Medical and Dental Clinic Benefits 1,770 Clients
JASHAA-USA successfully completed its third medical mission on February 19 and 20, 2007. The medical and dental free clinic served a total of 1,767 JASHS students, their parents and siblings, as well as teachers.
This project was made possible through the collaborative efforts of alumni, teachers and students. Overall coordinator was Elly Lising, current President of the Northern California Chapter of JASHAA-USA. In Manila, the groundwork and coordination were led by Roger Balbuena, class ‘61 and two science teachers, Grace Santoyo and Myrna Banas. The Adopt An Abadian (AAA) “scholars” were tapped for the administrative and other housekeeping chores.
US-based alumni who participated in the mission included Cora Navarro-Andres, Zeny Romero-de Guzman, Ludy Tenorio, Minerva Gan-Elepano, Susie Canlas, Ben Santos, Isagani Pugao, Robert Young, Tony Pascua, Jess Enriquez and Elly Lising.
In addition to funding from JASHAA-USA, donations of dental anesthesia were secured through the efforts of Danny de Guzman, President of JASHAA-USA and Elly Lising.
On the side, the visiting alumni, who are mostly Adopt An Abadian (AAA) sponsors, met with the 31 AAA “scholars” to impart some inspirational messages. It was an emotional first time meeting of the sponsors with their “adopted” kids. Ludy Tenorio, a retired school teacher from LA surprised the kids with cash gifts. As a token of their appreciation, the students gave a choral rendition of a local composition to the delight of everyone.
Touched by the sight of the needy students as well as the project’s impact, at least three visiting alumni came forward to be sponsors in the coming school year, namely Minerva Elepano and Ben Santos of Los Angeles and Cora Andres from Pennsylvania.
