Dorie the explorer: The adventures of Doc Dorie in the world of public health

Before becoming Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF)’s The Challenge Initiative Chief of Party from 2020 to 2022, and Project Director for the Expanded Youth Leadership Governance Program (EYLGP) in partnership with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) in 2023, Dr. Dorie Lyn Balanoba spent a quiet but colorful life in Siquijor. Life was so simple back then, but the life she had in the province molded her to become the person she is today.

In ZFF, Doc Dorie dedicates her life to ensure that more mothers would choose to deliver their babies in health facilities. Interestingly, Doc Dorie was the only one among five siblings to be delivered at home. It was all because of her uncle, a medical student at that time, who said that he and the attending midwife can safely deliver the baby. It’s a pride he still carries as one of his earliest accomplishments as a medical practitioner.

As a doctor, Doc Dorie always made sure to rely on facts and data. As a child, however, Doc Dorie remembered her aunt giving her odd remedies for her asthma. She used to give young Dorie a glass of soda or tuba (coconut wine) mixed with raw egg. It was a good thing that her grandfather managed to convince the family to let her see a doctor. That moment inspired her to become a doctor as well. “Sabi ko noon, ang galing naman, gumaling ako,” Doc Dorie recalled.

In a time when children were expected to be doctors, lawyers, or engineers, Doc Dorie was grateful that her parents were capable of sending her to medical school. But soon enough, she learned that aspiring to become a doctor is more than just academic excellence or earning the title. Spending years in medical school made her see that there is inequality in the distribution of doctors around the country. Most doctors are in the city, while geographically isolated areas are in dire need of health workers. It ignited her desire to go back to Siquijor to serve her own community. 

Dorie goes to the barrio

Three years after earning her license, Doc Dorie joined the Doctors To The Barrio Program of the Department of Health (DOH). She was assigned to a remote area in Eastern Samar and it introduced her to the heart of community health.

Life in the barrio was challenging to say the least. There was no concrete road. Traveling usually takes 10-12 hours by a motorboat. “Kapag nandoon ka na, parang ayaw mo na umalis kasi nakakapagod ang byahe,” Doc Dorie recalled.

To her surprise, Doc Dorie learned that some people in the communities have not seen a doctor since the last missionary doctor left the area 10 years prior. There was no health center either. Doc Dorie and the community members worked together to develop a dilapidated multi-purpose hall into what they can call their own rural health unit. It was not much, but it set the ground for significant changes in the town’s healthcare system. With Doc Dorie’s leadership, the town eventually received a budget to construct a proper RHU.

She applied for a one-year extension, but the three years quickly slipped by for Doc Dorie. Nevertheless, those three years remain as some of her most cherished moments as a doctor. Visiting all 13 barangays was no easy feat, but Doc Dorie did it because of her commitment to bring health services closer to the people. It was the fulfillment of the vow she made when she took her oath as a doctor.

Dorie on new adventures

Doc Dorie worked in the DOH Central Office as program manager of the Poverty Alleviation Fund Phase 1 Project in partnership with the National Anti-Poverty Commission, and later went up the ranks as Division Chief in the Health Human Resource Development Bureau. After several years of service in the government, Doc Dorie took on yet another journey in Malaysia, where she helped in developing the curriculum for a university’s medical program.

In 2012, Doc Dorie returned to the Philippines and soon got information about a job opening at the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) to handle a project in Region 8. But Doc Dorie was led to another path and was instead hired to manage the partnership project with UNFPA.

Doing development work was not new to Doc Dorie, but ZFF’s way of doing things stunned her. She learned that every training can be different from the others. Innovation is always key. Handling four different programs from 2012 until now, Doc Dorie said that thriving in ZFF means being agile, responsive, and innovative.

If Doc Dorie would list down all the challenges she went through in ZFF, a page would not be enough. But those challenges were always outweighed by the rewards they reap whenever they see the outcomes of each program, whenever they witness the improved health-seeking behavior of people in the community, and whenever they see leaders applying bridging leadership concepts in all areas of governance.

Doc Dorie recalled a Municipal Mayor Merchor Mergal of Salcedo, Eastern Samar who said “Buti na lang nag-Bridging Leadership ako before Yolanda [hit my province]. Na-prepare ako as a person and as a leader. Pagsubok lang ito na kaya kong ma-overcome. It is a challenge but also an opportunity to show my competence as father of my municipality.” These words struck Doc Dorie to her very core.

For Doc Dorie, ZFF differs from other organizations because it is not concerned about just implementing one project to another. It lives up to its vision of being a catalyst to have improved health outcomes in LGUs for the benefit of every Filipino.

“ZFF is an NGO with a heart to really serve. In ZFF, we create leaders who are accountable. Hanggang beneficiaries gusto natin makakita ng change,” Doc Dorie said. ZFF’s work is not a business transaction. Every ZFF staff lives out the principles of bridging leadership. In turn, they reap the trust from partners and improvements in health outcomes.

The years she spent in ZFF made Doc Dorie—a self-confessed ‘plantita’—realize that cultivating health leaders is very much similar to raising plants. It is hard work. It entails putting in time and requires consistent habits to foster growth. Most importantly, not all endeavors would yield the expected results, but one can always set an environment where roadblocks are weeded out and people have room to grow and blossom.