Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Medical Mission at the Refuge Church (the Apprentice Part 2)

Following Lord Sugar’s Boardroom summons after the mission last week, we really had our act together today. We went to survey the premises well before we were due to start. That turned out to be a good idea as we moved everything around from the way that it had been set up. Dr Chris was set up to operate out of the area that normally houses the church’s band gear – not sure they’ll be able to find their stuff next Sunday! We knew that waiting times would be long so we had set up some additional activities. Our resident artist (Anna) got the kids doing some drawing, whilst out resident techy man (Bosco) had rigged up a showing of the Miracle Maker from his laptop.

Knowing how long this mission might take, we had Dr Chris amply supplied with Gatorade (a Philippino energy drink), and we even had a cool box outside to keep all the drinks nice and cold – thanks Lito (our driver).

Later on, we even had our resident comedian (Simon) doing various tricks and generally acting the goat, much to the amusement of the mums and children alike. He also used his glove puppet, that we affectionately named Alan, to entertain the children outside. Alan had been bought from a street vendor outside the hotel this morning. I think he came with a 2 minute guarantee –it’s rare that I’ve seen such a piece of complete tat (sorry Alan!) but he proved to be total value for money in terms of laughs and entertainment even if his “quacker” has now completely expired.

Anyway, we digress! Back to the medical mission. Deb didn’t need to be anywhere near as ferocious in guarding the entrance to the doctor’s surgery, and even let Andrew and Chris in on various errands! The prayer time went well with many of the mums sharing things to pray for. Pastor Paolo acted as translator for Chris and Andrew – quite how Chris’ one-liners translate in Tagalog is anyone’s guess!

The children were a lot more in need of medication at this mission. Many of the patients had come from the dumpsite that we’d visited in the morning. Dr Chris did a fantastic job seeing all the patients – Pastor Paolo noted how much more thorough she had been than the Korean team that came last year.

We were all struck by the wonderful patience of our “customers” and the respect for each other that they had. A group of them waited for at least an hour for their Jeepney to leave to take them home without a cross word among them. The mums waited their turn to see Dr Chris without any fuss. And some of the kids were just fantastically bright and talented with a wonderful sense of humour. All they need is an opportunity to get on and fulfil their talents.


All in all a huge success. I am so proud of the team…and Lord Sugar’s just phoned to say that we’re hired!

Andrew

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