now, thanks to the magic of sharing daily car rides and meals together, I feel like I've gotten to know them a lot better than ever.

Warm and fuzzies. The turnout at the mobile vaccinations posts recently have been amazing. We're vaccinating an average of 500 people per day in my team alone, a huge feat given our limited resources.  Just earlier, we vaccinated 985 people in Brgy. Manila de Bugabus - that's 26% of their population! 

Our clients are people who would have otherwise had to spend 600 pesos and two hours on a habal-habal to get to the vacc posts in the city and back, losing income from missing a day of work. So to me, these efforts feel so real, meaningful, and important. We're literally making life-saving vaccines more accessible for the poor and marginalized. My Doctor to the Barrio self is happy. I count myself incredibly lucky to be contributing to a cause that's so much bigger than myself. 

So that's about it. A happy update, for once. As more and more people from remote barangays get vaccinated, fear and hesitancy towards the jab is slowly dropping in Butuan City. I can feel it. Once people can see for themselves that their neighbor or family member who got jabbed is still alive and kicking and you know, NOT a zombie, they're more likely to get jabbed as well. 

Herd immunity is coming. Covid cases and deaths are already decreasing. This pandemic will end, a statement I never thought I'd be able to confidently say. 

And with this realization, I find that it's a little easier to wake up in the morning than ever before since the pandemic started. A little easier to get out of bed. A little easier to get myself to shower, to cook, to clean, to just function. A little easier, amid the languishing, to feel genuine moments of joy. 

I'm so excited to see what this post-pandemic world is going to bring.