Last July 30 – August 2, 2009, we went to a 4 day trip to Dipolog City for the Surgical Mission that includes hernia and goiter. It was my first time to go to an out-of-town mission. The city government welcomed us with garlands and foods!

We ate at Seven Treasures inside Top Plaza Hotel(where we stayed). On the first day, we setup the things that needs to be set, interviewing, BPing. Oh yeah, we were doctors one day! haha. The DoT speaker mistaken us as doctors. Second day was the day! The day to operate the patients. Everything went well. We had 44 patients all in all. Some were deferred, some were absent. We had a one-day operation/mission. So the third day, we had our closing program where me, Stephanie, Aunt Leila, Aunt Tata, performed the “swo-yee” entitled “Ee-Cha-Ren”. While we were performing it, the people started to follow us! How touching! *cries* Okay. It was a success! We practiced it for like 30 mins only. The “dressing”, giving away of souvenirs, happened this day. After the program, the ever supportive and approachable City Mayor Evelyn T. Uy brought us to Cogon Eco-Tourism Park. We ate our lunch there with her family, the Department of Tourism (DoT), and City Health Officials (CHO). The next stop was to the Sungkilaw Falls, one of the tourist spot in Dipolog. The water was cold(duh, of course!). We enjoyed taking pictures with the falls. After this long trip to sungkilaw falls, we went back to the hotel and took a rest. We had our last dinner that night. The DoT and the gang, awarded us with certificate of appreciation. We went to Dipolog Boulevard after this. The next day would be the bye-bye day. We had our last breakfast. The mayor gave us sardines(Nam Namm) each. The group went to buy pasalubongs after. After a few hours, we stopped by Jollibee Ipil to eat our late lunch. After 3 hours, we’re back in our home, Zamboanga City. yehey!

I want to thank the Mayor, DoT, CHO, volunteers, nurses, the hospitals, the doctors, Tzu Chi, for this successful mission in Dipolog. Thank you!!!