Samaritan's Purse is taking medical care to typhoon survivors in remote areas of the Philippines
Lucia Lam was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has worked with many Filipinos in both places but never imagined she would move to the Philippines to until Typhoon Haiyan. She is working with Samaritan’s Purse as a general program manager.
The Samaritan’s Purse medical team in the Philippines is conducting mobile clinics in remote areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Most of these places do not have their own clinics or hospitals, and most people are too poor to afford traveling to town to seek treatment.
I helped when our medical team lead was sick for a few days. On the first day, we traveled to a small village in the municipality of Basey. Upon arrival, we set up our mobile clinic in the small town hall.
People from all over the area went to the mobile medical clinic to receive care.
Anenacita, pastor of the village’s only church, helped with setup and repeatedly thanked us for being there. She said she hoped the medical clinic would return.
“If people are sick, they have to go to Basey,” she said. “It’s a 30-minute ride and costs 50 pesos each way. Many people do not have money.”
On the second day, the medical team traveled to Eastern Samar to serve in two villages in Hernani.
After one of our nurses shared a Scripture message to start the session, Terasita Harbaga requested a Bible. She said hers, among other things, was washed out by the storm.
Some of the areas where the mobile clinic is going are extremely remote, like this village on the edge of the river.
“The water came above door level … all our furniture [was] destroyed,” she said. “The only thing left [was] the clothes we’re wearing.”
Then, more people started asking for Bibles. Most of them attend one of the Christian churches in town.
The following day, Pastor Samuel Aberia brought along four other pastors and church leaders from the community to volunteer at the clinic. Pastor Samuel is from World Harvest Fellowship, an Operation Christmas Child partner church. He’s now a recipient of a box of Bibles through our church assistance program.
The next two days, we set up mobile clinics at Church of the Nazarene in the nearby town of Borongan with the help of around 10 volunteers from the church. On the first day, the clinic was open to everyone in the community. On the second day, the clinic conducted check-ups for almost 200 children.
Please pray for the medical team and volunteers as they continue to travel to remote villages to set up mobile clinics and offer physical and spiritual care.
