Our 2nd day in Trece Martires started with a dampner with Leander waking up feeling unwell after a bad night’s sleep. At breakfast we prayed for a smooth flowing day and a speedy recovery for Leander.
We arrived at Southville after a 30min bus ride from our hotel.
We were greeted by lots of people waiting for treatment. The wonderful support staff from Bukang Liwayway had started setting up our “surgeries” for us and we joined in to complete our clinical set up.
Each clinical session started with an evangelistic talk from the Bukang Liwayway staff followed by a couple of testimonies by the scholars. Today we had Cheryl giving an Oral Health Education talk to educate the locals on toothbrushing technique and a tooth-friendly diet. Before we started our clinical day we also gathered together with all the support staff and volunteers to pray for a fruitful day.
We saw a total of 72 medical patients and 60 dental patients for the day. We encountered a surprising number of untreated hypertensive patients in both the medical and dental clinics. Unfortunately most of them can’t afford the long term medicinal cost that is required for treatment.
Leo saw a young female patient with a growth around the thyroid that has been getting bigger the last few months. He suspected it is a form of tumour but due to lack of diagnostic means, he was unable to provide a definitive diagnosis. Due to poverty she was unable to afford further diagnostic testing, leaving both patient and Leo feeling helpless.
Our dental team was exposed to some fairly challenging situations today. Most of the extractions were routine and manageable but we were also presented with some badly broken down teeth and some big decayed wisdom teeth. Some we manage to remove with some difficulty but in a few cases we had to finish up with a less than ideal result due to the lack of appropriate instruments and equipment setup.
Highlight of the day:
We saw an 8 year old girl with a double row of lower front teeth,
something none of us has ever seen in our 29 years of dentistry.
Overall, we felt that we have accomplished a great deal today. We thank the Lord that Leander felt a lot better by lunchtime and in spite of her feeling unwell, she soldiered on to complete the day. Not only did we provide some much needed medical and dental treatment for the locals we also provided some spiritual support by praying for every patient after treatment.
