Photo By Chief Petty Officer Mark Logico | Pediatric Surgeon Cmdr. Stephanie Kapfer works side by side with Filipino Surgeon Dr....... read more read more
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By Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Logico
Pacific Partnership 2008 Public Affairs
COTABATO, Republic of the Philippines -- Doctors and volunteers from the non-governmental organization Operation Smile joined the Pacific Partnership team aboard U.S. Naval hospital ship Mercy May 31 through June 4 to provide surgical care while the ship was anchored off the coast of Cotabato.
Operation Smile is a worldwide children's medical charity that provides free surgeries to children with facial deformities. Working side by side with personnel from Mercy, partner nations and host nations, Operation Smile performed reconstructive surgeries to 54 Filipino children during the Philippines portion of Pacific Partnership 2008.
"People are grabbing the chance," said Saipon Zaman, a resident of the region. "Most of us are impoverished people living in a subsisting economy, so they want to get the chance to get [medical care] without much expense."
Zaman's 2-year-old daughter, Sairah, received reconstructive surgery for her cleft lip from Operation Smile medical professionals and the Pacific Partnership Team.
"They still do this type of surgery privately in Manila, and it costs around 40,000 Philippine pesos (approx. $1,000)," said Dr. Wille Go, an Operation Smile volunteer.
The average Filipino earns about 12,000 Philippine pesos a month, roughly $300, which makes this type of surgery out of reach for many.
"There's no one in Cotabato who does this type of surgery," said Go. "In Davao, maybe, but you have to have money and have to travel four to five hours to get there."
After the Republic of the Philippines, Operation Smile volunteers are scheduled to continue along with the Pacific Partnership 2008 mission aboard Mercy in three other host nations: Vietnam, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea. Pacific Partnership, with the help of NGOs like Operation Smile, assists the host nation governments in providing local communities with a wide range of services to include various medical, dental and engineering civic action programs providing focused humanitarian assistance.
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 06.11.2008 16:47 |
| Story ID: | 20355 |
| Location: | COTABATO, PH |
| Web Views: | 184 |
| Downloads: | 151 |
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