TVIRD, Maple Tree Foundation hold med mission in isolated Muslim island
On their faces were etched scarcity and isolation. The long orderly line of women, children and the elderly who came to avail themselves of free medical services manifested years of neglect and poverty that these people, all residents of Balagonan, have been enduring. Shy yet cordial, they are all Muslims from the Tausug, Kolibugan and Samalnon tribes. Initially with tentative smiles, they soon warmed up to the members of the all-Christian medical mission sent here in Panubigan, a sub-village of Balagonan, by TVI Resource Development (Philippines), Inc. (TVIRD) and the Maple Tree Foundation for Mountain Communities (MTF). Before the day ended, a bond has developed between the residents and members of the mission (click here to watch Panubigan Medical Mission video clip).
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In top photo, TVIRD consultant Dr. Romulo Caballero checks a Muslim child. Middle photo shows Balagonan islanders queuing to avail themselves of free medical care, a rarity in this remote village. In bottom photo, members of the TVIRD-Maple Tree Foundation medical mission disembark on the shores of the fishing village of Sitio Panubigan, Barangay Balagonan, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte.
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Balagonan, an island village, is one the most isolated and depressed of the 26 barangays of Siocon, host municipality of the TVIRD Canatuan copper-zinc mining operations in Zamboanga del Norte. According to Mercy Jaug, an officer of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development, Balagonan residents are wanting of health services, owing to the island’s distance to the town proper and to the lack of government funds.
“I had to wake up early to prepare my children for checkup and treatment here,” said Elma Abdullah, 32, who came to see the mission with all her seven children in tow. “Two of my kids have dry cough and slight fever. I am sure they need vitamins because they are sickly.”
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Above, Elma Abdullah, 32 year-old resident of Balagonan, is profuse in her thanks for the attention given by members of the mission to the health needs of her seven children. Below, Dr. Florante Sandoval performs tooth extraction procedure on a local resident. During the whole-day mission, a total of 600 residents were examined, treated and given free medicines and vitamins.
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The Abdullahs were among the 600 Balagonan residents who benefited from the medical mission. Elma narrated their difficulties in not having a doctor in the island to attend to their medical needs, especially when someone in the family is sick: “Siocon has no hospital and it is not easy to bring our sick family members to Zamboanga City. We have to have lots of money for the fare, for the doctor’s fees, and for the sky-high cost of medicines. We have to spend money for our food when we’re in the city. We simply could not depend solely on our relatives in the city because we do not want to abuse their kindness.”
The Balagonan village chief, Barangay Chair Berting Inding, affirmed Elma’s dilemma: “Most often I have to spend my own money so that my constituents could get access to medical care. We have to travel for 8 hours by boat just to bring our sick to the hospitals in Zamboanga City. Our difficulties are compounded when the weather is not good and the seas are very rough.
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In left photo, Dr. Ramil Ignacio checks one of the many children from Panubigan who came for health check up at the medical mission. At right, father and child wait for their turn.
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“Just last week, I had to spend P8,000 (approx. US $186) because a constituent had a hard time in delivering her baby. For the safety of mother and child, I brought them to a hospital in Zamboanga City. You can just imagine how much I would be spending in a month if many in our village will need to be hospitalized at the same time,” he added.
The medical mission in Balagonan was personally sought by Inding himself through Noelle Nazareno, Senior Program Officer of TVIRD’s Community Relations and Development Office (CReDO), who immediately secured the approval of the company’s management team in Canatuan. Nazareno was also able to obtain a partner in the MTF in this mission.
CReDO conducted 10 medical missions in as many villages of Siocon last year, and an additional five missions this year. In all missions, CReDO brings in doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists and medicines, all for free, to the beneficiary communities. “This is TVRD’s way of helping the poor in villages where medical services are out of reach,” Nazareno said.
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Noelle Nazareno, Senior Program Officer of TVIRD’s Community Relations and Development Office, reads the message of Dianne James, a Trustee of the Maple Tree Foundation, one of the co-sponsors of the Panubigan medical mission. In her message, Ms James thanked students of the Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta for contributing funds for this effort.
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To get to Balagonan, the medical mission traveled more than 30 kilometers of rough roads from Canatuan to reach the coastal village of Matiag, where the mission boarded on motorized boats. During the whole-day activity, a total of 600 residents were examined, treated and given free medicines and vitamins. Over 100 residents underwent tooth extraction, while some 40 were given free haircut by TVIRD’s security personnel.
Towards the end of the activity, Nazareno read an e-mail message from Diane James, an MTF Board trustee, to the Balagonan residents: “MTF would like to thank the students of Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and TVIRD (especially the TVIRD team that is here today) who have made the funding and logistics of this medical mission possible. We are grateful to all who have come together today to help provide the residents of Balagonan the much-needed services of the dedicated medical team that are here. We wish you all good health today and in the future,” the email said.
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Balangonan Barangay Captain Berting Inding. He says that because Siocon has no hospital, Balangonan residents have to travel for 8 hours by boat just to bring their sick to the hospitals in Zamboanga City. “Our difficulties are compounded when the weather is not good and the seas are very rough,” he adds.
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Visibly moved by the message, Inding said it is “so touching to know that they care for us even if they do not know us personally. In behalf of the people of Balagonan, I wish to thank Maple Tree and TVIRD for conducting this mission. It has somehow lessened the burden that we have been experiencing for a long time. We hope that the team will come back,” he said with a big smile. Medical missions in Panubigan are rare – about once in every three years, around election season.
“This medical mission came at the right time,” Jaug said. “Our hospital in Siocon is still under construction and the only assistance that we could give to people in remote communities like Balagonan is financial support, mainly for their transportation expenses.”
Before leaving the island, the mission, composed of doctors Ramil Ignacio, Art Luspo, Romulo Caballero – TVIRD physicians and consultants — and Patty Ben Abu of the Siocon Rural Health Unit; dentists Edera and Florante Sandoval; as well as TVIRD Senior Nurse Lois Esnane thanked the residents for their warm reception. The mission also thanked the military personnel who provided security people for their support as well as the group of Matiag village Chair Pinsiaw Salam who prepared the motorboats used for the mission.
Happy with the thought that they served a village in need well, the members of the mission left Panubigan waving goodbye to the island residents, most of whom waved back. New friendships, no doubt, were forged that day. Friendships that clearly transcend races, creeds and persuasions. (Lullie Micabalo)
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Members of the joint TVIRD-MTF Medical Mission pose for photo souvenir after the day-long activity at Panubigan that served the health needs of around 600 residents. “This medical mission came at the right time,” Mercy Jaug, an officer of the Siocon Municipal Social Welfare and Development unit, says.
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