Report Team 3

Team 5 prepares for departure and team 4 is at work in San Joaquin. Susanne Mebes and Katarzyna Ostendorf from team 3 wrote down the following impressions:

Just like our colleagues from team 2 we were shattered by what we saw after our arrival in Tacloban and San Joaquin. It is hardly imaginable how the places look like that were destroyed by the typhoon. Everywhere garbage, destroyed buildings and stench of burned plastic. Only at the end of our stay you could see the green of the new plants in the grey-brown landscape.

The takeover of the work in the camp on Sunday was characterized by great friendship and helpfulness of our colleagues. It was the first aid mission for both of us, Susanne and Katarzyna, so everything was new to us. The training was a good preparation for us, but still the contents of the KIT boxes were sometimes a surprise for us. The previous teams had also purchased many other medicines for the actual demand and we needed to get to know the stock of our pharmacy. We optimized the daily work for us and reorganized the stocks.

The collaboration with the doctors and paramedics from NAVIS was characterized by mutual trust in respective competencies and continuous agreements. Like described by team 2 before, we needed a lot of flexibility and creativity at our work.

The teamwork with NAVIS was great fun. The jointly prepared dinners were delicious every time. The cool hours after that and the conversations in a language we needed to understand first (Bavarian) are unforgettable. Especially the jokes, that we needed to be translated to German.

We won’t forget the omnipresent children with their plays, dances and songs.

In der Erinnerung bleiben auch die allgegenwärtigen Kinder mit deren Spielen, Tänzen und Gesang. From big to small they all romped in our camp as well as in all other camps or mobile hospitals. Their untamed joy of live was contagious.

We also participated in church live. The visit of the mass, which was celebrated by the bishop, and the following banquet were an expression of the enormous hospitality of our hosts. We met this hospitality everywhere. The patients were not only very patient and waited in queue for our doctors and after that for us, they were also always very friendly. Sometimes we all laughed together after we explained the intake of the medicines, especially the usage of metered dose inhalers. The people helped each other when one of them didn’t understand English very well or didn’t understand our drawings on the medicine bags because of lacking art skills on our side.

One thing surely stays in our Philippine memories: the church bell. Its unforgettable sound waked us every day at 4 am. The last days it was accompanied by Christmas carols from the speakers of the church. Many colleagues have a new alarm tone in their mobile phones.