IRIGA CITY –- Hundreds of sick and less fortunate patients coming from different villages of this city and two other neighboring towns in Rinconada became the recipients of a recent medical mission here which was conducted at the city coliseum from December 29 to 31, 2007.
This was reported by Dr. Merrieta N. Almazan, chairperson of the medical mission 2007, a project jointly sponsored by Lions Club International and the California based Iriga-Bicol Association of America when interviewed by local newsmen, last Tuesday.
Almazan, who is an Irigueña and chosen as one of the top 100 Filipino Women of America awardees this year explained that the activity ran smoothly as it was planned a year ago and that the beneficiaries underwent pre-screening before they finally made it to the list.
“The medical mission was intended solely for pre-screened patients which covered both children and adults from Iriga and the towns of Buhi and Baao, Camarines Sur,” according to Almazan.
During the same interview, Almazan revealed that their team also concentrated not just on clinical but also on non-clinical aspect of the medical mission aimed at helping out families displaced by the destructive typhoons that hit Bicol a year ago.
A day before they started the medical mission, members of the medical team spearheaded a tree planting activity at the foot of Mt. Iriga not far from the Gawad Kalinga (GK) housing project site at Perpetual Help village, this city.
Apart from her appreciation for the group’s endeavors Mayor Madelaine Alfelor-Gazmen also expressed optimism that other important projects being planned by Almazan’s group would materialize soon.
Despite their gesture of generosity, some American surgeons who came all the way from the US reportedly lost an estimated 600 dollars and other personal belongings which they left behind inside their rooms at Hotel Emelie, in Baao, during the medical mission.
Shortly after the incident was reported to Baao, PNP, the medical team moved to another hotel in the same town without paying a single amount for their short stay at said hotel. The management is expected to release its official statement on the issue, within this week, according to reports.
