When It’s All Been Said And Done (Part Two)

It was early in the evening when we arrived at Caticlan. We stayed at the rest house of Tita Beth’s family (Actually, it’s Tita Beth Dingle’s “clan-ic” community. Hehehe… To the extent that, almost everybody that lives there is very close to there family. How territorial! Hehehe... Anyway, thank you po, Tita Beth). The whole stay was so great. Though the house is limited of rooms to accommodate us, we enjoyed sleeping together and do our side-by-side sleeping technique (Come on! We’re so close now. I mean very close, literally. Hehehe... We almost exchange faces with each other). But thank God, we survived the “sleeping-adaptation challenge”, as I call it. It’s so hard to sleep on the floor even though we have a thin mattress to support our backs; it’s still painful, considering my “scoliosis” (Lumbo-sacral Case----it’s fatal. I’ll talk more about this in another entry). Anyway, God gave us a “goodnight sleep” while we were there.

Moreover, we woke up very early to have our morning devotions with our assigned small groups. Of course, morning routines wouldn’t be complete without taking a bath first before anything else. Surprisingly, I didn’t know that there are only two available bathrooms for all of us. Thank God, Ptr. Beni came early to us with a good news; that there are bathrooms being offered by our neighbors. So I eagerly went to the house Ptr. Beni referred. I met the owner of the house and talked to them first (Siyempre kailangan munang chika-hin para maging “close” sila. Anyway, I enjoyed having a conversation with them. I just forgot their names. You know, I’m not good at names. Hehehe…). In short, I had a good bath plus I gained more friends. As I remember, we talked about Philippine Politics because they know that I’m taking up Law; and I really love talking about such topics. After taking a bath, I was struck with a question, “Ano ka ba ‘Pro-’ or ‘Anti-‘Gloria?” (Kamusta naman ang mga ganung tanong pagkatapos mong maligo?! Hehehe…) Of course, for me, that question is not hard to answer. It’s just that sometimes people ask questions to gauge another person of his disposition on that matter. And sometimes, they just want secure that the person they’re asking is one of them. So without hesitation, I answered, “Anti-Gloria po ako.” They were astonished and shocked with my answer. Then I turn around the table and ask them the same, “Bakit ano po ba ang ‘stand’ niyo?” They immediately and confidently answered that they are Pro-Gloria. Now I know why they reacted that way to my answer. (Pero naalala ko sa kanila ang bahay at nakikiligo lang ako dapat akong makipag-compromise this time. Hehehe…) I supported my answer with a statement telling them that Gloria has been a ‘good’ president too. (Hehehe… Come on! Kelangan ito kung gusto ko pang makaulit sa kanila.) Then, I shifted the topic through inviting them to join us and support our Medical and Dental Mission. They eagerly agreed with that matter. (Thank God for a ‘saving grace’. Hehehe…)

Furthermore, the whole three-day Medical and Dental Mission is very successful. There had been a massive circumcision that was led by Doc Jay (though he is not yet licensed) together with his ‘surgical team’, the “Tulisans” (tuli=circumcision; -san=pseudo-practitioners), gathered and did the task of welcoming young boys to adulthood. The “Tulisans” were Ptr. Richard (graduated at UP Baguio, B.S. Biology), Gospel (2nd year, B.S. Nursing, O.L.F.U.), Philip (2nd year, B.S. Nursing, O.L.F.U.) and Kuya Marnie (graduated at Mapua, B.S. E.C.E.). Thank God! There were no records of any malpractice committed by them so far. The Medical team was also assisted by the group who took the vital signs and gave the medicines as well.

The Dental Team was headed by Dr. Rod and Dra. Ellen (They are licensed dentists anyway). I don’t know them personally but I got know them more when I was assigned to be one of their assistants. Steff and Mawhi were also a part of the team. They were the ones who wash Dr. Rod’s and Dra. Ellen’s color-coded dental tools (The greens are for Dr. Rod and the violets are for Dra. Ellen, how organized! I like it, very O.C.!) I also helped them in washing those dental tools with various blood streaks on it. I’m not really afraid of blood, I just don’t like touching them. Anyway, we survived that part. Then, I was promoted to be Dra. Ellen’s assistant. It was a pretty tough job, but I enjoyed it. I was very interested in asking Dra. Ellen for dental advises rather than the patients asking her about their situations. (Come on! It’s like a talk show featuring a dentist doing the dental necessities. Hehehe…) Here are some of our pictures during our most ‘controversial’ breaks (Hehehe…):

Si Steph, Mawhi at ako. Mag-memerienda na sana kami pero naisip namin na mag-picture muna. Bakit kaya kami nakangiti, eh naka 'surgical mask' naman kami? Hehehe...

Habang gumagawa sa Dental Team. Eto mas seryoso. Hindi na nakangiti masyado.

Pauwi na kami, kaso naiwanan na kami ng bus. Pero syempre masaya pa rin...

Si Mawhi, Sam at ako. Papunta pa lang kami sa Caticlan Health Center...

I have a very long story to tell about my most favorite task group, the Dental Team. Honestly, I really enjoyed most of the time doing the whole of the mission work with them. Considering that we’re just an auxiliary department, having the least number of members as I’ve mentioned above, together with Kuya Ronald, the forger of the dental prescription (Hehehe..), and Kenzy, assistant of Dr. Rod; we still managed to entertain and even influence the dental patients through our ‘controversial’ chit-chats about life and other aspects (i.e. love, money, family, issues, Christianity, etc. Come on! Aren’t they familiar?!). As in, everybody’s laughing out loud! That even made the outsiders be intrigued on what’s happening in our room. Thank God, we ministered not only through a direct act but also in an indirect manner. Almost every patient asked us to join them and eat lunch with their family. Wow! How sweet! We didn’t do anything big or extravagant but I think we touched their hearts; and that made them feel secured and comfortable with us. Others thought that we were just talking about non-sense things. Thank God for He vindicated us through the good and surprising feedback of the dental patients that we served.

Some may not know the value or the impact that we had with the people of Caticlan, but I know that God never sleeps. He knows everything that we did. I don’t even care if others won’t appreciate what we’ve done. Enough of their pettifogging and gibberish criticisms, I know God is just. Though we may not play a very important role in the Mission, I believe God knows everything that we did. And we did it all for His glory alone. (Ooppss. Nothing. Steff and Mawhi knew about this matter. Hehehe...) This is not self-pity. This is a personal assessment.

Of course, this article wouldn’t end with just a bunch of stories. Again, as what I’ve said before, I had many realizations about this whole Mission Trip. And I’m excited to share some (if not all) of them as I have a series for this Mission Trip. For this Part Two I want to share the realizations I had while we were having the 3-day Medical and Dental Mission.

1. God never sleeps. Though men may not see how you work, not even the fruits of your labor, God will reveal it to them in due time.
2. In the absence of big things, small things become big to small minds.
3. It’s not important if you made others cry or laugh, it’s the reason why they do it. If it’s out of emotions or because of God’s ministrations through you. That’s the real thing!
4. PAIN is also a blessing. (I’ll discuss more about this in another post.)
5. The test of success in ministering to others is not about being remembered by them. It’s having a deeper relationship with them; and truly leading them to God’s family and that can last longer than a trip.
6. All our good works are just filthy rags compared to God’s goodness to all of us.
7. What is pity without compassion? Nothing.
8. Service is not just about giving; it’s about leading them to seek the GIVER more than the gift.
9. We can be a blessing to others directly and indirectly. We should not force something to others, because neither God forced Himself to us. It’s His love for us that paved the way for a clear option called free will.
10. God doesn’t trivialize our needs. He knows what we need them. It’s us who doesn’t know why we really need them.

Catch the last part of the Caticlan Mission Experience... Part Three will also melt your hearts! God bless!