SLIDE 1

This is an in-the-field report from my current mission trip to the Philippines.


SLIDE 2
I was invited to go to the Philippines by the same organization that I went with after the Haiti earthquake.  Initially, it was looking unlikely that I would be able to go, but it seems that the Lord opened one door after another.  Then, when that became clear, I booked a flight an in about 24 hours, I was on a series of plane flights to one of the islands in the center of the Philippines.  All told, it was about 20 hours of flying!


SLIDE 3
The occasion of my trip was superstorm Typhoon Yolanda.  It had sustained winds of nearly 200 miles per hour and gusts even higher.  Those winds tore back sheet metal as only tornadoes typically do.  Worse, the superstorm pushed water causing a storm surge of about 15-20 feet.  The shoreline in some parts near Tacloban City were essentially scoured by the rushing water.

There were warnings and many people fled.  But with confusion as to how high the storm surge would be and with people wanting to protect their homes, something over 5,000 people died.  We're not sure about the exact numbers and they are still recovering bodies even now.


SLIDE 4
Our organization (ACTS-World Relief) set up a base at the RTR Hospital in Tacloban.  Our group collaborates with other organizations and individuals.  We've have physicians, nurses, and others join us from Harvard, Colorado, and Abu Dabi to name a few.

From the hospital we have been going out on missions essentially all day long and to various locations in the city and the northern part of the island.


SLIDE 5
Mostly we have been conducting mobile medical clinics.  Fortunately, we are well supplied and pretty well organized such that we have now seen something between 4,000 and 6,000 patients.  In this disaster, we are finding a number of older skin wounds many of which are infected.  We are also on the lookout for signs of Cholera which is a real possibility given the mixing of sewage and rain.


SLIDE 6
One perk of this particular trip is that we are collaborating with a government relative who has let us fly on his helicopters of distant parts of the island to conduct clinics.  We have met several city mayors who give us a place in the center of the city where we start seeing patients.  Basically, they come out in droves!


SLIDE 7
As the medical director for the medical team, I have had the opportunity to represent our organization at the Philippine Ministry of Health "Health Cluster" meetings in which various national and international organizations meet three times a week to find out what each other is doing under the framework of the Ministry of Health.  It is really quite impressive how much is being done to respond to the disaster.  Although there is a lot of chaos, it is at least an organized chaos!


SLIDE 8
Today (Friday) we participated in UNICEF's mass immunication campaign.  So, we were designated one part of the district where where went to, and worked through the local leaders to call all mothers with children below age 5 to come and get vaccinated.  Needless to say, the children weren't as happy to see us as they had been during our other medical clinics.  The goal is 55,000 vaccinations over a period of four days.


SLIDE 9
Philippinos are really a wonderful people.  They are very appreciative and polite.  The kids are, of course, a lot of fun to horse around with.  We are beginning to see the local community pulling together to clear the streets of debris however, it seems as though repairs and rebuilding are going to take several years to complete.

Thanks to those who have kept me, our team, and the impacted people of the Philippines in your prayers.

Happy Sabbath.