Your
donations
helped save
the life of
2-yr-old
Emerald
Ashley
Lorega, a
girl with a
congenital
heart
ailment
What started as a simple profiling of the seven (7) barangays covered by the Holy Rosary Parish opened up opportunities to help bring hope to the families of four (4) children afflicted with various ailments and handicaps. In January of this year,
volunteers of the Holy Rosary Parish-Social Action Center (HRP-SAC) embarked on a profiling of the parish’s seven barangays to help identify social issues and problems that the parish community could respond to. The “Litrato ng Barangay” served as a tool that brought to the attention of HRP-SAC four cases needing immediate medical assistance. These included a 2-year old girl from Brgy. San Nicolas
who was afflicted with a congenital heart disease (Patent Ductus Arteriosus in medical terms); a 6-year old girl from Brgy. San Jose who was born with
an imperforate anus; a 4-year old girl from Brgy. San Jose and another 4-year old boy from Sto. Cristo. The last two suffered from profound hearing loss.
Recognizing that the resources of their families were insufficient to meet the medical needs of the children, HRP-SAC volunteers started preparing the necessary documents and requirements needed to seek professional help for the four beneficiaries in February. This was done in close coordination with the Chapel Pastoral Councils (CPCs), the Barangay Councils and the City Social
Welfare and Development Office. The parish linked up with various nongovernment
organizations, government institutions and private groups to facilitate delivery of the muchneeded medical services. Inocencio Magtoto Memorial Foundation, Inc. performed audiometry on ten (10) children with hearing problems to identify
the level of hearing loss and recommend possible interventions. Among those recommended for treatment were the two 4-year olds who were later
referred to Better Hearing Philippines Inc. University of Sto. Tomas Hospital (Charity Ward) for the fitting of high-powered hearing aids.
The Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital, for its part, has scheduled a surgery on the child with an imperforate anus on July 7, 2009. The procedure was originally scheduled earlier but because of the patient’s weak lungs, the operation
had to be delayed. Recently, another ailing child received assistance for a procedure called transmission electron microscopy at the Philippine General Hospital. The 7-month old baby is afflicted with Epidermolysis bullosa (EB). EB is a rare disorder characterized by the presence of extremely fragile skin and recurrent blister formation. It results to painful sores that are comparable to third degree
burns. Mobilization of resources for the HRP-SAC’s
Medical and Allied Health Services started in March when Bp. Pablo “Ambo” S. David aired an appeal to parishioners of the Holy Rosary Parish to help finance the surgery of Emerald Ashley Lorega, the two-year old child with congenital heart disease. The young patient had a successful surgery at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) last June 5, 2009, with PGH raising a counterpart fund to match
HRP’s assistance and help save the child’s life. Bp. Ambo has, since, earmarked the First Friday and last Wednesday mass collections every month for HRPSAC.
WHEELCHAIR DONATION
Still as part of its Medical and Allied Health Services, HRP-SAC distributed wheelchairs to indigent patients from various barangays of Angeles. Among the beneficiaries were a 40-year old resident of Villa Angela, Angeles City who suffered from a bone fracture as a result of an accident; a 60-year old resident of Brgy. Pulung Bulu, Angeles City who had below the knee amputation due to diabetes); and
an 18-year old resident of Brgy. Pulung Bulu, Angeles City who suffers from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
The said wheelchairs were donations from a private donor and from Bahay Pag-ibig, a center run by the Archdiocese of San Fernando for the Elderly and the Abandoned. In November 2008, Bahay Pagibig donated two wheelchairs for a 60-year old
resident of Brgy. San Jose and a 71-year old resident of Brgy. Pulung Bulu. Both beneficiaries survived cardio-vascular arrest, which diminished their ability
to move freely. Prior to the distribution of the wheelchairs, the beneficiaries had to undergo interview and screening to verify their health condition. The City Social Welfare and Development Office assisted in the assessment and
preparation of a case study for each of the beneficiaries.
HRP-Doctors’ Group
In a related development the parish, with the help of volunteer doctor Dr. Luz Torres-Hecker (an Angeles City-based Internal Medicine specialist), has started organizing a doctors’ group for its Referral Program.
A component of HRP-SAC’s Medical and Allied Health Services, the said program aims to
provide medical attention to qualified indigent patients through referrals to either public or private clinics. It is intended to benefit indigents requiring major procedures that are not easily accessible and affordable to them. To date, twenty (20) physicians of varying fields of specialization have signed up for
the HRP Doctors’ Group.
HRP-SAC hopes to attract more volunteer medical and allied health professionals to afford a wider range of services available for the parish’s poor and ailing members. This initiative is a venue for doctors to provide services not only as professionals
practicing their profession, but as Christians giving flesh to their faith through concrete acts of service for the neglected and disadvantaged in society.
Service to the Community and Society
HRP-SAC currently functions as a group under the Parish Ministry on Service – Ad Extra (extending service to the community and society). It provides the necessary services to enable the barangay pastoral councils and parish-mandated
organizations to implement programs and projects for the upliftment of the quality of life of the poor and marginalized in their immediate environment.
Its four committees (Formation & Capacitybuilding Committee, Organizational Development Committee, Program Development & Management Committee and the Secretariat) have been put in place with corresponding functions and tactical plans (from May to October 2009). Bp. Ambo regularly facilitates formation sessions for the spiritual growth and nourishment not only of the HRP-SAC volunteers but for interested parishioners and leaders. HRP-SAC is currently engaged in a number
of parish-level projects and services intended to address social concerns such as environmental protection, health promotion, advancement of the rights and welfare of marginalized sectors including women, children and persons with disabilities.
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