Blog Series | Leira Lew
Updated by Leira Lew on July 27, 2021
19th century French novelist Gustave Flaubert once remarked, “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world”. On this trip to Roxas, Palawan, I could not have said it better. My eyes were opened to the beautifully diverse people and languages, sights and smells, food and culture that other countries gifted to their travelers. I traveled with a group of twelve Calvin undergraduates and two alums to see a glimpse of the world of medical service trips. Specifically, we shadowed Dr. Glenn Geelhoed of Mission to Heal and the medical staff at a rural hospital in the island of Palawan called Palawan Baptist Hospital. After visiting the Philippines, I took home five main lessons: (1) the warmth of the wonderful Palawan/Filipino culture, (2) the universality of social divides (3) the great need for healthcare, (4) the generosity of provider teams, and (5) the power of group dynamics.
First up? The Palawan and Filipino culture.
Walking out of the airport, I noticed there were so many cars and taxis that the air smelled of gasoline. The warm lights on the high rises and the sheer number of buildings and diverse street architecture converged to form a beautiful cityscape. Christmas decorations welcomed us as we drove to our host’s house. Both the chaos of packed traffic and the calm order of our kind driver as he weaved in and out of traffic effortlessly greeted us. The latest data estimates that 13.1 million people occupy Manila each day (Philippines Statistics Authority, 2016). Once there, the housing staff welcomed us and our guide, Dr. G (note: a person different from Dr. Geelhoed), explained how his mentor had opened up his home to house us. It was such a blessing and completely out of his generosity. I soon learned that the friendly chickens we saw out front also served as alarm clocks. Roosters crowed at 4:30 am each morning. Adjusting my sleep pattern after my flight was pretty rough at first in addition to the roosters, but as the trip went on, I imagined that this may be how perhaps some people wake up in Roxas and rural areas. It was a great reminder to me of people’s connection to animals.
The smell of sweet bread, fresh fruit, rice, and eggs filled the home that morning. These seemed to be staples of the Filipino breakfast. We would later taste wonderful local honey, fresh local fish, and fried Spring rolls called “Lumpia” at Roxas to add to our food experiences. Air conditioning is a luxury, so fans were the go-to source for cooling.
We travelled to Roxas the next day. Upon arriving, we were given a warm welcome by the Palawan hospital staff. Tita E, the hospital coordinator and our point person for the trip, showed us the island and also the culture. We listened as leaders taught us how the Philippines is considered a second world country, with pockets of very developed cities/rural areas contrasted to pockets of very poor, rural/city areas. There were very few people who would be considered obese when we looked around in Palawan. The Western Diet with its wonderful convenience but also its poor nutrition and high calories had yet to make its mark in this part of the world. Granted, obesity in the USA has many unique social determinants of health that make it hard to compare to other countries’ health challenges and determinants.
Many staffers educated us on the past occupation periods of Spain and the US. Because of the Philippines’ deep Spanish influence and their close proximity to East Asian countries, the local chaplain and X-ray technician J talked of how some Filipinos have more features of their Latino roots (when Spain brought prisoners to the Philippines) while they may have family members who carries features of their East Asian roots. For example, my housemate, Dr. R, said that she considers herself to look more Chinese, while her siblings did not. It was beautiful to see the diversity in facial features and heritages here in the Philippines. In addition, I noticed that many of the older staff were not only medical professionals, but were very closely linked to the church. For instance, some were married to pastors, had relatives that were pastors, or pastors themselves. On weekends, staff were actively involved in local ministries, if not leaders of their own ministries outside of PBH. It was inspiring to see their work in the communities and how they connected regularly with so many people. Many staffers were in their twenties and single. They explained how many are not encouraged to date until after all of their schooling and post-grad schooling is finished.
One of the first necessities for surviving and thriving in Roxas, was learning how to get around via public transportation. For local travels, riding on a motorcycle attached to a little cab forming what’s called a “trike” was the way to go and cost twelve pesos (or 25 U.S. cents) per ride. It was the most fun cab ride I had been on ever, and often entertaining to see how many people we could fit from our team. Or, if a person was going further, a bus came every half hour and cost 30 pesos. Inside the bus were telenovelas, music, and other media. Some girls and I rode on the roof one time to see what it was like. Public transportation and safety had a different meaning here; rules are less strict than the United States. In other words, what we may consider to be a normally filled bus in the States, I think our Filipino friends might have regarded it as half full in that region. Regarding the people’s view of the environment, the land was as beautiful as the culture – lush and green, full of produce and lined with beautiful beaches.
Some other interesting things I noticed were the popularity of processed foods like in the States and a different regard for waste management. It seems that processed foods have taken off even in the most rural corners of Palawan. Many families in Roxas had a little shop at their window to sell many small delicious snacks. Dr. Geelhoed, or “Dr. G”, explained that when a person is more worried about surviving at the present, the status of the future and survival of the environment is not at the front of one’s concerns. To most, the forest seems like an endless green that cannot be harmed by discarding trash wherever one wants to. That was interesting to me. I wish I had asked my Filipino friends, though, their thoughts on the matter. The area of Palawan was very rural near Roxas. A small town was there, and there were a lot of fields of rice and caribou.
Meeting the people, I felt our Filipino friends had a lot in common with my Korean roots in some of their expressions. I felt they valued family time immensely, education, and honored the elderly. They also have most gatherings around food like the States and Korea. However, in regard to warm versus cold cultures and unlike Korean culture, I felt the Philippines had a very warm culture. Furthermore, regarding language, most Filipinos speak English as they teach it in all of their schools and hold university in English. J and Dr. R opened my eyes to how there are so many tribes in the Philippines and a vast array of dialects. It seemed that our Filipino friends were very aware of their tribal roots and their customs, as well as the customs of most of the other major tribes. One nurse from our hospital, C, is from a tribe where they end all of their sentences with a tongue click, and so J was joking that we should go up to her and say, “Hello“ with a tongue click. We didn’t do that but it was an interesting talk! The staff was so serious about and dedicated to their work, but sure knew how to have a good time and laugh with friends.
