While this Old Testament
phrase speaks of vendetta and of exacting justice from the wrongdoings done to
us, it becomes something more of an outreach and expression of empathy in
the case of our batch 82 under President Kimball Teng.
March 17, 2013, Sunday morning from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the CKSC Alvarado gate, our batch, in cooperation with Filipino-Chinese Dental Foundation, Inc. held the Dental Mission "Libreng Pabunot" to the first 50 indigent residents of Barangay 259, Zone 23 (the barangay of our school). Most of the officers came in full force after several meetings were conducted and assignment of duties delegated. However, the expected 50 stubs given out by Barangay Chairman Darwin Ibay weeks earlier did not equivocate into actual number of patients queuing that day. Maybe the patients got scared, or they forgot, or they got sick that day. The guards and two janitors immediately went out to the nearby areas to announce the free tooth extraction. Little by little, patients came in.. Blood pressure was first made to determine the fitness of each patient. Other than that, brief interviews were done to know who are not qualified such as the pregnant ones and those taking anti-blood coagulant medicines. After the tooth extraction, patients were given pain relievers and antibiotics. Giveaways of toothbrush, toothpaste in sachets, face towel, and plastic mugs were given to all patients and even the rejected ones. Photo-ops were taken every now and then with gleeful candor of officers with the patients, of dentists with the officers, of patients with the dentists, of officers with the officers, etc. After which the officers and dentists had a sumptuous lauriat lunch at UNO Restaurant in Escolta. It was a happy mood for everyone except of of course the ones with lesser teeth. I would like to presume that the mission ended happily - to the batch officers and dentists for sacrificing Sunday morning sleep and yet for realizing that they were able to alleviate the sufferings of people who cannot afford to pay dental fees, and most specially to the patients who must have ridden themselves of constant day-to-day toothaches, Having experienced toothache before, I can just imagine how relieved the patients must have been right now, free to sleep again tightly and eat again normally without fear of biting the wrong side of the mouth and screaming in excruciating pain. Thus the saying A Tooth For A Tooth must be rephrased to: A Tooth Lost For A Toothless Grin!
Face towels given as
giveaways to dental patients were courtesy of Nancy Aurelio while medicine such
as paracetamol, amoxicillin and hemostan were courtesy of Purisima Bello.A
plaque of appreciation was handed over to Dr. Stephanie Lim, President of
Filipino-Chinese Dental Foundation, Inc. Members of the volunteer dentists team
from Filipino-Chinese Dental Foundation, Inc. includes the following: Dr.
Leticia Salvador, Dr. Noel Abijay, Dr. Rosemary Young Chan, Dr. Sandra Chan,
Dr. Anabel Uy, Dr. Ladislawa Bais, Dr. Rosalynn Quesada and Dr. Kimberly
Bandivas. Honorary CKSC82 Presidents Joyce Dy and Melchor Te were also present.
Joyce assisted in the waiver signing of the dental patients while Melchor took
part in the giving of giveaways to the dental patients.
With the success of this activity, we in CKSC High School Batch of 1982 can show to the world that we do not only know how to dance and sing during Silver or Pearl Anniversaries in plush venues, we also know how to care and how to love. And that is what is more important in our brief lives. Kudos for all those involved in this dental mission!
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