Volunteers Experience Busy Days, Engaged Parents
Even before 11:00 a.m., Project HOPE volunteers and the Pacific Partnership medical team had already treated nearly 300 people at the medical site set up in Gandara.
Even before 11:00 a.m., Project HOPE volunteers and the Pacific Partnership medical team had already treated nearly 300 people at the medical site set up at the Gandara 1 Central Elementary School in the Philippines.
Volunteers Susan Opas, a Ph.D., Nurse Practitioner from Woodland Hills, California, and Mary-Beth Wargo, a Pediatric Nurse from Austin, Texas, helped the patients as they started to flow through the doors.
“I always get excited when I get to help a new patient,” says Opas. “I have actually seen some very healthy children here. The parents are very engaged with their children’s health and are very concerned about their children’s growth and development.”
Wargo took patient vital signs as the patients flowed into the medical site, and mentioned that one of the main health problems she was seeing was hypertension.
“It is very interesting to be one of the first medical professionals to have contact with the patients,” says Wargo. “I have been enjoying working at this location, especially the interaction we have with the children here.”
As the medical team continues to work hard in the small village of Gandara, the people are grateful for the medical knowledge that the Pacific Partnership team is bringing.