Life Changing Care for Disabled Filipino Children

Ministry Update During Corona Virus Crisis

Greeting from The Philippines!

Effects of Corona Virus on Ministry Efforts

As we mentioned in our update of February 26^th, we “partially” completed our first surgical trip in early February.  I say partially because we traveled to Davao with four children, all received necessary surgery but two children from the same family had to remain in Davao for follow up treatment and therapy.  The two children that travelled home to Dumaguete are doing fine, both have had their casts removed and are currently receiving physical therapy at our partner organization, Little Children of The Philippines.

The Maghanoy family (mother, father, and two teenage children) who we left in Davao have now been stranded there due to community and island shutdowns throughout the Philippines due to the spread of the corona virus.  The family was due to fly back to Dumaguete around early March, but by that time most inter-island passenger travel had been restricted to prevent spread of the virus.  In one way, the boys have benefitted due to the time extension in Davao as they were able to receive addition medical attention and physical therapy at Tebow Cure Hospital, but that now has been shut down.  This is causing emotional and financial stress on all concerned.  Cast Your Nets Ministry is supporting the family remaining on Siquijor with food and monetary support during this time.  We are also sending financial support to the NGO where they are housed to help offset their food and transportation costs.  Moreover, the family is just tired and wants to come home, but it looks like they may have at least another month before things improve.  Please pray for the Maghanoy family and their well being through this tough time.

Also, we have currently paused all planning for future trips until we have a clear picture of post-corona virus situation.

Progress on Clubfoot Clinic

During our clinic in Dumaguete in February 2019, we identified 19 children that were born and now living with Club Foot Disorder.  As the current treatment for this involves four to eight weeks of serial casting, followed by surgery, this would require at least a two to three month stay in Davao which would prove to be a great hardship on most families. We have been working with the management of the Tebow Cure Hospital to find a location for a casting clinic in the Dumaguete area.  With that, we could do all the pre-surgical casting in Dumaguete and limit the time away for surgery only, usually just one week.  On February 26^th, the Director of the Tebow Cure Hospital travelled to Dumaguete and we met with him and our partners at Little Children of The Philippines and we identified a location on their property for our clinic.  We discussed modifications for the facility and key issues about management of the clinic and a verbal agreement was reached.  We now are in search of a qualified person to train for this task.  We are very excited as this brings us one step closer to making this a reality.

Thanks to all who have donated to us and please rest assured that we are taking all precautions necessary to keep the ministry functioning through this difficult period.  Please keep us in your prayers!