Kalibo is the site chosen for week 2 of Operation Taghoy’s mission 2009. Kalibo is the capital of Aklan province in the northwest of Panay Island, Philippines. Kalibo is about 45 minutes from Manila by plane. Operation Taghoy has worked at this site many times before and we look forward to working with familiar friends and smiling faces in addition to being a part of improving the children’s lives who will receive the reparative lip and cleft palate procedures throughout the upcoming week.
The Uplift Internationale team arrived in Kalibo on Sunday, February 22, 2009. The warm Filipino welcome was felt immediately. There were banners and signs visible throughout the city welcoming Operation Taghoy. On Sunday evening we dined with local Rotarians at a dinner hosted by Congressman Florencio Miraflores. Thank you for your hospitality!
The team is made up of 39 volunteers and is multi-national in nature with volunteers from Hong Kong, Bahrain, England, Philippines and the United States. Many of the volunteers this week have been on missions to Kalibo in the past and were very impressed with the hospital improvements. Our surgeons have the honor of being the FIRST to perform surgeries in the newly remodeled operating rooms. All of us familiar with the devastation of the recent typhoon were glad to see just how beautiful the hospital looked!
