VHMM Day 3, Part 1 - Dead Bodies (Sitio Kataisan, Fisherman's Village)

Vietnamese Houston Medical Mission
Day 3, Part 1

8:45 AM – another bit of a late start today. We had to load 50 large bags of adult and kids gifts into the gift truck.

8:55 AM – We stopped by the Divine World Hospital. I just found out that the medical team sent several kids to the hospital yesterday, as whatever was ailing them warranted a visit. Thuy, specifically, sent a child to the hospital for possible parasitic liver abscess.

I also just found out that the mission team had a budget set aside to pay for the medical bills incurred by patients who we send to the hospital. Dr. Tam and Mailinh hurried into the hospital to check in on one of the kids and pay for their bills.

The hospital didn’t run the full battery of tests on the kid yet.  Turns out that you have to pay for treatment before it’s administered. Although unfortunate, I can understand why it has to be that way.

While Dr. Tam and Mailinh were in the hospital, a few of the mission team jumped off the bus to buy fruit from the nearby fruit stand. They were excited to find fruits found in their Vietnam homeland.

There are still a few people off the bus taking pictures and buying fruits. They’re taking their time to return. Knowing how much work has been involved over the past two days, I can see why they’d want to ease into today’s activities. Once we’re on, we’re on. Non-stop work, non-stop effort.

9:45 AM – We arrived at Sitio Kataisan. It’s a small town of around 70 families that sits just outside of the airport area. We had to cross through the airport parking lot to get here.

On the way to Sitio Kataisan, we passed by a police training center. It’s completely abandoned. We learned from one of our fellow Tacloban volunteers that many police trainees died here. They weren’t able to escape the surge and flood that plowed through the area. Sitio Kataisan and the Tacloban airport itself sit right next to a body of water. Said water rushed in and killed many people.

It’s blazing hot outside. Not much space was allotted to us to run this clinic. Only one small tent was provided. We had to look for tables to set up. We asked a nearby family if we could use their small living room to run the dentist.

Fortunately this is a small town, so it was easy for us to treat everyone in a small amount of time. It’s blazing hot, probably the hottest day we’ve experienced so far, so everyone could use the break.

The doctors have finished their work, so they switched gears and started handing out gifts to the adults and children.

The pediatrics team is still busy treating all of the children.

Thanks to the Buddhist monk, a few townsfolk have started thanking us in Vietnamese.

10:30 AM – The medical, dental, and pharmacy stations are doing seeing patients, so members of those teams are getting ready to hand out gifts to the kids and adults. There are two lines for both groups.

11:00 AM – we’re packing up and boarding the bus. We’re supposed to head to a nearby town to open our clinic. It’s only three to five minutes away.

We learned that Sitio Kataisan wasn’t included in the help that the nearby town received due to the fact that it lies outside of the Tacloban city limits. Due to politics, Sitio Kataisan didn’t receive nearly as much support and assistance as Tacloban, despite being right next to it.

I've heard (NOTE: Opinion only) from a few locals that some cities haven't received aid because their town leaders have, at some point in the past, been on or supported the opposition party of the current political leaders.

Basically, if your town voted for or supported someone who was on the losing side of an election, the chances of you receiving aid dropped significantly.

As we were walking back to the bus, we saw another one of our local Tacloban volunteers providing vegetable congee to the townsfolk. He is the resident cook for his organization, cooking meals for everyone in need. He explained that he only provides healthy meals; hence his congee is rice and vegetables. Despite the basic ingredients, his congee looks delicious. People come, bowls in hand, to receive their small meal.

11:15 AM – We’ve arrived at the nearby town called Fisherman’s Village. For whatever reason, the leaders of the town didn’t get the word out that we were coming to provide a clinic. There would be no way that we could execute a clinic in an organized fashion. Nothing was set up for us. We decided to provide gifts to the adults and kids, which turned into pandemonium.

We backed up the gift truck into one of the arterials that run through Fisherman’s Village. Once our local volunteers got the word out, crowds started forming fast. We asked everyone to make two lines. We then took the larger bags carrying all of the gifts from the truck and placed them throughout the line for our volunteers to open and distribute.

By and large, people kept the peace. However, it was a bit disappointing to see adults try to game the system. Some started grabbing after the gifts, reaching over children who were waiting in line. Some would take a gift, give it to their child waiting outside of the circle, and then ask for another claiming that they didn’t receive anything. We saw a few take a gift, hold it below waste level out of sight, and raise their other hand to ask for another gift.

Again, it’s hard to hold it against them because they’re all in very dire situations. However, we do expect a modicum level of respect and dignity for themselves and fellow neighbors.

11:30 AM – We ran out of gifts, and the line was easily still 2-3 US blocks long (to give you an idea on length). We quickly boarded the bus to head home. Staying any longer might create a disturbance.

We’re on our way home to have lunch. Then, we’re out to Costa Brava for another clinic.

12:40 PM – While we were having lunch at home, the mayor of Alangalang stopped by to say hi and give his thanks. Turns out that he and Raphy, the owner of the house where we’re staying, are in the same Rotary club.

1:15 PM – We’re boarding the bus to Costa Brava. During lunch, I overheard Mailinh explain what we needed set up for our clinic, so we should be in good condition to help people.

1:50 PM – While on the way to Costa Brava, our bus came across four dead bodies, all in body bags, lined up next to each other on the sidewalk. These dead bodies were apparently discovered earlier this morning.

Citizens are still finding dead bodies four months after Typhoon Yolanda. Reminders of the death and destruction still haunt the people who are slowly starting to rebuild their lives.

We have no idea what will happen to these dead bodies. We assume they'll be picked up eventually. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be much of a rush. These kinds of sightings have become so commonplace that removing them to keep up appearances is no longer a concern.