The APPHO Experience

By: Angel Abraham Sison, APPHOlympics Participant from UP College of Public Health

What comes to your mind when you hear the words “Health Sciences”? Well, one may associate it with the medical sciences and indirectly refer to the Health Sciences course offered at the Ateneo. How about “Public Health”? Some may associate it with sanitation, health-related work to be done in the provinces without pay, or to the course offered at the UP Manila. And what do you think will happen when you put these two together? One thing: a comradeship beyond your imagination.

       

    The APPHOlympics: Laro ng Lahi was an inter-scholastic sports meet organized by the Alliance of Philippine Public Health Organizations (APPHO) last December 4, 2010 at the Ateneo de Manila University Cervini Quadrangle and College Covered Courts. The members of the APPHO, the Health Sciences Society of the Ateneo and the College of Public Health Student Council of the UP Manila spearheaded this event. Together, the students from both schools shared their insights on their current academic dilemmas, their varied experiences on their schools, and other personal stories. It was an event that forged new friendships, reconnected past friends, and showed that

            I actually got lost going to the Cervini Hall. I was used to the quaint campus of UP Manila where every destination can be reached by foot. After a few minutes of locating and following Kuya Guard’s instructions, I was able to reach the dormitory. Greeting me by the front doors were the officers of the Health Sciences Society. After giving me my name tag and a free “I <3 PH” foldable fan, I proceeded to the quadrangle. I saw my block-mates and other friends sitting there and chatting with each other. I was told that there would be a “speed-dating” event that will serve as the prelude to the entire event. Seeing that the person sitting across me was a guy, I thought that this would be my first and last time to have a guy speed-date me. Anyway, I was grateful for that event, for I have made new Kuyas, Ates, and friends that are in the Ateneo.

            After the speed-dating event, we were divided into groups for the games. The first game was a traditional Filipino game, though I’m not really sure what it is really called. It’s the game with a dangling eggplant strung around one’s waist and with that drag a bottle cap towards the finish line. Our team wasn’t that athletic, but we were high-spirited and proudly put on our game faces. Second was “Maria Goes To The Market”, one of my fairly favorite games since primary school. However, we still were not able to bag a place. Afterwards, we started off with the “intellectual” games. First up was the riddle-solving contest. We were asked to retrieve the riddles written on paper from a basin full of flour and solve the riddle. The riddles were written in the Filipino vernacular, and most of it were the riddles children are asked to solve. But even with that kind of advantage, we still weren’t able to land a place. Last was the “American Genius”, a version of the traditional “Pinoy Henyo” rendered in English. This was a contest between selected representatives of UP and Ateneo. The Ateneo representatives came first, followed by the UP representatives. I was part of the representatives for UP and the last to play for the team. The word that I tried to guess was “Taylor Swift”, and even a word/name that simple took me a long time to guess. I struggled with the category of celebrities, mentioning anything that pops into my mind like Rihanna, Michelle Obama, Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey among others. It was a mind-boggling event because traditionally Filipino is used for the game, and using English is much more of a challenge for this game.

            The final event was the basketball match between the Health Sciences Team and the Public Health Team. Students from both schools cheered for their own, and it was quite a sight to see Ateneo students cheering for UP and vice versa. The Health Sciences team won, but I must say that the Public Health team played well and really put up a good fight.

            All’s well that end’s well. That’s how I would describe the sports meet. It was one of the most memorable events of my college life, and the friendships and memories I’ve made will be a testament to the eternal success of that event.