By her own admission, Senior Nurse Clinician Elaine Ng is not squeamish at the sight of destruction nor does she cry easily. But one boy reduced her to tears when she was in the Philippines. She was there as part of the Mercy Relief mission to help the Filipino people affected by typhoons Durian and Utor in December 2006.

“It was during a psychosocial therapy session for the children. They were told to draw what they saw during the disaster. This boy drew a picture of his best friends and parents and told me they were killed by the typhoons,” she said.

CGH had sent a medical team under the Mercy Relief umbrella to help the needy in the disaster-hit Philippines on 20 December 2006. The team comprised of Dr Lee Haw Chou, Consultant, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr Edward Pratt, Consultant, Department of Medicine, Ms Arlene Ramos, Senior Staff Nurse, and Ms Elaine Ng.

As soon as the team settled down in Legaspi, they wasted no time in getting their mobile clinic started. They saw about 150 patients a day at evacuation centres where families displaced by the landslides were housed temporarily. About $8,000 worth of medical aid was dispensed. Fortunately, there were no serious medical cases.

“We saw mostly children with coughs and colds. There were not many injuries resulting from the landslide and typhoons because most caught in the landslide did not survive,” said Dr Pratt.

Although the team’s core mission was to provide primary healthcare to the community, they eventually did a few more things there.

Over the festive season, they played Father Christmas by distributing gifts, milk powder and toys to the children daily after the clinic sessions. They also conducted a head lice eradication program with families at one evacuation centre, held psychosocial therapy sessions for the children, and helped to re-roof three classrooms.

“I saw genuine appreciation from the people. Many a time, all that was desired were a couple of vitamins pills with a listening ear and a reassurance that all was well,” said Dr Lee. “We were also lucky to have no epidemic outbreaks given the overcrowded situation.”

The mission ended on the eve of New Year and the team flew back to Singapore on 31 December 2006. To ensure that the members did not suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, the hospital arranged for them to have a debrief session with Dr Angelina Chan, Consultant Psychiatrist, and Ms Sim So Sin, Senior Occupational Therapist, Trauma Recovery and Corporate Solutions (TRaCS).