By Gregorio C. Taag
“Adda lako yo nga cedula?” An older man peeped inside the La Trinidad Municipal Gym wanting to secure one.
I answered, “awan manong, sabali iti adda ditoy.”
And he answered back,”apay awan cedula yo? Anya nga iti adda ditoy?”
I ushered him to come in and explained that one of the concerns of this Medical Mission was also to provide free check-up and screening of older males for a possible prostate cancer. He obliged and waited for the Doctor Interns to attend to him.
Previously, the morning of May 26, 2018 was uneventful when we started to fix the La Trinidad Municipal Gym for the Medical Mission 1 – Part 2. It was our experience from the Medical Mission 1 – Part 1 held a week before that people start piling up for the activity. There is still a wait-and-see attitude of people hereabouts.
At around 8AM, the volunteers led by Juvie Egsan and TCC scholars, were already half through with the set-up proposed by Dr. Ruth Taguiling, our TCC Doctor who leads our Medical Missions. She arrived around this time and we prepared her equipment for the teach-in which was usually done to explain the whole procedures and reasons for doing so.
As the beneficiaries were piling in and enlisting, we noticed that many young boys were excited and were mumbling to themselves as if wanting to rush inside for the circumcision already. The women exuded a more comfortable aura as they sat down on the chairs we arranged for the short lecture. There was a hushed silence that followed.
Then Dr. Ruth blurted out over the microphone, “mano iti agpakugit? Saan kayo mababain ta mayat daytoy;” she said as she was calming unfounded fears from some younger boys. She also talked to the women about the breast and cervical cancer incidences in the country; how to detect and avail of such check-up and screening.
While the doctors were busy with the activities, a Pangasinense woman entered the gym with her bayong and moving from table to table showing her calasiao puto. Many were moved by her gesture coupled with her sob story and ended up being screened too. After Dr. Ruth was done with her part, she called for the woman and bought two packs. She learned from her that she was the sole bread winner of the family – her husband being sickly too. He does menial carpentry works but it isn’t enough so she buys the calasiao puto worth P500.00 and brings them here to Baguio, sell it, and if consumed, she looks for her ‘sideline’ washing dishes at a nearby restaurant. Dr. Ruth shared this story while we were evaluating the activity.
All in all, there were 18 women who underwent the procedure and 15 young boys circumcised. The OB-GYNE team led by Dr. Ruth was composed of Doctors Diana Bandong, Stefanie Belmes, Jamailah Rafael, Ralph Santoile, Dan Tabago, Armina Teodoro, Novilyn Villanueva, and Valerie Tumaliaun. The ‘Tuli Group’, as called by Dr. Ruth, was also led by Dr. Darwin Henry Galuba, and ably assisted by Drs. Ariane Hazel Sanchez, Jerah Angway, and Cristina Marrero.
Meanwhile, as were removing our equipment and fixing the gym, the older male who wanted to buy his cedula came up to us and thanked us profusely.
“Salamat ta inmayak ditoy. Gapo iti cedula ket na-check up ak ket mapanak to kano idiay clinic ni Dr. Galuba.”
These vignettes are not merely sob stories or incidentals but these happen for a reason.
Thank you everyone for the help, especially TCC- Philippines, TCC- Finland, TCC-Israel, and TCC-Montreal. Because of you, we were able to realize one of Project Takkay’s activities.
THE CORDILLERA CONNECTION 