Jan 28 2016, Thursday
Today the team splits off- some to go home, others to go to see more of the Philippines, others to go to Viet Nam…..it has been an amazing experience and team. We represented Canada well and the Governor is now taking responsibility for helping us in 2019. The last word always lies with the team- thank you for your hard work – you made us proud. See you back in Canada for our reunion. Linda Knight CEO CarePartners Comments from the team: Joe: The team was very capable and strong. Thanks to all the nurses that helped in Pharmacy. The trip has been very enjoyable and look forward to the next trip. (From the team- thanks so much to you Joe and Pharmasave for all you do to support the team.) Diane: This trip is just what I needed to regain my belief that there are good people out in the world!! Great group of people on the team and the Filipino people are very appreciative of our care. Le-Anne: Another wonderful and fulfilling trip to such a beautiful country. Everyone working as a team to help those in need. I am so thankful to Linda for being given this opportunity again. We sometimes forget how lucky we are in Canada. A big thank you to Anabelle, Pablo and all their family for the support and thanks to all the translators. Anabelle and Pablo: This was my fourth medical mission, third mission trip for Pablo. The last two missions I helped organized with Linda and Sue. It was a lot of work but it's all worth it. I am so grateful that Linda gave me these opportunities not only to join the mission but also to bring the mission to my hometown. Each mission I learn and grow more as a person and a nurse. Pablo is equally thankful and grateful for the opportunity. There were cases that broke our heart but Pablo and I walk away knowing that we did our best and we were able provide some assistance. I know that the people of Jordan are very grateful for the help that they get. The sense of community in Jordan is still very strong for which I am very proud of. This team is awesome! I couldn't have ask for a better group of colleagues to work with. Pablo and I are looking forward to coming back and bringing a larger team in 2019. Sabrina: My 7Th trip. What more can I say? Another amazing, fulfilling life journey helping those in need. Thankful for working with such a wonderful, caring, hardworking team. Thank You to Anabelle, Pablo and family for all the hard work organizing this trip and to Sue and Linda as well. We have touched the lives of many people in this beautiful country and I am grateful for this experience. Cannot wait for the next trip! Carolyn: Participating in this medical mission has been an experience I will never forget. I have an even greater appreciation for the Filipino people, for their grateful hearts and for their hard work. It was a privilege to be part of this caring professional medical team. I hope that we were able to make a difference in the lives of those we treated. Jennifer: 7 days of clinics. It's such a privilege to have served in this way. To see the looks of gratitude when even a little help or relief is given is humbling and so worthwhile. To see someone be able to read with the glasses donated; hypertension diagnosed, and medication given in hopes of preventing a stroke or heart attack; help with insomnia given to a woman suffering from stress and grief because her husband was murdered in December. There are so many stories to tell........an honor to have worked with this wonderful Medical Team here in the Philippines! Lilian: This was my second mission and I am so happy to be a part of this team. We all worked so hard to help those less fortunate in this beautiful country. All of us came from different regions but we came together as one like a family and Connected with one another. This team became the power team. Thank You to Annabelle and her family for all their hard work and support in making this mission possible. We could not have done it without them. Lorna: This has been a great experience for me. Loved the patients and people of the Philippines. The entire team was so enthusiastic and caring – great to work with. Hope that I will be able to experience another adventure with everyoneJ Joana: What an incredible experience to be a part of again, with such an amazing team. I feel so privileged and honored to be here helping the beautiful people of Guimaras. A special thank you to Linda, Sue, Anabelle, Pablo and their family for making this experience so wonderful. A trip of a lifetime filled with so many inspiring moments, the ability to give back to those in need is the greatest gift I could ask for. Cannot wait for our next mission! Donna and John: We feel so blessed to have been part of the Philippines Medical team. The people we have met have blessed us both in ways we will never forget. We could not have done it without the wonderful help from the interpreters, local family and civil workers. Truly a great team. To each of our medical team members, thank-you for sharing this experience with us. To those of you who supported us back home, lots of love and thanks to each of you. We look forward to joining the team again soon! Lincoln: Well I am no longer a mission virgin. I enjoyed it immensely and the people I worked with were fantastic. The Filipino people are friendly and their food tasted so good. I ate 10 pounds of mangos during my time here. I especially enjoyed entertaining the children with magic tricks and helicopter rides. I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in such a worthwhile event and would consider doing another one in the future. P.S. where else can you get an ice cold beer for a buck? Yda May: I am very grateful for this opportunity to be part of a rewarding, and fulfilling mission to give back. I was lucky enough to be chosen to give back to my own people and the majority need medical help. Even though I am aware of this, it is still an experience that I would carry on and continue to share with others back in Canada. My goal is to encourage others to donate and possibly bring a MD or dentist to join the next medical mission in 2019. Thank you Linda for what you do, and may your company be blessed more. I met wonderful people, and built friendship, and for sure will continue to have relationship with them when I go back. Trish: My very first mission trip and I hope it is the first of many! What a wonderful team to learn from. Lots of knowledge but not afraid to have some fun along the way!! An experience I will always remember and lots of memories to take home with me. Thank you for giving me this opportunity……I would highly recommend it to anyone. I don’t think I have ever been more proud to be a Canadian!! Gloria: My first mission trip and I am very happy that I came on this trip. My job was working with Cal on glasses, the wonderful look that I see when they can read my paper gives me so much joy...I wish all my team assistants would take this trip. Thanks to the CNS team for inviting me along. Looking forward to the next trip. Alison: Very rewarding experience to help people and make a difference. Team was great to work with very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and caring. Really enjoyed going to the different villages. Loved the patients and people of the Philippines. Hope to be able to participate in another mission soon. Tiffany: Words cannot describe my experience…I am so grateful to have been part of such an amazing team. “when you are a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours” Many lives have touched mine during this journey……… looking forward to many more……Thank you. Margaret: This has been another fantastic experience. We have helped so many people. Mark has learned a new skill: Fluoride treatment for the 5-14 year old crowd. Mark: This has been one of those rare experiences when you can be told all about the trips and see pictures but you have to experience it for yourself to fully get a grasp of the magnitude of the organization and the results. The team is a well-oiled machine and it’s been an amazing experience to play a small part in it. Plus I have something new for my resume! Jean: This is my 7th medical outreach mission with CarePartners/CNS and it is always a pleasure to work with this group. The nurses and staff are always professional, compassionate, capable, and adaptable to all the changes that happen in a mission. Not only that, they are a lot of fun, what more can you ask for? Thank you to Linda for giving me and your team members the opportunity to serve in outreach, and to Sue, Anabelle and family, Mayor Chavez, and Michelle for putting all of this together. Look at the team photo, and the Canadians were only a small part. Philippines and the people are very special indeed. This was a culinary vacation. I hope I can return in 2019. Cal: Well, again I’ve proven, I’ll follow Linda anywhere. The flight is long, but the rewards are great! It puts a smile on your face, seeing a smile on their face. I felt very proud seeing our flag hung at another village each day. Enjoyed getting to know the team. I was surprised to hear that Gloria got out of the country…..lol Linda It seems like yesterday that a little nursing company started in Belgrave Ontario and grew. Now that little company is having an impact half way across the world. To see the “Welcome CNS International medical team” signs at every clinic and see the support of the mayor, governor and the people of the Philippines was so heartwarming. We have a reputation on the island now and everyone is talking about us coming back in 2019. There are so many things we are thankful for- the food, the support driving us around, the slugging the bags, all the help from Anabelle and Pablo’s family, right down to the mayor making sure he had a celebration band that played “Canadian” music on the last night. Most of all- thank you to the people who came to the clinics- waited in the hot sun to see us, and gave us the privilege of caring for them. Thank you and see you in 2019. Jan 27, 2016 Wednesday
Our last clinic day. We are in San Miguel- which is a fairly big town. Set up was in the community gymnasium – which is good as it was pouring outside. It has been overcast the last couple of days….which has been fine - a warm rain. The land is parched so they can use it. We are not used to all the space that a gym offers – so it was nice that we were covered – and the waiting patients were protected from the rain (which did get heavy at times) - but we kind of miss our rustic set ups. We had a friend of Pablo join us – who is an MD – and was a big help for this last clinic. Our hockey bag room looked very forlorn this am – every bit of supplies was packed into bags and when we leave we will be taking 48 empty bags except for personal items. We will divide it between the municipal clinic (to go to the villages) and the indigenous community which was very much in need. The clinic was steady. We have had some record hypertension problems. 240/140, 220/112- these are readings we have never seen in clinics before. It is a combination of diet (very high salt), heredity, little medical follow up and lack of ability to afford the medications. Anabelle says that diet is the biggest contributing factor. Pork is cheaper here than fish – which is ironic when it is an island. The dried fish is heavily salted and the pork is cured. Everyone uses soy sauce which contributes to the problem. We had a lot to pack up and give to the Mizhele from the mayor’s office and the aboriginal village – and with the help we had we finished clinic early. That allowed us time to empty the bags- get back to the hotel, get cleaned up and go to the Festival – dinner at the mayor’s office and then a dance. The mayor’s wife Lillbeth made us another amazing dinner – including traditional dishes like dinuguan (made from the blood and intestine of a pig), a turkey, a deboned chicken that was stuffed back into the skin and baked and black spaghetti – the sauce is made from the ink from squid, olive oil, and spices. The dessert was home-made chocolate cake, and fruit salad in a coconut cream. I feel like I am always talking about the food on this blog- but in addition to experience of the clinics, the team has been exposed to traditional Philippine food….and they have embraced it. After dinner we moved outside. The mayor’s staff had a tent set up for us and at 7:30 a wonderful band started to play that was specially chosen by the mayor for the Canadians. It was an excellent rock and roll band that played music from the 80’s. They got us all up with Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California, Money for Nothing, Pretty Woman, Lady in Red and Smoke on the Water to name a few. The old members of the team loved it and the young ones actually knew some of these songs. The Canadians showed the community that we know how to party- ha ha. Lincoln spun and twirled the ladies as we all tried to keep up with him. The Mayor, the Governor and the Congressman and their families all joined us dancing in the warm breeze under the stars. It was a very special night that we will never forget. One of the very best moments was when the Governor told us that the 15 year old girl needing the bowel reconstruction and colostomy closure was admitted to hospital today as the Governor contacted a friend who is a pediatric surgeon for help. Anabelle and I introduced her to the Governor at the aboriginal village and asked for his help and in just one day he came through for us. It will be life changing for this girl. As a team we offered to help with costs for her medications or the family to get her to appointments. The team danced till midnight (we were having such a good time the Mayor and Governor asked the band to play an extra hour). The team piled into the vehicles and made it back to the hotel as at 5:15 am they headed to Boracay for a couple of days of tourism before heading back to Canada. It was a wonderful experience and the team should be proud. We provided services to 5000 people, gave out 1000 pairs of reading glasses, pulled more than 600 teeth and gave medications to thousands of people. Looking forward to Philippines 2019 – and the Governor is going to have us cover a larger area – with more support. We will start collecting our medications and supplies as soon as we get home as we will need a lot. Linda Jan 26 2016, Tuesday
Today the team headed into the city and held a clinic at the Mayors municipal offices. They have built a brand new medical facility in Poblacion but it did not officially open until today – with a full ribbon cutting, mass and blessing. All the government leaders were there. Unfortunately, two of our dentists and doctors were also at this ceremony …which did cause some delays in the clinic. The Mayor’s assistant Mizhele went to the children’s center next door early and organized the single large room. That set up is always a problem – as hard to keep the patients flowing properly but the crowds were not big so we were able to make it work. We sent a little delegation back to the aboriginal village. That village has two nurses that have been working side by side with us. One is a midwife and the other an RN. They are the first aboriginal nurses in the village and one of them is received an award today at the mayor’s office. Most of the children in the village do not go to school- it is quite an accomplishment for these two nurses to make it through college and stay in the village to help their people. John packed all the little crocs we could find as probably 50% of the children in the village have no shoes. We also packed supplies for the palliative patient and fellow with the stroke. Jean, John and Lillian accompanied the local nurse to the village with these supplies, meds, canes, prenatal supplies and our 24 lunches for today. They provided home visits to these patients and bathed the fellow with the stroke. The aboriginal nurses plan to have regular clinics in the community center and we will be leaving supplies with them. Lilibeth (the Mayor’s wife) made us lunch. Where to begin? It was an amazing meal - soup, and pasta and potato salad and beef dishes and fish and spring rolls and an entire BBQ’s pig – with the head on – in Philippines style. It was delicious. In the Philippines “have you eaten” - is a common greeting….and food is a big part of the culture. We are constantly offered food- at the clinics by locals and the mayor’s office. After lunch- back to clinic - we saw large numbers again today – over 400 patients and 175 fluoride. We saw several extremely hypertensive patients….220/114, 220/120 – it is a serious problem here. Tonight we hosted Anabelle’s family for dinner. The hotel prepared the meal – which was a selection of our favorite dishes over the past week. It was a small thank you for all they have done to support us. Tomorrow- last clinic day….. Linda Jan 25 2016, Monday
Today the team was up early and had breakfast which was toast, eggs and a pork dish called tocino – a red coloured cured sweet pork dish – that is made with sugar and spices. Very low calorie (ha ha) – but we love it. Kind of like sweet and sour pork back home. We loaded into the Jeepney and headed to the Barangay of Boognay. We have never been to this village before….and it is in an open area with nice breezes and a small school. There are 2,126 people in this Barangay and 468 households. This is festival time on the island - celebrating the patron saints of each Barangay. We passed a parade that went on and on- with marching school bands, baton twirlers, drums…..a huge parade heading to the school grounds. The smallest of kids were involved with pom poms- to the older kids with drums- all dressed in their specific school colours. We quickly set up for clinics- we are getting really good at this. Registration had started and the village is not too big – so we managed the patients quickly and efficiently. We saw 276 patients in 3 hours plus 150 kids got fluoride in the school. We would have seen more- but two teachers were off – and when that happens – there is no replacement found. The kids in that class just don’t go that day. With the extremely high numbers we have we are nearly out of some meds again. Antibiotics, pain killers and freezing for the dentists in particular. We had planned on 1 dentist but have 3 and they are pulling close to 100 teeth a day – so this is a lot more than we planned for. Anabelle’s sister runs to the city to get more supplies….we could not manage without all this help. In the afternoon we went to Sitio Kati – which is the aboriginal village on the island. When we came to the Philippines in 2013 – this village had the greatest need and that was the case again. Next trip (2019) we have to come here first. It is a small village with just 70 homes but very poor. Only a handful of the homes have electricity. Many children do not have shoes. The village has recently been relocated when the Mayor gave them their own land and each family has their own deeded plot. It is higher up on a hill than the previous location, more breeze and more space and has its own community well. We set up in a community center that is used as for meetings, day care. There is a missionary involved with the people – a woman from Bermuda named Claire. She knows each family and we left her with some supplies and medications. We also made two home visits- one to a palliative patient who was only 43 but had uncontrolled diabetes. Tomorrow we will make another home visit and bring supplies. The other was to a stroke victim that is unable to walk and needed a general health assessment. We could have taken a whole bag of kids’ crocs just to this village. We also gave out purses to some of the women – stocked with toiletries – that were a huge hit. Thanks so much to all the nurses who sent them. There are two children from this small village that we are following from 3 years ago. A 5 year old boy who had a bowel blockage at birth and needed a colostomy that has not been closed as the family cannot afford the surgery- which if fairly simple as he can have just one surgery. The other is a 15 year old girl who was born without an anus so she has a colostomy- this is more complicated as she needs two surgeries to allow the bowel to be connected. It is critical that both these children have this surgery to allow them to lead normal lives. We spoke with the Governor who came to the site and he promised to contact a pediatric surgeon to do the surgery. We left money to help with this in 2013 and told the governor we would help for both children to have this surgery if he could ensure that the surgery proceeds. The family need help with the logistics of getting to Iloilo, having the pre op work done, then the surgery and follow up …all this costs money here and these families just do not have it. This team has become very versatile. Nursing was set up in Sitio Kati in an open air shelter. In the small community room we crammed in Pharmacy with Joe, glasses with Gloria and Cal, 2 MD’s and Allison our Nurse practitioner and Lorna our pediatric specialty nurse. Yda May and Tiffany went to a shelter with the Dentists and the fluoride set up outside- it was tight but did not take us long to get through the patients. We were joined the last two days by Dominica and Chris – a couple from Stratford. Dominica is a nurse at Stratford Hospital and Chris is an electrician. They were both a huge help and a pleasure to work with. The team loaded in the vehicles (Gloria, and Lillian in the back of the pick-up as usual!) and headed back to the hotel. Dinner tonight was at the festival in town. Then back home to get some sleep. Busy day tomorrow. Linda 23/24 Jan 2016, Saturday and Sunday
These two days have been a break for the team – as they recharge to get ready for a heavy week coming up. We have two clinics Monday, then 3 collapsed clinics Tues and Wed back to two collapsed clinics. We will be busy and are running out of a lot of things. We have ordered more meds but next time will need to figure out how to get more supplies here for the team. On Sat many of the group went on an “island hopping” tour. The boats here are very “Polynesian looking” with stabilizing arms at the sides and narrow hulls. The team swam in a cave with the bats and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Back to the hotel, dinner and then some had the energy for some Karaoke (or so I hear- lol). John and Cal went fishing with the locals – used a “ball’ of fishing line and caught 26 fish before the wind kicked up. The rest of us just stayed put with a book, the beach or catching up on emails. Sunday Most of the team was up for breakfast at 6:30 then loaded into the Jeepney and headed to the wharf to go to Iloilo for the major festival in the city. It is one of the biggest festivals with the streets blocked off, music throughout the city and the city was packed. It was hot, crowded and extremely busy. Food vendors, music, native costumes and lots of activity. The staff hit the mall – got some souvenirs and made it back to the peace and quiet of the island for a swim. The team made it to bed early- to get ready for a big day tomorrow. Linda Jan 22 2016, Friday
Today the team finished up the week of clinics with a busy day. Two clinics- in the morning we collapsed two villages (Balcon melliza and Balcon Maravilla) in a school at Balcon Maravilla. It was a busy clinic with the two villages. The local ladies kept feeding us! Rice wrapped in banana skins, salted peanuts from the island, sticky rice. The school was generous and gave us multiple rooms – which helps with flow and crowd control. We had 3 dentists and two doctors- so lots of help. At noon we had lunch which was pork, rice, mixed vegetables and our favorite- mangos. We then loaded up our bags and headed about 15 minutes down the road to Morubuan- which is a coastal fishing village- it has been there for many generations. The village sits on a 500 hectare plot of land that has been owned and passed down through a family in Iloilo. This family is now trying to develop the property – which is prime beachfront. The owner has offered the community free land to relocate higher and further from the beach – but the villagers are resisting- saying they are fishermen and this is where we need to be. It is going to be a battle as even the school is located on the property. It is hard to imagine this village gone – it is like stepping back in time….with the homes made of bamboo, storefronts, and children playing….fish drying. The village has 2,727 residents and the main employment is fishing and making charcoal. The school is in the heart of the village and where we set up the clinic. I had a chance to speak to a teacher and the school has 296 students from grades 1 to 6. School starts at 0730 and goes to 4 pm. Some students go home for lunch which is from 11 to 1. As far as class size- the grade two class has 37 children and one teacher and the grade 5 class has 59 with one teacher. All the kids are very polite courteous, well behaved. We have found the teachers do everything, cook some meals for students, clean up, pretty much anything needed. The starting salary is 18,000 Philippine pesos or about 350 per month. The school year is from June to March with their summer break being April and May. The average RN salary is 250 to 300 per month- with most being employed in a private clinic or hospital but there are some public health nurses. There is no formal Home Care- a future expansion area for CarePartners! Ha ha. The nurses, dentists (3) and our two MD’s and glasses table set up in the open air pavilion with fluoride in a classroom and pharmacy off the staff lounge. Our meds shoe boxes are becoming tattered and weak from all the opening up and tearing down the pharmacy but holding together. Our biggest challenge is the numbers. With 3 dentists we are doing 90 extractions in just a morning – which is what we used to do in a busy day. It means we are going through freezing, antibiotics and pain killers very fast and sending Anabelle’s family on repeated runs to the city for supplies. They have been a tremendous help. Mayor Chavez and the governor are asking for a team to return in Jan, 2019 – so we need to start to think about that in our schedule. We are becoming well known all over the island! We had a busy day with big numbers at both clinics….close to 800 with fluoride. Back to the hotel for spaghetti, chicken, salad, and homemade potato chips….and off to bed. Linda |