We want to thank you all for your hard work, sacrifice, and commitment to help improve the lives of so many impoverished Filipinos in Romblon and Batangas. Romblon is a beautiful place. It is an island province made up of 7 islands in the middle of the Philippines. We were in the largest island, Tablas, and the largest hospital, Odiongan Provincial Hospital. The experience and observations we had confirmed the findings of the 1 day mini-mission in this same site last year. It is the most depressed area we have visited and the impact of our medical mission was clearly visible. As opposed to places we have been in Luzon, the island province of Romblon lacks BOTH manpower and resources. Congressman Madrona told us that improvement of the health care is a priority, and he is working hard to attract doctors to his island province. The need was more of procedural services such as surgery (major and minor), dental (fillings, hygiene, extractions), and eye care. The people were relatively healthy with only a few respiratory problems compared to other sites near cities in Luzon. There was also a need for wellness education and preventive care. Although the number of our volunteers was fewer, we were still able to treat 2,164 patients over 5 days and our eye team will return in March to do cataract surgery and placement of intraocular lenses in 100 patients. After the mission in Tablas island, we also visited the capital city on Romblon island and its district hospital. The capital city of Romblon (island) is more accessible to the other islands and the hospital, although smaller, is better designed for a major medical mission.
The medical missions of 2009 were definitely needed. Not just by the people we had the privilege to serve, but also by the volunteers who may have felt some loss of purpose. These missions help validate our belief that we do make a difference and everyone is equally important in their roles of helping those who are less fortunate. We hope you continue to support the mission and its goals.
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