AUF community promotes anti-FASD advocacy

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/2015/09/15/auf-community-promotes-anti-fasd-advocacy-430490
• Wednesday, September 16, 2015 (Date Published)

By William I. Rider (AUF intern)

ANGELES CITY -- Angeles University Foundation (AUF), in cooperation with the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), CAS-Communication Department, and Samahan ng mga Mag-aaral ng Komunikasyon (SAMASKOM) batch 2015-2016, showed their support for the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) awareness campaign last September 9.

SAMASKOM president Danicca Verallo said that the main objective of this advocacy is to promote awareness against alcohol intake especially to women who are pregnant.

“To raise awareness because women nowadays are not aware that all the intake if ever they are pregnant or not or get pregnant someday, they are not aware that the baby also takes in alcohol, and especially alcohol which has a lot of bad effects to babies, mental disorders, and their physical appearance,” she added.

Verallo also noted that this was a big opportunity for them to advocate anti-FASD because this advocacy wasn’t known yet and people are not aware of this advocacy.

“We have advocacies about environment and poverty already, but this is a very big project coming from our [CAS] dean,” she said.

According to the flyer that was distributed in the event, FASD, also known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), is the term used “to the problems a baby may have if the mother drinks during pregnancy.”

“Alcohol can cause delayed growth, birth defects, and brain damage. A person with FASD faces lifelong challenges,” the flyer stated.

AUF-CAS Dean Dr. Olga Angelinetta Tulabut said the Anti-FASD Day coincides with the nine months of pregnancy.

“Just this year, this month (September) was declared as the FASD Month,” Tulabut added.

Meanwhile, CAS-Communication Department Chair and SAMASKOM adviser Cristina Reyes revealed their strategy in promoting FASD awareness campaign through social media.

“First, we came up with a group [which] we distributed the tasks, we used group experts in web designing in Twitter and in Facebook, so we eventually came up with two accounts for FASD, and then we also used the traditional media, the radio station to announce our campaign and awareness and of course to disseminate our social media accounts,” she said.

Reyes also said that teamwork was also their strategy because she was surrounded by supportive students of AUF willing to extend their time beyond what is expected.

The AUF community was in solidarity by posting their pictures supporting anti-FASD using the hashtags #TYTD2015, #FASDAY, and #AUFPH, that resulted to a quick international recognition of AUF’s campaign.

Reyes was “very-very happy” when she learned the news that the campaign was acknowledged internationally even though it is a simple advocacy.

“We did not really expect that we will be recognized as long as we support the campaign and we believe in our own little ways we can help people and raise awareness about FASD,” she said.

Tulabut encouraged other colleagues, students, and the community to continue sharing the page until September 30 as a part of the FASD Month.