Hi all.
Haven't bothered to post on the general board for a year or more, as I got tired of the immovable left wing / right wing arguments on here, that go around in circles. I decided to post something today, for those who wonder about the intentions of people who travel to, and retire in the Philippines.
I have a mate who lives in Angeles City, about 1hr north of Manila, heavily involved in the Angeles Branch of the RSL, who recently invited me to lend a hand with the RSL medical mission, which is undertaken once a month here. The city has a population of around 350,000, and is well known as the home of Philippines "Bar Girls", and truth be told, there is not much else here as far as western interest goes, apart from sightseeing on the very closely situated Mt Pinatubo Volcano, and Subic Bay, about 65km away. Philippines has some absolutely amazing places to visit, and they all very cheap to get to, once you are here, but that's a story for another time.
Today was mission day.
It involved around 30 western volunteers. Mostly retired Australians, and Americans, and surprisingly, less than half of them actual returned servicemen, as most of those guys, even the Vietnam Vets, are now patay (deceased, in Tagalog, the local language). There were also around 50 local "volunteers", although that term is used loosely, as most are pressed into service by the local Mayor (there is a Mayor of each different section of the city - hard to explain), and chiefly for political gain, as the local elections are nearing.
3 Australians, including myself, arrived at 6am, at the local basketball court, which, as per local standard, is fully roofed, as it rains here often. After a 2hr setup period, where we were eventually assisted by a few very enthusiastic, and underpaid locals, we were ready to start taking our first "customers"
Only one doctor was in attendance. An Australian expat doctor who was donating his time. The 2 Filipino doctors who promised to attend were unfortunately unable to. I'm told its normally hit and miss for the local doctors to attend when the work is unpaid. Today we had none. The nurses on the other hand, turned up in the promised numbers, and you could set your watch by their punctuality. There was even a delegation from a local Catholic College (university) who were receiving credits on their studies, to do a report on a non government, non national, not for profit agency. It was a pleasure to see them embrace the mission like it was a privilege, not a chore. Delightful young ladies.
The process involved us cordoning off several separate areas.
A Registration area, where volunteers would take down the details of the people being attended to by medical staff.
A waiting area - obvious
A "consultation" area, for the doctors and nurses, where drugs would be prescribed.
A Distribution area, where the drugs would be gathered, as per prescription.
A checking station, where the drugs would be compared with the prescription list.
A worming station
.....and a goddam loud speaker announcer, who I wished someone would shoot.
In Philippines, it is normal for nurses to (loosely) diagnose and prescribe, so the doctor shortage wasn't a game breaker for us. Kudos to the Aussie doctor, who was regularly seen to gently berate the nurses, who tend to over prescribe drugs. He was a gem.
The drugs were simple stuff for us, the things we would consider everyday items. Various strengths of antibiotics, Salbutamol anti Asthma medications, Anti Bacterial/Anti Fungal creams, liquid Paracetamol, Multi Vitamins etc. But for the locals, they are sometimes unobtainable, as the prices, while relatively cheap by our standards, are VERY expensive when compared to the local salary, of between 50 - 200 pesos per day. ($1.45 - $5.80 per day AUS). Many of the families in attendance would have zero income, and rely on extended family/friends for charity.
Every single child was given at least 2 x 60ml bottles of Multi Vitamins syrup, as the local diet is almost exclusively meat and rice, 2 or 3 times a day. Not good. The smaller, tiny kids were given 3 bottles, as the staff could clearly see that they were stunted. The other medications were prescribed after a very brief chat with the medical staff, in a cluster of maybe 12 tables, with no dividers for privacy. The parents/carers would simply sit down and try to get as many free things as possible. I'm not trying to suggest anything untoward here. The majority of parents simply wanted to get medications that they could not otherwise afford.
Other services were offered, at huge cost to the RSL. It was my first time to do this, so you could imagine that I was very excited when an older woman, about my age (late 40's) approached me, and asked if i could remove the cataracts from her eyes. She was struggling to look at me, and explained that she only approached me, because she could tell from my size, and aftershave, that I was not a local guy. I had great delight in taking her to a registration table, where a very happy Aussie guy took her details, and began to arrange a free operation, that would inevitably change her life. The woman took my hand, held it to her forehead, to "bless" me, through her tears. Amazing experience.
We had 4 standard wheelchairs ready for donation, although none were needed today, which I'm told was unusual. 2 kids were brought forward with severe disabilities, who required customised chairs. I was feeling bad for them, until the aforementioned happy Aussie guy advised me that the RSL had many chairs ready for customisation, back at the local headquarters, a local hotel owned by an aussie guy, who provides 2 rooms free of charge, for exclusive use of the charity missions. I asked about the process, and was subsequently drafted into the customisation process, which is this coming Tuesday. The kids and carers are picked up for free, and transported to the hotel, where their measurements are taken, and the chair built around them. I was warned that volunteers for this process are hard to find, as the chair usually needs to be built and dismantled several times, until a correct fit can be achieved. I'm currently unemployed, after taking a redundancy back in May, so the time is free, meaning no problems there.
Two cleft palate candidates were also presented. Their details were taken, and I am told they would be assessed by the Doctor, for referral to either the local clinic, or, more likely, a fully funded trip to India, where the cleft would be repaired.
Although the RSL name is used, I was advised that NONE of the money used is from an Australian branch. It is 100% Philippines sourced, by way of expat group donations, private individual donations, or local fund raising efforts. After todays mission, my Filipina wife and I attended the raffle night, at Angeles Cities "Phillies" bar and restaurant, where a small amount was raised, around $120 AUS, by raffling giveaways from the local girlie bars. Drink vouchers, bus travel vouchers, and other assorted bar giveaways. Small money, but as they say, every bit helps, and the guys involved are very passionate about every single peso that they can raise for local charities.
It was a wonderful experience, and one that I will repeat monthly, until I can find work. I found it immensely satisfying on a personal level, and found it to be a eye opener, into the lives of people who would otherwise be viewed in disparaging terms by the unknowing. Overall, after 4hrs of consultations, exactly 930 kids were examined, and prescribed drugs, less than half the number I was told to expect.
There were a few negative point to the day also, that I am happy to expend on if asked, but I would prefer the first post to reflect the positive side of the day. Actually, they were some of the more interesting parts of the day, if politics is your thing.
I apologise for the long post, and also my spelling, which I have run through Filipino spellcheck in parts, but its American English. After we packed up, itself a 3hr process, we attended the raffles, and had a celebratory drink.....or 4.
faulty.......
I took some pics, but my pc wont allow me to upload, so if you are interested, I have attached the website of the Angeles RSL, who assure me that the 2 million pics that were taken today, would be uploaded soon.
http://rslangelescity.com/new/
