Operation Taghoy 2008 Goes To Antique

group of second year students of ASU-RRDM, Ibajay Campus who served as interpreters and ran errands for the medical mission of Uplift Internationale.

(l to r) Dr. Jaime Yrastorza, Megs Lunn, Dr. David Charles, Rtn. Vicki Bock from RC Colins, Denver, Colorado and Dr. John Dahl.

Uplift Internationale successfully concluded Operation Taghoy Mission 2008 at Angel Salazar Memorial Hospital, San Jose de Buenavista, Antique on Feb. 23-29, 2008. Some 37 Medical Doctors with Outreach Volunteers who arrived in Feb. 22, 2008 at Iloilo City Airport. They proceeded to San Jose to conduct the medical mission.

They were grouped into eight (8) Uplift Internationale (UI) teams (i.e., Registration, Demographics and Social History, Health and Family History, Pediatric Exam, Craniofacial Exam, Anesthesia, Dental, Scheduling). They evaluated 60 patients in the course of the 5-day period. Those patients were screened during the first day of the mission. Of the 60 patients screened, 9 or 15 percent were found inappropriate for surgery primarily due to the presence of a comorbid condition (e.g., fever, infection, pneumonia). All ineligible patients were invited to return for surgery in the 2009 medical mission.

Those patients came from the towns of Culasi, Sibalom, Anni-y, Valderama, Hamtic, San Jose, Barbaza, Tobias Fornier, Tibiao, Dao, Guermose, Guimaras, Oscorio and Tina.

Incoming President Megs Lunn of the Rotary Club of Kalibo served as Outreach/Patient Liaison during the one week medical mission. Lunn is the lone Filipino official member of the Operation Taghoy Mission 2008 of the Uplift Internationale.

Operation TAGHOY is a Philippine word for WHISTLE. The mission is a joint project with US-Philippine Rotary Clubs and Filipino-American Community of Colorado. Its motto is “Mending faces…one child at a time” with office address at Wheat Ridge, Colorado, USA.

Its president Dr. Jaime Yrastorza is also a Past President of Rotary Club of Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The team was composed of surgeons, anesthetics, family medicine, orthodentics/denstistry, physician assistant, registered nurse, speech therapist and outreach volunteers. Uplift Internationale does surgical operations on cleft and cleft palate, depending on the condition of the patient. It does the mission only for the Filipino children in the Philippines.

Tourism students of Aklan State University-School, Rural Resource Development and Management, Ibajay Campus served as Interpreters and sometimes ran errands for the medical doctors for three days.

The Bishop of Antique, Provincial Government, Local Government Unit, Rotary Club of Antique, Angel Salazar Memorial Hospital of San Jose de Buenavista, The Pinnacle Suites & Functions, Lions Club and the Antique Medical Society served as hosts to the medical mission.

At the end of the mission, all members of the team experienced an overwhelming and amazing feeling of happiness and fulfillment. To see the kids after the surgery, one can see in their eyes that they are so appreciative for what Uplift Internationale served. They are hopeful and foresee a brighter future. They all chorused, “THANK YOU Operation Taghoy Mission 2008 of Uplift Internationale. GO ON MISSION, CHILDREN OF CHRIST!” /MP

Note: To know more about the mission, please visit

www.upliftinternationale.org