Greetings, everyone! My name is Irene Masocol Pacol. I was born on Lanai and attended Lanai High and Elementary School up to the fourth grade then moved to the Big Island. I graduated from Hilo High School and pursued a profession in the medical field. My dream came true and I graduated from the St. Francis School of Nursing.
For the past three years, I have been fortunate in being a lay volunteer and go to the Philippines to render medical surgical and dental service with Aloha Medical Mission. Volunteers pay the costs for their plane fare, food, and lodging but transportation for the medical volunteers to and from the hospital is provided. Surgical and dental services are free of charge but people are required to bring their own food, water, bed sheets, blankets, pillow and toilet paper. Mission volunteers, also, must supply their own toilet paper.
Unpleasant but a realistic experience is the unavailability of flushed toilets and having to dispose of soiled toilet tissue in waste baskets. To remedy that problem in the Kabankalan Hospital where we worked, a bucket of water was poured down the toilet then flushed. Another medical/health procedure carried out is seeing young boys who have just been circumcised walking around with their legs spread and playing with other boys.
My last mission of March 2014 was in the town of Kabankalan on the island of Negros.
Negros is divided into two parts: Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. The sugar capital of the Philippines is Negros Occidental. After the mission, my friends and I traveled to the island of Palawan for rest and recreation. While there I learned that Filipinos, like the Japanese, spoke different dialects. The dialect of the muslim woman who came from Mindanao was Marano, in Negros it’s Hiliganon, from Cebu it’s Cebuanon, and from Palawan it’s Cayonon. Although poverty stricken, people in the Philippines are resilient. They appear happy. strong, calm, very kind, respectful and gentle. They smile and raise their eyebrows in greeting others.
The past two years I went to the town of Talibon on the Visayan island of Bohol. In 2013 when the mission was over, I visited the town of Tabuelan on the island of Cebu in search of my father’s family. It was such a thrill and gratifying moment when I finally got to meet my relatives! Â
I’m blessed in being able to make a difference as a medical missionary and give back to my roots in the Philippines. I am forever grateful that my parents came as immigrants to Hawaii and provided our ohana with better opportunities to succeed in life.