Newsletter 3-2019                                                                                    Bugko, December 2019

Dear members, dear friends and supporters of Mabuhay!


The last months of the year were again dominated by dentists.
On August 19, Emilie Gläscher and Julia Becker, both dentistry students of the University of Hannover and Dr. med. Kim, dentist from Osnabrück came to us. Dr. Kim brought his daughter Jun-Hie with her so that she could get more insight into her father's work. Dr. Kim accompanied the students in the treatments and helped with advice and assistance.

From September 17th to 19th, three of our volunteers took part in a seminar on medicinal plant production and processing. It took place in collaboration with the SHIFT Foundation and the Authority for Agriculture. This way the program also gets local recognition. On September 18, Sr. Veronica and I were guest speakers in this seminar on medicinal plant processing and packaging and so a seminar was held for the first time in our medicinal plant center, since the practical part of the seminar took place in our medicinal plant production facility. The 25 participants of the seminar had to produce Aleo Vera ointment. They were so excited that afterwards they also wanted to pack Malungay tea. It was a complete success and the participants were very interested. Our center is the first of its kind in the whole province and the participants were impressed by the farm with the growing of the plants and the production site. The finished products have been happily accepted by the patients at the Mabuhay Clinic for some time and our next step is the recognition by the Food and Drug Authority. For this purpose, the products must be tested in the laboratory for authenticity and purity.

On September 27th, Dr. Carsten Hansen and his wife Doris came for the fifth time to support our dental station. The focus of the stay was on our fluoride children. For many years we carry out the fluoride prophylaxis program with the help of the relief organization of the German Dentists and our visiting dentists. We invited the children every day to fluoridate and, if necessary, to dental treatment. Through the experienced hands of Dr. Hansen quickly gained confidence in the children and many teeth were saved.

Newsletter 2-2019   

                                                                                                                     Bugko, in August 2019

Dear members, dear friends and supporters of Mabuhay!

On April 23, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 shook our island. Thankfully we had no damage.
There were some buildings damaged in the area, but despite the strength of the earthquake quake, the damage was limited.
On April 26, Lena Schwarzfischer and Magdalena Großbauer, both from the University of Munich, came to us as "freshly baked" dentists. Their arrival was very arduous and long, as the earthquake at the airport in Clark was so badly damaged that it was temporarily closed. They finally arrived by land, which means a journey time of just over 24 hours. After some rest, they started their work in the dental clinic. Every day, they saw many patients and were a little sad that they could no longer save teeth. Fillings were often no longer possible because of the severity of the caries.

In addition, on April 29, Melinda Rausch came to us. So we had three young dentists with a lot of energy with us. Mrs. Rausch was accompanied for two days by her friend Christoph Rupp, a medical student. Both are from the University of Heidelberg. Mr. Rupp also plans to come to us after completing his studies and he first wanted to get informations about our clinic.. Mrs. Rausch immediately put on workware and went to the dental station. She stayed with us until the end of May and fortunately was able to save a few teeth. Tooth preservation is still our goal and so we were glad to have so many young good dentists in our clinic. The number of patients in the dental clinic has been steadily increasing after it was known, that Mabuhay Clinic offers such good and qualified dental care. In addition to the treatments, many patients came for prophylaxis treatment.

National and regional elections took place again on 13 May. Everywhre was advertising for the candidates. As I have seen in the other elections, electoral votes have been bought and the election is manipulable. Sr. Veronica and I were employed all day long, showing the voters the way to their election office.

On July 18, Father Robert Jauch, OFM (Franciscan) from Dusseldorf traveled with us to Bugko. He wanted to get to know our station because he had heard a lot about it. He got an impression of our different jobs, had contact with locals, saw some of the country and was able to visit his Franciscan confreres in Calbayog, who run a large school and a hospital there. Every day he celebrated Holy Mass with us and often our volunteers took part.

Newsletter 1-2019                                                                      Bugko, April 2019

Dear members, dear friends and supporters of Mabuhay!

In December I spent two weeks in Germany and was glad to see many of you at our annual general meeting on December 14th. Many of you make a long journey to hear what's new about "Mabuhay". Also in the year 2018 a lot had happened again and so there was again a lot of information, pictures and exchange on this evening.

On December 28th, I went back to Bugko. This time I was accompanied by Mrs. Jutta Schimmel, a neighbor, who just wanted to see what we do in the clinic. Her three weeks were filled with many experiences, as shortly before our arrival in the Philippines storm Usman hit Northern Samar and caused a lot of destruction. In many places there were floods and landslides, so that entire villages were cut off. I have described some of this in my special report. Ms. Schimmel helped with the various relief shipments and nutrition programs, but her main focus was on the medicinal plant project. She exchanged ideas with our "herbalists" and together they tried new recipes.

I would like to thank for the many spontaneous donations you have sent after my special report about storm Usman. Especially the relief organization of the German Dentists and the German Club in Manila. Through this aid, we have been able to help immediately, not only in distributing food and toiletries, but also clothing, school supplies, cooking utensils, detergents, medicines, shovels, tarpaulins, and construction materials. Again, so many people have lost their homes and it is admirable how they always start from scratch. This great help is only possible with your help for us.

On the 10th of February the dentist Dr. Lindner and his wife Evelyn from Bad Kötzting came to us for the fifth time. Followed by the students of dentistry Laura Münzberg and Alexandra Petker (both from the University of Aachen) and Chiara Pantke (University of Freiburg). Under the supervision of Dr. Lindner, the students worked tirelessly in the dental station. Unfortunately, there were many teeth that could not be obtained. The students learned a lot  and were able to apply what they had learned to the patient. It was a happy group that did a lot together in their free time.

From 13.-15. February we had a short visit from Olpe / Biggesee. Sr. Magdalena Krol, Superior General of the Franciscan Sisters of Olpe, came to see us with Markus Feldmann, one of the managing directors of the Olper Franciscan Society, to get to know our different programs and, above all, to see the everyday life of the clinic. In addition, they could also see something of the culture and life of the Philippinos.

Like the years before, the team from ISM (International Surgical Mission) from Colorado / USA came to the clinic on 18th of February to carry out the outpatient operations and the operations in general anesthesia in Biri, an offshore island. This year the team consisted of 31 volunteers. This year, 74 patients were treated with cysts and lipomas by Dr. med. Tracy Taggart and Dr. Tara Dixon. Twice as many as the year before. Both are experienced surgeons and have already volunteered in other countries.

From the 3rd to the 8th of March Dr. Klaus De Cassan of the German Dentists' Association (HDZ) came to train the volunteers in the Fluoroprophylaxis Program and to answer questions. It was a two-part seminar with theory and practice. The practical part took place in our dental clinic and was attended by children of the Fluoroprophylaxis Program and their mothers. The focus of the seminar was on training in proper oral hygiene and good nutrition. Unfortunately, the children's problem is still eating too much sweets and not doing proper dental care. Therefore, so many teeth still have to be pulled here, as a tooth preservation is often impossible. For 10 years now we have this program and the first successes are slowly starting, because only by continuous training of children in the correct dental hygiene  success can be achieved. Our volunteers serve as transmitters for the children.

On March 11, Mrs. Isabelle Seibert and on March 20 Jessica Tu, both young dentists from the University of Mainz. They stayed four weeks each and were quickly at the dental office at home, trying to get as many teeth as possible. Unfortunately, there were many extractions again because the teeth were too carious. In addition to the dental ward, they also saw many children of the fluorine prophylaxis program.

On the 20th of March my dear parents returned to Bugko. Unfortunately, they had to cancel last year and so the patients were happy when they saw the orthopedist with his wife again. Old and young patients were in good hands with them. Fewer patients than expected came this year as rice harvesting, graduation ceremonies and election events were held. Overall, they treated more than 800 patients and performed even minor surgical procedures. Since we had some more free time we used it to talk about changes and improvements in the clinic.

From April 13 to April 15, Fr. Hans Langendörfer, secretary of the German Bishops 'Conference with Mrs. Dr.Stenert, the radio-consultant of the Bishops' Conference. Father Langendörfer came for the second time. His first visit is 10 years back and he was amazed at what had happened. He blessed the "indoor" playground that could be installed with the support of the Hoffmann Foundation. The children here hardly know such a thing, and the greater was the joy. The kids did not want to go home. The slide into a pool of balls was the highlight. As a supporting program there were games, a magician and of course spaghetti for the children. To our great pleasure we will also build an outdoor playground for the older children. Preparations are in progress and I will report about it in the next newsletter.