Carolina Medical Mission 2004
By Auring & Roger Sprague, CMM Volunteers

The Carolina Medical Mission in January 2004 was probably much like other missions that had already been done, but it held special significance for my wife Auring and me…because we were part of it. The mission began January 10 and ended January 27. It would be impossible to tell about the hundreds, rather thousands, of things that took place during the mission, but Auring and I would like to try to tell about some of them. We will try to tell you a little about the work of the mission, the results of the work, our friends, the fun we had, and lasting impressions.

Work
This year we visited 3 provinces of the Philippines, some with multiple venues. They were:

• Ilocos Norte - Batac, Paoay, and Burgos (coordinator Amy Young)
• Pangasinan - Agno and Mabini (coordinator Melinda Turner)
• Palawan - Puerto Princessa all 3 days (coordinator Jocelyn Knezevich)

The work began prior to seeing patients at each location by "packaging pills." Much of the medicines brought for the mission were in bulk form and had to be broken down into smaller packages for dispensing. The medicines ranged from multivitamins and cold remedies to antibiotics. On one day and one antibiotic alone, Auring and I "packaged" more than 15,000 tablets. Everyone did this, medical and non-medical alike. All of us worked as equals. Dr. Fred Ng reminded us of this time and again.

Our day would start with breakfast at 6:00 am (sometimes earlier depending on how far we had to travel to the mission site). We would load the buses with the supplies needed for the day and depart around 7:30 am. The bus ride was accompanied by singing and a prayer or reflection led by Dr.Ot (Art de Leon).

The story of patients seen at each venue was repeated many times.

• The people were in line waiting for us by the time we arrived to begin the day of medical care. Many had traveled long distances and had been waiting since the early morning hours so that they would not miss their chance to see a doctor.
• A mother (who was maybe 20 years old?) brought her 4 or 5 children (1 nursing, 1 on her hip, and 2 or 3 trailing behind her) for medical care that had been needed for some time. The mother would see the doctor for adults, she would take her children to the pediatricians, and then all would see the dentist.
• Illnesses and physical ailments varied from coughs and colds, to worm infestation, to cataracts, to cysts and tumors. One patient treated by Dr. Ot had a cyst on her elbow. Dr. Ot and Dr. Raymond Belmonte removed the cyst using Novocain because we had no other anesthesia. They got the Novocain from Dr. Chavez, the dentist on the mission. Dr. Ot removed a cyst from one man's back without anesthesia. The patient was told that no anesthesia was available, but he said to cut it out anyway.
• One old lady who came to see us was blind because of cataracts. Dr. Sison, our ophthalmologist, was able to remove the cataracts and restore the woman's sight.
• A little boy with a cleft lip that was so bad that he had no nose was operated on to close his lip and give him a nose.
  And there were SO MANY BABIES.

Who can say enough about the doctors of the medical mission? They worked tirelessly from early morning to evening with hardly a break. The surgeons worked several times into the evening because they had so many patients to see.

There was work to do for all whether one was medically skilled or not. Those of us with no medical background assisted wherever we could be of help. My niece, who went with us, assisted in the pharmacy and assisted the dentist by holding a patient's head. I kept the patient headcount broken down by adults, children, and dental patients. We filled in whenever needed by packaging additional medication.

Results of the Work
Over the 8 days of actually seeing patients, nearly 7700 patients were treated. That is more than 900 people per day. On one day 1340 patients were attended. The numbers in patients treated (does not include major surgeries):

• Adults - 3585
• Children - 2751
• Dental - 1041
• Minor Surgeries - 53
• Referrals to local medical - 256

Our Friends
This trip was so beneficial to Auring and me in so many ways. One special way was that we made new friends of the members of the mission who were from the States and from the Philippines. We shared our days, our work, meals, and laughter. These have left us with memories we will never forget. Not only did we make new friends, but also I believe we strengthened relationships which we already had with our friends from home. By being in such close contact day-to-day, we saw each other in new (and renewed light??). God has blessed us with our friends.

Fun
I call it fun, but maybe a better word is joy. The fun we had came from the working together as a team, seeing our friends from day-to-day, and the joy of helping the poorest of the poor. We did also have a day or 2 of rest between mission venues. Sometimes it was just a day or two to us and sometimes there were group activities. The ladies always seemed to find a need to shop. Our evenings were usually dedicated to meals together. More often than not, some activity by our hosts (governor, mayor, social group) was planned for us. Our last day in Palawan was spent at Dos Palmos in swimming, canoeing, biking, and sleeping on the beach.

Impressions
Carolina Medical Mission 2004 was a wonderful trip for Auring and me. There was much that we experienced that affected us strongly and we think others of the mission were affected in a like manner. We did (all of us) make a difference, but I knew in the time we were there that it just wasn't enough. No one group could do enough for the poorest people in the beautiful Philippines.

I am struck by the resiliency of the Filipino people to endure hardship and privation, with their seemingly unending ability to find laughter and pleasure in the worst of situations, and with their ability to always have a ready smile and a thank you. I fell in love with the Philippines 30 years ago, and especially one of its people. It is even truer today. Given the available time AND money, Auring and I would like to attend the mission each year.