Buto't Balat

It was another day in our Sociology class when we watched another documentary film by Kara David titled "Buto't Balat". Aside from the literal meaning of the word and having a background or knowledge of what the title means back when I was in elementary when some of my friends used to bully and tease each other, I know what will my eyes be feasting on.


It was a documentary which showcases different stories yet tackles a common problem of the lower class in our society, malnutrition. Each of them shows different cases on how poverty became the main cause of malnutrition and leads into death. The first clip was about a girl who became bed ridden due to improper intake of food and meals, Her mother told that the budget that they are earning is enough only to buy rice, coffee and sugar but nothing more. Because of the low and insufficient income of the family that lead to malnutrition, it caused the girl and two of her sibling's death. While another scene featured a story about an infant that due to poverty is having coffee instead of milk. And another one is about a 14 year-old boy that also have a problem regarding improper food intake and consumption which resulted to severe malnutrition, this 14 year-old boy weighs the same as a normal 2 year-old baby.

Based on my observation and point of view, the one that suffers and always have their problem pouring through is our poor fellow men. Due to unemployment, poverty occurs, when poverty comes to play, improper food consumption takes place in the family and could lead to malnutrition and several complications due to unhealthy body which might then be the cause of death because of no proper medication. I could say that the reason behind this chain of poverty roots to education. Simply because after finishing studies, you're qualified to have a good job and will be able to have the basic necessities in life. I believe that there is nothing impossible with the guidance and help from God, determination and hard work. You have the power to be what you want to be, No one can even push you to do what you don't like. After watching it, I felt overwhelmed and thankful that I'm not even experiencing sickness and ailments, instead all i need to do is to study and finish my school. I think that the government should focus first on education and to the poor, I should say that proper distribution of the goods and services that are meant for all of us, Employment, so that everyone could have a proper income to support the needs. In this way, everything will follow and we could attain progress.