US-based Group Holds Medical Mission in Cebu

Mano-a-Mano International Relief Organization, a US-based non-profit organization is holding a medical mission for 4,000 patients in Cebu.

From January 20-21, they are in Balamban, west of Cebu. On January 23-24, they will be in Daanbantayan in the north.

The New Jersey-based organization has 58 volunteers from abroad, composing of foreigners and balikbayans and 13 from Cebu. Half of them are nurses.

“We are glad to be here. This is the biggest group I had. I think it’s because of Cebu,” said Dr. Lorna Bayes, founder, Mano-a-Mano International Relief Org.

Bayes said the medical mission was arranged last year when Abellana National School Alumni Federation Incorporated Leader Engr. Daisy Toledo met the group in Iloilo.

“She persuaded us to hold the medical mission here. We are supposed to be in Bicol (this week),” she said. They are now on their seventh year in the country.

The services offered are general medicine, pediatrics, and minor surgery. They will also be giving free medicines and eyeglasses.

Governor Hilario P. Davide III thanked the group for coming over. He also invited the volunteers to drop by the tourist spots in Cebu both in the north and in the south.

“Let me thank all of you for the medical mission that you will be conducting here. We are so happy and we welcome all of you. We hope you enjoy your visit here,” said Davide.

www.cebu.gov.ph