medical mission update #2

here's another update from claire (this was actually update #1 hehehehe, the previous post should be update #2)...

"Hi Claire,
Parang napuntahan ko na yata tong sinasabi mong winding roads when i went to the wake of the son of my batchmate two weekends ago. Sobrang layo at maraming sharp curves na pababa. May mga bangin pa. Nasa Rizal din kasi yung place nung batchmate ko (can't remember the name of the place but not Hala-Hala....)
Anyway, i'll join the ocular. Hiring an FX is a good idea.
Thanks Claire for coordinating this for us!

Chichi
On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 8:21 PM, Claire Chua wrote:
Hi Everyone!

Dra. Villasan called me a few mins ago to say that after her ocular inspection at Olandes, Marikina this AM, she found out that there really is NO need for medical mission there. The Health Center is very near and accessible to the residents. The parish priest confirmed that they have been receiving assitance from various sources. Meron na daw med missions dun. She initially identified this because of requests received pero di naman pala kelangan based sa ocular.

Her contact in DOH suggested Hala-Hala, Rizal. She immediately went there and is in fact still there when she called me tonight. Dito super need daw nila ang tulong since Hala-Hala is at the boundary of Rizal and Laguna, as in sa tabi ng Laguna de Bay and halos walang makarating na tulong. This is one of those reported/featured in the news where super hirap makarating ang tulong. She is in touch with the parish priest and the venue will be in a covered basketball court, near the poblacion and is in the middle of 5 barangays. Sabi daw ng priest, inform daw nila yung mga residents na nakatira sa areas na up to now is up to waist pa ang tubig para makarating sa venue. Estimated no. of patients is 1,000.

Doc said that she plans to be there on Friday night, together with her core group, so that they can start early at 8am on Sat. (Note: Lanie said that in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, they started around 10am). Doc still cant say up to what time yung mission, depende sa dami ng tao but she hopes to finish early para makauwi agad yung mga volunteers.

She will e-mail us the directions tomorrow. More or less 1 hour travel from Marikina. Meron daw silang nadaanan pa na baha pero lagpas ankles lang daw so nakadaan naman ng maayos yung Innova nila. She asked about the no. of pax from our group. Told her that from the original plan na Marikina, 8 pax but now, am not too sure as some of us have other commitments and may uuwi ng province. She hopes that we could still make it (kahit nga daw 2 pax lang) para makita talaga natin yung kaawa-awang situation nila.

I asked her if there about the next missions lined up. May request daw somewhere in Quezon City (dont recall the name, di familiar) but after her ocular in Marikina, she is not too sure since areas in Metro Manila get the most assistance both from government and private groups. Right after Ondoy, she conducted one in Bulacan and then right after Pepeng, she went to Pangasinan, both outside MMla.

Baka pwede tayo maghire ng FX/ van with driver who is familiar with the place. Malayo, winding roads dadaanan pero mabilis naman since 1 hour nga from Olandes, Marikina. We dont have to be there up to the end of the activity, we can tell her kung half day lang or up to 2pm.

Zoi/ Janet/ Shawi, I also told her na that Janet deposited 50K but am sure di pa nya na-check yun. I will confirm with her tomorrow.

Zoi, as discussed with you sa YM yesterday, I suggested to the group not to give the full amount muna since we should check out first kung ok nga ba itong group ni Dra. Villasan (super benta sya ni Lanie sakin but of course, long-time friends kasi sila). We might be able to find other ways/ groups pa kasi where we can donate the fund but if the med mission turned out okay, then we can still give the balance of the funds to them for their next medical mission. We just want to make sure that the funds you raised are used properly and will help the most number of people.

Of course, that was last night, before we all learned about Hala-hala, Rizal....... Zoi, let us know your decision. We will convene and discuss tomorrow night.

Janet/ Shawi, her number is 0917-XXX280, in case you want to talk to her directly for other concerns/ clarification."

again, my sincerest thanks to my friends in the phils for organizing all of these for us.

cheers!!!

Z

updates on medical mission #1

hi everyone,

i just want to share with you the exchange of emails i have had with my group of friends in the philippines regarding this project. please feel free to send me a note or leave a comment here for any concerns....

here it goes...

"Dear All,

change date tayo.... Med mission is moved to Nov 7, Sat. The parish priest requested this since baka konti lang punta dahil maglinis sa cemetery ang mga residents. Alam mo naman mga Pinoy, priority talaga pag Undas. They are also requesting for dentists so Doc needs more time esp since Jala-Jala na nga instead of Marikina. Hindi na rin daw dun sa poblacion ang venue. After we talked last night, Doc went to the more remote barangay and since meron din covered court, dun na ang venue. Sa poblacion daw kasi meron health center so kahit papano may access sila sa doctors. The parish priest there was the one who requested to re-sched.

Zoi, concerned sya na masyado matagalan ang report sayo so she told me that if we really want the Oct 31 sched, she will push through with it and just get the services of local doctors there even if this is not the ideal set up since med missions are supposed to supplement the local doctors. I told her that we will follow her sched since baka konti lang din punta and better for her to have enough time to plan para successful ang mission. I told her that we have been updating you regularly naman so update mo na lang the rest of the sponsors.

Lanie told me that Doc was so happy and thankful for referring us to her since the donation was big and will really help her cause. Zoi, thanks daw talaga. You should meet the doc when you visit here. She is even willing to bring us for ocular this Sat if we want esp since she learned that Olan, another "bagong bayani" who donated, will be leaving on Nov 7 so he cant join na. She really wants to tap the Filipinos living abroad and the OFWs as fund sources para tuloy-tuloy lang ang mga med missions. When she was talking to local priests and residents yesterday, there are also requests for her to conduct med missions in other parts of Rizal but she said that this will all depend on availability of funds.

Btw, this is her 4th med mission na pala since Ondoy. First was in Bagong Silangan, QC on the first Sat after Ondoy. There were 22 doctors then and about 1,800 patients. Grabe daw dun as in amoy patay daw when they visited. Then, Bulacan and Pangasinan.

Till next update.... :-)"

the email above was sent by Claire who is coordinating this project for the whole group.

thanks,

Z

P96,263!!!!

hi everyone,

last october 17, 2009 the equivalent of $2,200 was sent to the philippines. my friend janet and sharon received P48,131.58 each. attached here is the copy of the remittance thru western union.

based on my recent conversation with my friends (janet and sharon), it was deemed that the best way to use the fund is to do the medical mission. my group of friends will tie up with a group of doctors who are doing the mission in marikina (one of the hardly hit by the typhoon) where there are a lot of victims who are currently suffering from various illnesses. the plan is to use the money to buy the medicines needed by the patients. the group will source such medicines from the manufacturers to avail of better prices and to get more supplies.

the target date of the medical mission is on October 31, 2009. i will update the website for the actual date and subsequently provide pictures of the mission.

again, thank you everyone. i am sure, the money will go a long long way!

cheers!

z

update #5

hi everyone,

i am happy to announce that we were able to raise $2,200 for this ondoy victims fund drive. from the total of $1,935 below, we received a pledge of $65 from Erwin (Baltimore) to finally reach our target of $2,000. he wanted to have the honor of putting the remaining amount for us to attain our goal.

late in the afternoon yesterday, a close friend who wanted to remain anonymous, dropped by in our house to give a $200 donation. this is why we were able to surpass the target! as i mentioned in my facebook status, this is equivalent to about P100,000!!!!

again, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. my family are so humbled by this turn out. we will be forever grateful to all of you who believed in this cause.

i will be sending the money later via money transfer to my superfriend (!), janet javier, to facilitate the procurement of needed supplies (food and other items) and the actual distribution of the relief goods. she will be assisted by the whole gang (its you - shawie, tj, karen, chi, claire, jojo, olan and the rest) in this relief operations. i was told by janet that she will coordinate to the local government the actual distribution of the goods for security and safety of everyone.

please note that i will be advancing the money that we are yet to receive (pledges). im doing this so that we can already facilitate the distribution of the goods.

thank you again everyone!!!

Z

update 4

hi everyone,

i am so happy to report that we are nearing our initial target of $2,000!!! the total donation (received and pledges) is now $1,935!!!! yay!!

here's the rundown:
Fund Raising Initiative
Typhoon Ondoy Victims
As of October 14, 2009

1 Seed money $100
2 A Family $300
3 Liza C. $100
4 Revilla Family $100
5 J Azote $250
6 Cuevas Family $50
7 Azul/Hilario $50
8 Rica Valenzuela $110
9 Joel C. $110
10 Alejo Family $110
11 Dianko Family $50
12 Asuncion Family $100
13 Honey $100
14 Mazi $30
15 Eduard Guttierez $50
16 Peck Family $200
17 Mayumi B. $25
18 Nancy H. $100
Total - $1,935

of the total, $420 is still in the mail while $1,515 is already deposited in the bank.

thank you very much everyone!!! may the good Lord continue to guide and shower you with more blessings!!!

Update 5 will be tomorrow which is the last day that i will be receiving donations.

again, maraming maraming salamat po!!!

Z

Note: All $110 donations were actually converted US$100.

update 3

hi everyone,

sorry for the long-delayed update. i just came back from my work-related trip to winnipeg and didn't have the chance to update this website about the status of the fundraising due to workload.

anyway, i am happy to report that i now have a total of CA$950 and US$100 (converted to CA$110). that brings us to our total CA$1,060.

here's the breakdown:

seed money - $100
Anonymous - 300
Liza - 100
Revilla - 100
J - 250
Cuevas - 50
R n Y - 50
Rics - 110
___________
Total $1,060

tomorrow will be the last day that i will be receiving additional donations as i plan to finally send the funds to the Philippines.

again, thank you very much everyone!!! i know that the money we raised will go a long way and make a difference in the lives of the people who will be receiving our share.

thanks,

Z

update #2

hi everyone,

as mentioned in my previous post, i received a $300 cheque from an anonymous donor last night.

this morning, i received a $100 cheque from Liza Cheung (my officemate/friend). i also received a call yesterday from our former hsbc account manager that she will be sending a cheque.

with all this help pouring in, it really warms my heart that there are a lot of people really willing to help and share their hard-earned money.

i've decided that instead of the initial plan to send the money on monday, oct 5, i will send all the funds collected on tuesday, october 13. i moved the date because i am still waiting for some donations that are promised to be given next week. also, i will be in winnipeg beginning monday until friday, oct 9.

for those who want to send their donations by mail, you can send it to me at 17-3711 Robson Crt., Richmond, BC V7C5T8. please send me an email after you mail the cheque so i'll know what to expect. everything will be monitored and accounted for.

i was advised by malou that it wasn't easy as i initially thought in depositing or transferring your donations to the account i set up mainly because PC (president's choice) does not operate the same as the other banks. apparently, there will be charges involved and over the counter deposits are not possible. (i should have known this before hand!) So, the leaves us just two options, either you write a cheque with my name on it or hand me (or malou or to my friends and relatives) the cash. once we received the money, it will posted in the spreadsheet and will be posted in this blog/website. if you don't see your donations here, please send me an email at zoiherico@yahoo.com or call me at 778 837 1815.

so everyone will be appraised of how are we proceeding with this, below is the step by step plan that we set out to do:
1. raise awareness for the fund-raising;
2. set-up the bank account and create a website/blog to document and monitor the progress;
3. prepare a spreadsheet for all donations received;
4. make a regular updates on the progress;
5. set a deadline for donations and the remittance date of the funds to the Philippines;
6. discuss with the group of friends (it is you - janet, sharon, TJ, claire, karen, chichi and jojo) on who will be the recepient of the relief goods;
7. send the money to the philippines - Janet and/or Sharon will be the named recepient of the funds;
8. the group (my friends in the Philippines) will do the buying of relief goods - canned foods, clothing, water, and other necessities;
9. the group will discuss and identify the location where the relief goods are to be distributed;
10. pictures or videos will be taken to document the relief operations
11. receipts and list of expenses will be presented and accounted by the group.
12. we will post the pictures and the accounting of all donations in this blog/website.

again, thank you very much for all your support!!!

God Bless Us All!!!

Z