I entered into this mission trip not knowing what my role would be. It was really cool that I got to perform many different roles. Remember, I have NO medical background. I bought myself some scrubs, and I was hoping for the best.
Yes, I wore a stethoscope, carried lots of things in my pockets, and strangers called me "Doctor." Clearly, no one could read my name tag that said, Volunteer, after my name. LOL.
I performed pharmacy duties. One of our rules we had to follow with the Philippine government was that we had to buy our medicines there. We could not bring them with us. So, once we were there, and the meds were purchased, we had to bag and divide them into dispensable portions. Really, we didn't have a large variety of prescription medications to dispense. The main things we filled scripts for were penicillin, cough and cold medicines, and vitamins. In the United States, I thought most people were allergic to penicillin. What is up with that? Maybe I am misinformed, but I don't think I have one family member that can take penicillin.
Here is our daily drive to the hospital. I don't see many lines on the road here. When I did see lines on the road, they were merely a suggestion.
Check out the flower arrangement on the dashboard. Nearly every night they had a banquet for us. Somehow, we ended up with an extra arrangement, and we thought we would encourage our bus driver by providing him an enhancement for his driving view. The traffic time to and from the mission was great bonding time for our group.
And here is Neo, he was in charge of attitude adjustment. He has been involved with these missions for more than several years. A local guy, who works with this group, he seems to read minds. I took him up on this offer at the end of a long day. There was no wine. My options were few.
How cute is this little girl? She doesn't look sick. She seems happy, and she is clean. Absolutely precious. Darling. She wouldn't stop smiling. She was very typical of the patients we saw.
Look at this cute little girl! She is wearing her school uniform. I wanted to bring her home. These kids were beyond precious. So sweet.
Nearly every day ended with a banquet. We were exhausted. Or at least, I was. But these folks went to so much effort to entertain us. I think this was the night I provided part of the entertainment by jumping up and down around horizontal cane poles while they were being clicked on the ground. Sorry, don't have a picture of that... maybe someone else does. :) It was successful, because I didn't fall down.
We were treated royally.
