Cebu Medical Mission 2012 Report Objectives of the trip

• To lead a team of five youths to serve a poor community overseas (by providing training and mentoring). • To provide medical consultation and services for the villagers of barangays Poblacion, Talisay, Pooc, Okoy and Balidbid. • To explore the possibility of a sustainable project to improve the health and economy of the villagers of Santa Fe. Organisation of the trip • At the request of two SMU students and their church friends who had a heart to serve the poor in an overseas

community, LCD facilitated a trip to a poor community in the Philippines.

• Marisol, who has volunteered several times on LCD’s overseas team, suggested we help Santa Fe, an economically disadvantaged municipality on Bantayan Island, of Cebu.

• Prior to the trip, Marisol, the team coordinator for this trip, introduced two groups to LCD – Rotary Club of Cebu Fuente

and Paglaum (which means ‘Hope’ in Cebuano). Marisol shared that the 2 groups were interested to help the communities of Santa Fe.

• Separately, Pat linked up with Agape Rural Program (ARP) to get two experienced community development doctors to

join us for the trip. • The team was made up of the facilitating team:

o Pat – team leader and lead trainer o Mary – team logistics and training support o Marisol – team coordinator

And the team members who requested for the trip to be organised: o Shermin Teh o Daryl Tay o Samuel Lee o Michelle Wong o Joseph Tan

• The five team members suggested to raise funds from family and friends to meet the expenses for this trip, including

those for the medicines and medical supplies. • Five sessions of half-day training were done for the team, comprising of inculcating teamwork, understanding

personalities and culture differences, operations of a clinic and 2 sessions were conducted by our guests, Dr Angela and Siew Cheng, on the expectations of volunteering for a medical mission.

• This is the first time that LCD will be sending a team of medical professionals and youth volunteers to provide much-

needed medical services to Santa Fe, with the intention of helping them to improve their basic quality of life. According to a Cebuano, Santa Fe is one of the poorest municipalities in Cebu Province as it is on the island of Bantayan and therefore less accessible. With a population of 30,000 people, the village has only one medical doctor whom many cannot afford. As with all our other community development projects, LCD hopes to continue our involvement in Cebu beyond this trip and build lasting relationships with the Santa Fe villagers so that this first trip may grow into a sustainable project.

• During LCD’s recce trip on 16-18th March 2012, Pat and Mary witnessed the level of poverty of the villagers. Many live in houses made of scrap materials. Our hearts went out especially to the villagers of barangays Okoy and Balidbid, as these two barangays seemed to be the poorest.

• Less than two weeks before the trip, the five team members who requested for the trip to be organised, decided to

withdraw for personal reasons. • In order to have sufficient help for the trip, LCD conducted last minute recruitment by reaching out to friends and

organisations such as Crisis Relief Singapore. We managed to recruit one more team member, Mr Duc Nguyen.

Census of Cebu Medical Clinics (number of patients served)

Adults Pediatrics

2nd of May 94 109

3rd of May 121 107

4th of May 160 218

SUBTOTAL 375 434

TOTAL 809 Day 1 – 30th of April 2012, Monday Pat and Mary of LCD spent the first day at Cebu on: • Meeting our partners from Paglaum, Marina and Inday • Meeting our partner from Agape Rural Program, Dr Cora • Purchasing medical and non-medical supplies which we had not ordered through Dr Rowena • Meeting our partners from Rotary Club of Cebu Fuente, Cristina and Mary Anne During the meetings, we had a clearer picture of what each partner’s roles were. Also, we discussed with our partners, they suggested to us that we were overcharged for the medical supplies ordered through Dr Rowena. In light of the situation, we resolved to reduce the overall price of all the orders made through Dr Rowena. Day 2 – 1st of May 2012, Tuesday After breakfast, we set off to Bantayan Island, which is a 3-hour car ride and 1-hour boat ride away from Cebu city. At 1pm, we arrived at Hoyohoy Villas, our accommodation on Bantayan Island. The owner of Hoyohoy grew up on Bantayan Island, and she had the heart to serve the poor in her community. Knowing that LCD would help to serve her community, she kindly offered us to stay at her resort at a highly discounted price, during a peak season. We spent the rest of the day: • Meeting the local doctor, Dr Rowena, to lower the overall price of the medicines. LCD was thankful that we managed to

bring the price down with the help of Mary Anne and Dr Cora. • Meeting the local midwives and health officers who would be helping us at the clinics. • Packing the medicines for the clinic. We took a picture with the team, consisting of our partners and the local health workers.

Day 3 – 2nd of May 2012, Wednesday First day of the clinic was for the villagers of barangay Poblacion. The setup was smooth, and the venue (multi-purpose sports hall) was large and well ventilated. The ladies of Paglaum helped with some of the logistics and provided snacks for everyone helping at the clinic. The rotary club set up a corner where patients could be entertained and have health education while they were waiting. The members of the Rotary Club of Cebu Fuente left the following morning. Under LCD, Pat was the clinical director, and she ensured that the overall operation of the clinic was smooth. Mary helped with taking photographs, but focused mainly on learning to run the pharmacy by familiarizing with the medicines. Duc was the photographer for the day. By the afternoon, we managed to serve over 200 patients.

Day 4 – 3rd of May 2012, Thursday Second day of the clinic was for the villagers of barangays Talisay and Pooc. The venue provided was the barangay hall, which consisted of a sheltered stage and a basketball court. The chapel was right beside the barangay hall. We did the initial setup as – the consultation area was on stage, the registration and waiting areas were on the basketball court, and the pharmacy was in the chapel. Three lessons learnt: 1) Pat observed and suggested to the local villagers, that the tents should be shifted to allow a better flow of the clinic. 2) For the convenience of older patients who had difficulties going up the stage, Dr Cora’s consultation desk was shifted to

the basketball court. 3) The items in the pharmacy should be arranged in alphabetical order, resulting in greater efficiency for the medicine-

dispensing process. By 1pm, we managed to serve over 200 patients. In the afternoon, Inday kindly offered to bring the team on a tour around the island. We visited a few attractions – Octong Cave, a mangrove swamp, the oldest parish Catholic Church in the Philippines, and Kota Park in Madridejos. More importantly, the drive around the island also allowed us to see the disparity among different barangays.

 

Day 5 – 4th of May 2012, Friday  

Third day of the clinic was for the villagers of barangays Okoy and Balidbid. Having gained some experience from the first two days of clinic, the team was excited to take up more patients for the third and last day of clinic. The patients who came seemed poorer, deducing from the clothes they wore. The patients came much faster then those of the previous two days, as many families were big i.e. having 6 to 9 children each family. Most of the children who came had malnutrition, which could be a result of the families’ financial incapability to provide sufficient food for their huge families. Despite the grueling heat and the spike in the number of patients who came compared to the previous two days, the team, including the local health officers, displayed good spirit by enduring to the end of the clinic. By 1pm, we had seen close to 400 patients.

At 5pm, LCD and the doctors of ARP returned to Cebu city, arriving at the Summit Circle Hotel at around 8pm. After dinner, the team from LCD said our final goodbyes to Dr Cora and Dr Sharon, as they were leaving early on the following morning. To view more photos, you may visit the Santa Fe, Cebu medical mission Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/SantaFeMedicalOutreach.