The look...

His eyes were sunken. He stares at you longing to be healed. He stares at you looking for hope. He stares at you asking for a better life.
I did not get his full name. He told me, everybody calls him Doling. He walked 6 hours accompanied by his cousin and a friend to see us. He doesn’t have an immediate family support. He stared at me and I asked God for guidance to help Doling of his pain and suffering.

My wife Cindy, a nurse and I went to the Philippines to volunteer and help with the Carolina Medical Mission (CMM). The Carolina Medical Mission is a project of the non- profit Philippine-American Association of North Carolina, Inc. CMM was founded by Dr. Art de Leon and Dr. Fred Ng, two distinguished Filipino Medical doctors in Raleigh North Carolina. For the past 16 years, CMM group has been traveling to the Philippines with the mission of giving medical care to indigent people in the island. To date, up to 105,000+ patients have been seen and cared for by the volunteers of CMM. Doctors, nurses, dentists and volunteers from the US and the Philippines have been dedicating their time to doing this medical work since 1993, handing out medicines, performing surgeries, and touching patient’s lives throughout the Philippines.

Our medical mission in January of 2009 brought us to two places in Mindanao: Tagum, Davao del Norte and Buda, Marilog District, Davao City, at the border of Bukidnon and Davao provinces. Tagum was an hour bus ride away from the center of Davao.

In a span of two days in Tagum, our volunteer doctors performed dental services, pediatric care, major and minor surgeries, and medical consultation for 1,500 patients. It was hectic but very rewarding to see patients who don’t have access to good medical care be seen, diagnosed, and given medicine by our volunteers.
I remember a patient in Tagum who showed our doctors a self made drainage bag to collect bile from a previous gall bladder procedure done by local doctor months before. His doctor put a temporary drain planning to take it out after a week. This patient did not have the money to pay the doctor to remove the drainage, and has been carrying this “homemade” drainage bag for the past 4 months. CMM surgeons examined the patient and referred him to the Chief of Surgery at Davao Regional Hospital for further work prior to performing any procedure.

Cataract surgeries are considered routine here in the United States. Our eye surgeons performed 29 cataract cases in the course of 2 days. Patients who had the cataract surgery have smiles on their faces that just make you proud to be part of the mission. Just imagine the delight and happiness of these patients. One day they were blind and now they can see.

Barangay Buda, Marilog District is two hours away from Davao. With the cooperation of the German Doctors hospital in Buda, the mission was able to see 1,500 patients. This area is the home of the indigenous people called Lumads and Dumagats. Unfortunately, this indigenous population does not have access to good quality healthcare. The German Doctor’s Hospital is a privately run non-profit institution. All patient care and services in the hospital are free. Our presence complemented the mission of the hospitals, which is, to give free medical care and medicine to the whole populace.

I was not sure whether Doling was a Lumad or a Dumagat. He needed care. Our doctors wanted an X-ray done which the hospital did not provide. So we asked Doling to stay overnight so that an X-ray can be done in another hospital two hours away from Buda. Unfortunately he did not have relatives in the area to stay. We asked the hospital to have a bed for him together with his relatives which they happily obliged. One of our volunteers gave them money for food. The next day, the X-ray was done and the diagnosis was that Doling might have complication from TB. We were able to arrange with the local doctor for a follow-up. Now Doling has hope; hope for a better health and life.

For the past 16 years, CMM American and Filipino doctors, and volunteers have spent considerable time helping the needy in the Philippines. I truly believe that without CMM, some of the patients might not have made it. Providing quality medical care is CMM’s goal and mission. I asked one of the doctors why she volunteers year after year. She smiled and simply said “Because our kabayan (fellow Filipino) needs help.” I am glad that I made this trip. I am proud of CMM and I hope to be able to help and volunteer in the years to come.