By Joel Jurasinski | Project Leader
Greetings from Siquijor Island in the Philippines!
I would like to take this opportunity to update you on the status of our ministry and project this year. First, some Good News! Yesterday, July 7th, we were able to get our last family home from Davao to Siquijor Island. The Maghanoy family (Father, Mother, and two handicapped sons) have been stranded there since February. They were due to come home in early March, but the islands have been on lockdown to local travel due to the corona virus. We have cancelled and rebooked them seven times on flights which were never allowed to fly, but finally we got them a commercial flight from Davao to Cebu. From Cebu, we were able to arrange a private charter flight to Siquijor, luckily everything worked out according to plan and they arrived safely in Siquijor. Now they must endure a 14-day quarantine before they can be reunited with their teenage daughter that did not make the trip. During these five months, your donations were used to support their living expenses on the island of Samal at a local NGO that takes care of handicapped children. You also made it possible for them to fly home to be reunited with the rest of the family. Thanks to all of you for your support!
Plans for the Immediate Future
Currently, inter-island travel has become a very difficult process due to local and national regulations to prevent the spread of the corona virus. Our original plan for this year was to make five medical trips to Davao, but that is no longer possible. We plan on spending this time working with the Tebow Hospital to establish a local clubfoot casting clinic on Negros Island, and working to bring a physical therapy center to the island of Siquijor. The establishment of a clinic on Siquijor will give us the resources to help children prior to surgery, and after we return from surgery. Currently there are no options on our island for physically disabled children to receive this type of care.
I would like to thank all our donors for all your support, without you none of this is possible. Also, I would like to thank our fundraising partner GlobalGiving for the grant given to our ministry which made it much easier to bring our family home!
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