Medical mission in Loon

A medical mission was held by the VPHCS in Barangay Nueva Vida, Loon, Bohol last March 16.

The mission was organized together with the Panaghugpong sa mga Mag-uuma sa Loon (PAMALO), local government unit of Loon, Task Force Carabao-Germany, and barangay council of Nueva Vida.

Services included general medical consultations and physical examination of children which included determination of their weights, heights and visual acuity, check-up of general body systems and dental status, and urinalysis. Adult patients were also checked up.

Dr. Jonathan Legaspi examines a child

Urinalysis of the children's urine

VPHCS staff and volunteer doctors included VPHCS dentist Dr. Petty Orbeta de Castro, Dr. Grace Molina, Dr. Jonathan Legaspi, Dr. Anthonee Bacaltos, Loon Municipal Health Officer Dr. Mark Gomez and dentist Dr. Adel Maestrado. Nursing student members of the Students’ Alliance for Community Health Services (SACHS) also rendered services in the mission.

As a result of the physical examination of the children, those with nutritional status below normal and those with visual, dental, and probable kidney problems were identified. Those with other illnesses and acute problems were also properly managed.

Dispensing medicines

Blood pressure taking of patients

A pose of the medical team 

Homeopathy services

The Visayas Primary Health Care Services (VPHCS) continues to render homeopathy services for indigent patients under the tutelage of German homeopathic doctor Norbert Enders.

Dr. Enders in a clinic in Sitio St. Mary Grace.

In his last mission January to March, Dr. Enders, a member of the French organization Solidarite Homeopathie (SH) saw and treated more patients coming from urban poor communities. Dr. Enders also rendered his services for poor farmers during a medical mission in Barangay Planas, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental in January 30 – 31.

Dr. Enders in a medical mission in Barangay 
Planas, Guihulngan on January 30 – 31.

With Dr. Enders was SH pharmacist Anne Marie Roux who taught VPHCS staff how to make homeopathic remedies using mother tincture of the source plants, animals and minerals diluted in preparations of different concentrations of ethyl alcohol.

Dr. Enders who is practicing in France has been training the staff of the VPHCS staff on the practice of homeopathy and treating indigent Cebuanos with homeopathy since 2008. He has given the staff systematic, comprehensive and quality trainings on the basic theories and practice of homeopathy, different remedies and indications, common illnesses and remedies, making a patient profile and arriving at a remedy, and other topics on homeopathy. Actual patients were also seen and treated during the trainings aside from lectures.

Homeopathic pharmacist Anne Marie Roux 
conducts training on making homeopathic 
remedies to VPHCS staff.

Clinics of the staff with Dr. Enders were held during his recent mission in Sitio Lawis in Barangay Pasil and Sitio St. Mary Grace in Barangay Talamban, both of which are poor communities in Cebu City More than 200 patients were seen, treated and managed properly with homeopathy. Records and pictures of each patient were properly taken and kept in the office computers for documentation and file purposes. The trained staff actively treated the patients with Dr. Enders. Most of the patients who were also seen the past years claimed improvement of their symptoms with their treatment.

Anne Marie Roux instructs a VPHCS staff 
how to make a homeopathic remedy dilution

Homeopathy is a non-toxic system of medicine used to treat illness and relieve discomfort of a wide variety of health conditions. It is practiced by health care providers including medical physicians, chiropractors, homeopathic physicians, midwives and many others throughout the world.

Founded by German doctor Samuel Hahnemann in the 1790s, homeopathy is the art and the science of healing the sick by using substances capable of causing the same symptoms, syndromes and conditions when administered to healthy people, treating like with like (Similia similibus curentur), aiming to stimulate self-healing processes.

It is a form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Homeopathy uses over 2,000 different remedies which are chosen to suit a patient's characteristics, as well as to treat his symptoms. Information on such remedies has been collected for nearly 200 years. Clinical cases and recent scientific trials using these remedies have been documented.

Dr. Enders sees a patient in Pasil.

Balay Kahimsog accepts bookings

The Balay Kahimsog continues to accept bookings for seminars, retreats and other gatherings of government agencies, schools, and non-government organizations at affordable prices.

The building overlooks the Visayan Sea 

and the magnificent mountains of Bohol.

The Balay Kahimsog is a concrete two-storey building located at the top of the hills of Barangay Cambanac, Baclayon, overlooking the quiet sea on one side and the magnificent mountains on the other side. Surrounded by trees, vegetables and flowers, it is reached by any vehicle about 15 minutes ride through scenic rolling hills from the main highway of Baclayon, about seven kilometers from Tagbilaran City.

It is a training center for health workers in community-based health programs (CBHPs) in Central Visayas region, and a resource center for primary health care and alternative forms of medicine including herbal medicine. 

A spacious open-air conference hall that could accommodate 150 persons occupies the entire second floor.

The open spacious second floor 

can accommodate up to 150 persons.

Its first floor has a dormitory that could accommodate twenty persons, an air-conditioned room for two to three persons, an office, a kitchen, a dining area and a library. 

The dining area

The lobby, hallway and library.

The dormitory

To generate income for the programs and services of the CBHPs, the center has been accepting bookings. Proceeds also support medical and dental missions, health skills trainings and alternative medical practices such as herbal medicine preparation, ventusa, acupuncture and homeopathy.

Built primarily from funds generated by the Fil-Am Center for Community Health and Development (FACCHD) in Pleasanton, Califonia, U.S.A, the construction took nearly four years. It started operation in the second quarter 2009 and has since then accepted bookings from different groups.

With its fresh air and magnificent view, it is also a perfect place for just staying over for tranquility, a brief respite from the hustles and bustles of city life.