"MAHARLIKA CHARITY FOUNDATION, INC.,
TRAILBLAZER OF OUTREACH MISSIONS IN MINDANAO"

Maharlika Missions are normally conducted with the precision of a Swiss timepiece and the harmony of a symphony orchestra. Each volunteer; from the laundry woman, social workers, drivers, bio technicians to the nurses and doctors, has a task and duty to perform. The mission sites are surveyed by an advance party and the local counterparts are identified. The site for the makeshift, operating rooms ranges from a sports stadium, a Mayor’s Office, a Health Center, a Community Hall or any available building in the area that can be secured, sanitized and set up for operation. Operating a mission may require the use of fabricated operating tables made of indigenous materials like bamboo. Scrub suits of personnel, linens, surgical drapes and patient’s gowns are made from recycled flour sacks. Utilization of the local barrio health workers and nurses from the community in the pre and post operative areas help greatly in gaining the trust and confidence and reducing the cultural anxiety of patients towards strangers. The barrio health workers’ also serve as interpreters and are left with the responsibility of caring for the patient’s post operative needs as well as referrals that need to be done.

Normally, the Missions last for a period of 5 days but in many instances are done ahead of schedule with enough time for post-operative care of patients.

From A Cocoon to a Butterfly

Maharlika has engaged in charitable services for persons with disability since 1973. It has its own city-based center fully equipped with facilities for eye and reconstructive surgeries. The Foundation, for 33 years, has existed with minimal foreign funding. It derives its support from the contribution of local benefactors. It also has a good number of volunteer medical specialists, nurses, and technical personnel.

To date, it has developed a corps of volunteer from the different cities and provinces of Mindanao who are tapped to assist in other missions. This network of volunteers extends the Maharlika’s reach island-wide. With the recent upsurge of terrorist activities, Maharlika has evolved a Mindanao-wide volunteer network of Trauma Surgeons proficient in the triage of trauma casualties and the training, organization and coordination of trauma teams.

Getting into the Band Wagon

Local civic organizations like the Rotary Clubs of Mindanao augment the needs for medical supplies and eye lenses and have assisted in networking with the Rotary Clubs in Japan who donated funds for the acquisition of equipment for the Mobile Operating Van.

Post-operation of Harelip Patient	Mobile Operating Room Van at Dapitan

Maharlika has also a standing Memorandum of Agreement with Operation Smile International for assistance in its harelip programs. The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office of the Philippine Government also provides medical supplies and underwrites the cost of referred patients for surgery.

The Local Governments provide the food, housing and security needs of the team.