Olongapo City Medical Mission

I'm sooooooo sorry for taking so long to write again. I had to finish a lot of things....but because I took more than a week's rest from writing, I was able to visit and see some places that I'll be writing about soon. Today I will take you with me to Olongapo City in Zambales, Philippines, where I covered a Medical Mission :) This is not your ordinary travel entry where I will feature hot spots. I will focus more on our activity which is the health mission coverage :)


Olongapo Land Mark: Ulo ng Gapo (Head of the Elder)

A brief history of the etymology of this place: Once upon a time, according to legend, there were tribes who lived in the area that fought each other constantly. Although, there was one wise elder who did not like what was happening and did everything he could so that there would be peace but of course there were people who didn't like what he did and so one day, the wise old man disappeared and a search party was launched to search for him. All they found was a headless body but they were pretty sure it was this elder's body. They searched for the head for many days until they gave up. But a certain boy promised himself that he would find the head and searched everywhere for it until one day he finally found it on top of a bamboo pole. He ran back shouting "Ulo nin Apo! Ulo nin Apo!" or in Tagalog we would say "Ulo ng Apo" which means "The head of the elder!" until it became "Olongapo" :) whew! hope you liked that story. The picture above shows the statue/bust of the "Ulo ng Apo" or "Head of the Elder"

Last February, SM, the biggest mall chain in the Philippines (something like El Corte Ingles in Spain), opened and this was their first Medical Mission for the people of Olongapo and other Neighboring areas).
It was a 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive there via the North Luzon Expressway or NLEX. Weather was not good because according to weather forecasts, there was a storm coming. The rain came and go but the sky was dark which was very conducive for sleeping especially during long trips. Here's our Audio Man sleeping all wrapped like a baby with glasses ;)
 I have been covering SM Foundation Medical Missions via the Public Service show on local television Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko, for 2 year already. This is not the first mission I covered, but this is the first Medical Mission I am writing about. When we arrived there, the Medical Mission already started. The volunteer doctors were already doing their free consultations
 Every medical mission for me is a learning experience because not only do I get to go to different places in my country, but I get to interact with people from different walks of life. I was not able to take a picture of a man I interviewed who came despite the weather, who came for a check up because he was feeling sharp pains in his chest. Also, our indigenous Aeta brothers and sisters who came from faraway areas neighboring Olongapo City who also came for the free health services.
 Our Camera Man started filming everything he can film including the people who were seated, waiting for their turn to be checked by the doctor, the eye check up, blood pressure and blood sugar test, and x-ray.
 A Picture with some of the Residents and Health Workers, our Director Ms. Shirley, and our SM Foundation Staff, Aunt Rorie :)

 From the location of the mission, you can see the Subic Yacht Club :)  You can already see, the sky was starting to act up. The rain poured with strong winds but eventually stopped.

 After the consultation from the doctor, a prescription was given and they can now claim the free medicines as prescribed.
 we were given free lunch (Volunteer and the crew)...breaded pork chop with gravy , and deep fried Chicken intestines and pork rinds or what we call the Chicharron for desert :)

Mr. Henry the X-ray Technician and the Mobile Clinic Driver. This is the mobile clinic they bring along with them to give free X-Ray and ECG :) 

After the medical mission we finished shooting our Intro and Extro spiels outside by the facade of SM City Olongapo ;) 

 I kept on screwing up my lines and i felt bad....but I am very thankful to Ms. Shirley and the crew for being very patient with me...


                   and they just goofed around with me a bit so that I can relax and remember my lines :)


 ...and finally a picture with 2 of my favorite crew. Mr. Wil the Audioman and Mr. Gardo the Camera Man :) They're very professional and very warm people that I enjoy their company when they're the ones assigned to join us during medical mission coverages :)

I have more pictures taken by Mr. Lito, photographer from Daylite Studios who came to cover the Medical Mission through Photos. We went there for the TV coverage, Mr. Lito went there for the photo coverage :) I am going to ask permission from him if I can use his pictures. I will post a more thorough medical mission entry soon :) thanks for reading!! :)

2 Response to "Olongapo City Medical Mission"

  1. Adam says:
    June 15, 2012 at 7:56 PM

    great work you'll do

  2. mintmochaformimi says:
    June 16, 2012 at 2:25 AM

    Thank you Adam! :)

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