Dr. Julius Caesar “Jojo”  Arsenal , a pioneer volunteer of the DAUSA Medical Mission, currently chief surgeon and Dr. Kennedy “Ken” Remit , chief of staff  /  co-surgeon both based  in Chuuk State Hospital  were sent to represent the country of FSM  wherein they are invited as  an oral  RESEARCH paper presentor in the said prestigious conference .
The research paper they wrote  about  slingshot injuries “filippin” to the heart in Chuuk were already presented before an audience in the Pacific Basin Medical Association Conference in 2005 and in Pacific Island Surgical Association in 2006.
Lately this research paper was presented before the officers , men and women of the USNS MERCY  Hospital Ship in  “Truk Lagoon “ on August 31, 2008  in which both of them were commended for their humanitarian works under extreme working conditions .
There  were  a total of 4,550  research paper entries around the world  that  were submitted  to the prestigious conference and  only  30  research papers around the world that were invited to present including this  research paper from Chuuk State Hospital

The letter of invitation by Professor Dr. Fritz Sorgel , the conference chairman mentioned that to present at this prestigious conference will certainly represent the country before a global audience and it will add new information in serving the country’s needs in treating various diseases . Also the conference commemorates the  awarding of the Nobel Prize to Dr. Paul Erhlich one of Germany’s foremost researchers .
Little was known  in the entire Western Pacific that all these years from 1999 onward today these surgeons at  Chuuk State Hospital were performing open –heart surgery  for emergency trauma cases despite limited availability of surgical equipments/ facility  and poor working hospital conditions . They  admit  they perform the procedure by heart in order to treat and  save lives of Chuukese people  as so goes
their motto : Everybody Deserves to Live “ . All of them were admitted at the Surgical Intensive Care Unit in the Surgical Ward of the said Hospital  a fter surgery , the first SICU / critical care unit in the FSM that has been existent for the past 8 years now  that save a lot of lives.

Their  research  paper  was  entitled  :CARDIAC TAMPONADE  SECONDARY TO SLINGSHOT METAL  DART :  A RETROSPECTIVE  REVIEW  OF  CASES IN CHUUK  with the following  AUTHORS, Julius Caesar Arsenal M.D. ; Kennedy Remit M.O. ; Yoster Yichiro M.O. It  depicts the realities of island violence  is this  part of the world that is still unattended to despite the laws enacted and implementing rules enforced  in which traditional tribal  ways and values  still persist.  From the period July 1999 to July 2005 there were a total of 353 patients treated at Chuuk State Hospital for Impalement injuries secondary to slingshot metal dart in different parts of the body . The breakdown of statistics are as follows ; Head / Face – 22 (6.23 %) ; Neck 29 (8.21 %) ; Upper Extremity- 114 (32.2 %) ; Chest –50 (14.16%) ; Cardiac– 7 (1.98 %); Abdomen- 40 ( 11.33 %) and Lower Extremity –91 (25.77 %).
As of August 2008,, there were a total of 583 cases of slingshot with 5 more cases of injuries to the heart during the succeeding 3 year period and  all patients that were operated  went home alive.
Penetrating cardiac wounds  especially those on the anterior surface of the heart, presents a major challenge to the trauma surgeon. Surgical  treatment of traumatic cardiac injuries requires knowledge
of multiple approaches, extensive surgical skills  and operativeinterventions .
In Chuuk these slingshot metal darts were popularly called “Fillipin “  in reference to the Filipino carpenters who taught them wayback in the 70’s  .It is more rampant in the islands around the lagoon especially the big island of  Tol.

Three U.S. based surgeons, Drs. Julian Banzon, Florentino Lleva and Lorenz Alaan,  Danao Hospital Chief Dr. Indino and Dr. Melba Arribas from Manila jointly performed around 150 minor surgical procedures, such as cyst removal, etc., performing the procedures at a corner of the hospital building, under a very hot and humid condition.

For the first time consultations and medicine dispensing which used to be done right at the Danao District Hospital compound, had been moved to the newly renovated and air-conditioned Danao City Civic Center.

The move was hailed by medical volunteers, patients as well as by hosptial staff as it lessened the crowd at the hospital.  Only patients scheduled for minor and major surgeries were entertained at the hospital and all the rest were comfortably seated, waiting their turn at the air-conditioned Civic Center.

As usual over 2000 indigent Danawanons were seen by doctor volunteers at the Civic Center, received their needed medications and some multi-vitamins that were contributed by well-meaning DAUSA members and supporters.  The City Government of Danao through the City Health Office also provided several boxes of medicines to meet the needs of people seeking help during the 3-day medical mission.

The Free Dental Clinic with a 6-seater Mobile Dental Van provided by the City of Cebu was also moved outside the Civic Center and listed over 300 people getting dentral extractions, free tootpaste and medicines.

Around 20 DAUSA Members and officers led by Dr. Anita Cal-Jackson actively did their share in making DAUSA’s commitment to help the city’s poor get the medical assistance they badly need a huge success.

The DAUSA Medical Mission has always been a big success, since it started in 1998, has become an institution and eagely awaited by many people who cannot afford to go to Cebu City for treatment, especially those needing surgical interventions.

On Friday evening, September 19, 2008, the City Government of Danao led by Mayor Ramon Durano III and other city officials tendered dinner and entertained all medical mission volunteers, Balik Danao people, and distributed certificates of recognitions to all participants.  (Monching)

My Dear Friends,

    On September 7, 2008, Sunday starting at 11:00 a.m., members of the Danao Association, U.S.A. (DAUSA), their friends and relatives will observe and celebrate the feast of their hometown patron saint, the venerable Santo Tomas de Villanueva, at the Silverado Park Social Hall, 1545 West 31st Street, Long Beach, CA 90810.

     We invite you to join us in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist jointly officiated by Msgr. Alfeo Manalili and Fr. Mariano Batucan.  We want you to join us partake in a hearty lunch and share a good clean fun with Danawanons of Southern California.

     Being at this traditional yearly DAUSA event, we expect you to experience, like most of us, a gratifying feeling of self-fulfillment for doing a good deed, making a difference in the lives of some less fortunate brothers and sisters back home.

    The $25.00 donation that DAUSA is requesting from our guests is enough to cover the cost of at least one minor surgical procedure.  The DAUSA Medical Mission volunteers do, on average, about 200 minor surgeries, such as abscess or cyst removal, etc. and no less than 30 major surgical procedures, that if done at a private hospital, could cost a patient over a 100,000 pesos. 

    DAUSA has been doing this, year after year, since 1998. It had assisted 3 children come to Los Angeles; two underwent extremely delicate life saving procedures.

    Please, come, join us, spend an afternoon with super friendly Danawanons honoring their patron saint and do your share in saving a life.

VIVA SANTO TOMAS!

Sincerely,

Anita Cal-Jackson, M.D.

DAUSA President & Chief of Medical Mission

 July 4, 2008

 Msgr. Emilio Bataclan

Auxiliary Bishop for Northern Cebu

Danao City, Cebu

Dear Msgr. Bataclan,

I am writing on behalf of myself and for several Danawanon friends and relatives who like me were disappointed to learn, too late, you have decreed changing the date of our fiesta from the traditional 3^rd Monday to 3^rd Sunday of September, thus making this year’s fiesta celebration dates to September 21-22.  If tradition is followed it should have been September 14 - 15, being the 2^nd Sunday and 3^rd Monday.

There is no problem with us if changing fiesta dates is really necessary, regardless a week before or after from the date it used to be.  However, we feel there should have been reasonable time for information to reach far and wide before a change of date of an important event, such as a town fiesta, can be made. There are many of us extracted from our homeland, trying to make a living in places oceans apart.  Despite the distance we still consider ourselves parishioners of our home parish and have faithfully remained or perhaps even more devoted to our patron saint.

Regardless of status in life - professionals, seamen or OFWs - Danawanons do make an effort to set aside from what little we earned, so we can visit our hometown and see our families after several months or years away from home.  And there is no better time to visit than during a fiesta when friends and relatives show up to get reconnected and reminisce the good years together.

Here in California or perhaps anywhere in the U.S, employers require employees to apply, at the beginning of the year, specific dates of a planned long vacation within the current year.  Generally, U.S. employees enjoy  2 or 3 weeks paid vacation leaves for each year of service.  For us Danawanons we use this yearly vacation privilege to visit our hometown, usually in the month of September.  On my part I had filed and had my vacation leave approved for September 8 through September 22.  I cannot change that unless someone dies in the family.

Further, scheduled to visit Danao City Fiesta 2008 are 20 Danawanons, from Southern California alone, who have booked and paid non-refundable round-trip tickets as early as June, with departure date on September 8 and a return flight on September 21^st or on the 22^nd.  Then the other day we learned the fiesta date has changed on order of the Auxiliary Bishop.

During the past 11 years this same group had sponsored an annual medical-surgical mission at the Danao General Hospital, scheduled 2 days after the city fiesta.  For the 2008 Medical Mission we scheduled it on Sept. 16 -18.  Many U.S. based volunteers join the mission, for two reasons, to attend the fiesta and also give something to the community they left behind through their professional services and/or financial support.  Although the medical mission can still go on schedule, yet a number of our volunteers would be deprived from attending the fiesta, because their scheduled return is on Sept. 20 or 21.

 We are now earnestly appealing and hoping you reconsider your decision and have the 2008 Santo Tomas Fiesta date in Danao City, stay as per tradition, on the 2^nd Sunday and 3^rd Monday of September i.e. Sept. 14 -15, 2008.  Then on the following year you may go ahead and implement the dates you want.  And we will be guided accordingly. .

 Thank you.  May God bless you and the rest of your flocks in this part of Cebu.

 Faithfully yours in Christ,

 Ramon H. Barriga

 8211 Winnetka Ave.

Winnetka, CA 912306

1st Novena: Sponsored by Guilly and Bebe Roble
1807 East 218th Street
Carson, CA 90715
Tel. 310-385-8045 (Home)
310-518-6273 (Bahay Kainan)
Sunday, July 6 at 11:00 a.m.

Si Guilly Roble, ang nailhang batang buotan sa Suba, milangyaw aron manimpalad sa Davao human natapos ang pagtuon sa UV pagka accountant. Ulitawo si Guilly sa iyang pag-panimpalad sa Davao, ug daghang mga babaye nangindahay nga ilang maankon ang utukan ug kugihan nga batan-ong lumad sa Danao. Apan wala pa-balda ang ulitawo sa mga tukso sa iyang palibot.

Wala molungtad ug dugay si Guilly sa Davao. Niadtong panahona, tungod sa mga kagubot, walay maayong kahigayonan para sa mga batan-ong profesyonal ang Mindanao. Busa mibiya siya sa Davao, dayon larga padulong sa Manila. May mga taga Danao usab didto nga mitabang sa iyang pagpuyo ug naghatag kahigayonan aron siya mahimutang. Didto gikahibalag ni Guilly ug gipangasawa ang usa ka talagsaong Manilena, diin nakita sa ulitawo ang tanang hiyas sa babaye nga maoy tugon sa iyang inahan, buotan, kugihan ug may kaanyag. (Naa sa hulagway si Bebe, ang mahal nga kapikas ni Guilly, ug ang ilang duha ka anak dala ang rebolto sa Patron, Santo Tomas.)

Maayo ang dagan sa panginabuhi sa mga bag-ong magtiayon. Milambo ang ilang gamay nga negosyo ug nag trabaho usab si Guilly isip accountant sa usa ka dakong patigayon. Apan dili pa gyod hingpit ang ilang kinabuhi sa Manila, busa naningkamot nga maka-ari sila sa Amerika, pamasin dinhi ilang makab-ot ang ilang mga pangandoy.

Inubanan sa mga pag-ampo, natagaan sila ug visa, ug dayon larga uban ang usa ka anak diri sa Los Angeles niadtong miaging siyam ka tuig nga milabay. (Ang ika-duhang anak, made in U.S.A.)

Malisod man ang ilang mga kaagi sulod sa pipila ka bulan sukad sa ilang pag-abot sa Amerika, wala nila baleha ang kalisod. Wala silay pili ug trabaho, basta lang may ika-bayad sa sa mga bayranan ug may diutay nga i-pondar. Nag-nurse assistant, nag-tax preparer, etc. Gawas sa adlaw adlaw nga trabaho, si Guilly ug Bebe nakat-on ug pangluto. Misugod sila sa gamay nga negosyo nga catering.

Milabay ang pila ka tuig, sa hinay-hinay, milambo ug midako ang catering ni Guilly ug Bebe. Sulod lamang sa mubong panahon nailhan ug gina-pangita sa tibuok Carson ug Long Beach ang lamiang potaheng pinoy ni Guilly/Bebe.

Sa miaging tuig natukod ang karon nabantog nga Filipino Restaurant sa Carson, California, ang Bahay Kainan, solo panag-iya ni Guilly ug Bebe. Sumala pa sa mga taho, mga artista sa Manila nga nasuroy sa Carson, naka-uyon sa mga pag-kaon sa Bahay Kainan.

Matud pa sa uban tinuod may mga sikat nga artista nga gikan sa Manila, mikaon ug naka-angay kaayo sa mga luto ni Bebe/Guilly hinungdan nga nabantog na kini karon sa Carson dili lang mga Filipino hasta usab sa mga puti, itum ug mga Latino.

Here is the tentative Novena Schedule for the Fiesta of our Senor Santo Tomas de Villanueva for 2008.

A team of doctors of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, led by Dr. Mark Urata, seemed to have done some kind of surgical magic with Merylou’s amazing transformation.

She arrived in Los Angeles on May 27, 2007 with help from PAL Foundation, Inc. (for plane tickets) and some well meaning Danawanons who chipped in to pay for his visa fees and local transpo expenses.

Monching and Mariam Barriga hosted her stay in the U.S. for nearly a year, and taking her to numerous medical appointments. DAUSA Vice Presidnet Marieta Palos, who cared another Danao kid, Keith Montesu’s during his confinement for an open-heart surgery, also kept watch on Merylou at the Children’s Hospital relieving Mariam when unable.

She had a taste of celebrity status on arrival being accompanied by a TV crew contracted by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to produce a one-hour documentary for showing in a national TV network sometime end of summer this year.

At the airport Merylou was met by Philippine Airlines’ Manager of Passenger Services and her staff assisting her all the way for the emotional reunion with her family waiting outside the terminal.

Before proceeding home, Merylou and her parents dropped by the office of Danao City Mayor Ramon Durano III, thanking him for his continuing support of the DAUSA Medical Mission which negotiated a sponsor to pay for the very expensive cranio facial surgery.

On her way home the Mayor sent police escorts to keep kids from milling around their humble home while the film crew was recording the family’s emotional reunion.

We stepped into the church and it was old and a bit dark. Mass had just begun and we sat toward the front. We didn’t know what to expect here in Istanbul, Turkey. I guess we expected it to be a somber Mass but quiet and somber it was not - I thought I heard angels joyously singing behind me.

The voices were rich, melodic and beautiful. What I discovered as I spun around to look did not surprise me because I had seen and heard the same thing in other churches around the world. It was not a choir of angels with feathered wings and halos but a group of delightful Filipino Catholics with smiles of delight and joy on their faces as they worshiped God and sang His praises. I had seen this many times before in Rome, in Israel, in the United States and other countries.

Filipinos have special traits and they are beautifully expressed as I gazed at the happy throng giving thanks to God. What are the special traits which characterize these happy people? I will share a few that I have noticed-personal observations- as I have traveled around the world, including visits to the Philippines.FIRST, there is a sense of community, of family. These Filipino Christians did not sit apart from each other in different isles. They sat together, closely. They didn’t just sing quietly, mumbling, or simply mouthing the words. No, they raised their voices in harmony together as though they enjoyed the sense of unity and communion among them. They are family even if they are not related

SECOND, they have an inner peace and joy which is rare in the world today. When most of the world’s citizens are worried and fretful, I have found Filipinos to have joy and peace - a deep sense of God’s love that over shadows them. They have problems too, and many in the Philippines have less material goods than others in the world, yet there is still a sense of happy trust in God and love of neighbor.

THIRD, there is a love for God and for his Son Jesus that is almost synonymous with the word Filipino. There is also something that Filipinos are famous for around the world - their love for the Blessed Mother. Among the many Filipinos I have met, the affectionate title for Mary I always hear from their lips is ‘Mama Mary.’

For these gentle folks Mary is not just a theological idea, a historical person, or a statue in a church - Mary is the mother of their Lord and their mother as well, their ‘mama.’

The Philippines is a Catholic nation - the only such nation in Asia - and this wonderful country exports missionaries around the world. They are not hired to be missionaries, not official workers of the church. No, they are workers and educators, doctors, nurses and housekeepers that go to other lands and travel to the far reaches of the earth, and everywhere they go they take the joyous gospel of Jesus with them.

They make a somber Mass joyful when they burst into song. They convict the pagan of sin as they always keep the love of Jesus and the Eucharist central in their lives. My hope and prayer, while I am here in the Philippines sharing my conversion story from Baptist Protestant to Roman Catholic, is that the Filipino people will continue to keep these precious qualities. I pray that they will continue loving their families, loving the Catholic Church, reading the Bible, loving Jesus, His Mother and the Eucharist.

As many other religions and sects try to persuade them to leave the Church, may God give the wisdom to defend the Catholic faith. As the world tempts them to sin and seek only money and fame and power, may God grant them the serenity to always remember that obedience to Christ and love for God is far more important than all the riches the world can offer.

May the wonderful Filipino people continue to be a light of the Gospel to the whole world!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(This is so true among many Danawanons, whether in the U.S., Europe, Middle East or in some neighboring Asian cities. They left their loved ones back home, so they could sufficiently provide their “daily bread”. Far from home, away from families and friends, they get homesick; but rather than cry and sulk, they seek comfort, support and find solace in the sanctuary of the church.

Soon after they become active members of their parish. Wherever they may be, Danawanons, more than any other Filipinos, proudly demonstrate their strong Catholic faith, their devotion to our Blessed Mother and veneration of their patron saint, Santo Tomas de Villanueva, making themselves outright missionaries of the world. DAUSA Ed)

PIT SENYOR!!

VIVA SANTO TOMAS!!

On the last day of the DAUSA Medical Mission on September 2006, a father pushing a stroller carrying a frail and bluish 8-year old boy showed up at Danao District Hospital asking to see a DAUSA doctor. He was referred to Dr. Anita Cal-Jackson, Chief of Medical Mission.

Mr. Archie Montesuso showed to Dr. Jackons his son’s medical records indicating congenital heart defects known as pentalogy of fallot, as diagnosed by a pediatric cardiologist from Perpetual Succor Hospital in Cebu City.

(Keith (center) with host family in Los Angeles)

According to the boy’s dad, Keith was in and out of hospital due to heart failure caused by exertion or infection. He also said that the cardiologist at Perpetual Succor Hospital, had explained to him it would cost over a million peso for the hospital to perform the very delicate procedure.

Being unemployed at the time, it was impossible for Keith’s parents to come up with that amount. Their only hope was DAUSA, the father said.

Dr. Jackson requested all the medical records of Keith and upon her return to California forwarded them with an urgent appeal to Mending Kids International to help save the life of Keith.

Seeing the urgency of Keith’s heart condition, Cris Embleton, Executive Director of Mending Kids International (MKI), immediately negotiated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to do the surgery.

Cedars-Sinai through its International Children’s Surgery Fund agreed to cover all medical expenses during the pre-operative evaluation and hospitalization and sent a letter to the U.S. Embassy regarding its acceptance. With Cedars’ confirmation, Keith and his father got a U.S. visa.

Keith got a free plane ticket from PAL Foundation through its Executive Director, Menchu Sarmiento while DAUSA shouldered the surcharges and Archie’s Cebu-Manila-Cebu ticket.

Also, Ms. Sarmiento helped find host family, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Ong, the Good Samaritans who volunteered to welcome Keith to their home in Los Angeles. Mr. Ong also took responsibility in bringing the boy to his medical appointments.

Keith had his first preoperative evaluation at Cedars Sinai last Monday. However, with Keith’s very delicate condition, the host family contacted Dr. Jackson and Marieta Palos, explaining that the presence of his father is vital to his adjustment to a new place.

Mr. Ong and his family do not speak Cebuano and had difficulty in communicating with Keith who missed so much his family in Danao. So, DAUSA arranged for the travel of his father Archie to Los Angeles arriving Friday, November 16.

Meanwhile, the other DAUSA protégé, Merylou Barriga, who arrived Los Angeles on May 27, 2007, just underwent a 12-hr cranio-facial surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, last Thursday, November 8. Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles assembled a team of 9 specialists to perform Merylou’s extremely delicate cranio-facial surgery.

According to Dr. Mark Urata (the lead pllastic surgeon), Merylou’s progress is doing very well. She had been transferred from the ICU yesterday and is off from oxygen support.