THE RESULTS OF THE JANUARY DENTAL MISSION

Come all who will for free dental treatment!

Dental Mission January 9-13, 2012. "Svanen" Dental Clinic from Lyngby (Copenhagen) joined us for a 5 days mission and treated 503 patients! Well done!

Back row: If  Klaus (documentary team), Einar (Rise Above), Michelle, Carina, Lone (volunteer with Rise Above), Victor (documentary team), Mars (working full time with Rise Above), Flemming (Rise Above) -

Middle row: Johnny (working full time with Rise Above), Marie (Rise Above), Britt, Camilla, Per, Birgit, Dorte, Elisabet (Rise Above) -

Front row: Gabriel (Rise Above), Benedikte, Bodil, Birgitte, Mahzad, Carsten (documentary team) and Annafia

The dental mission was held at two locations. The first 3 days, we set up the clinic at Cebu Missionary Foundation’s school at Inayawan Rubbish Dump. It was quite an experience to see how people are living and surviving on top of the garbage in such terrible conditions. Yet, as Filipinos, there were always a smile and a welcoming and happy spirit. The contrasts between Denmark and the Philippines are so vast, it’s hard to fully comprehend how one can even find happiness in such a filthy and stinking place. So to have the free clinic operational there for 3 days, was a wonderful experience, and the whole team worked hard so that as many as possible could be treated.

Periodically, it rained heavily. It was good the rain had stopped when we went for a walk through the "residential" area.

Those SMILES! It was so touching!

The children were having fun seeing all the foreigners walk through their area and taking photos. Filipinos love photo-taking!

And what about a playground like this one?

Residents from the rubbish dump waiting in line for treatment

The 2 last days, the dental clinic was set up at a school for the Badjao population in the slums of Alaska Mambaling. Here some of the team are looking out from 2nd floor to watch the people in the "village".

Many got their front teeth fixed

Mars and Johnny are a big part of our work here in Cebu. They are two talented boys who love to learn. Mars has learned how to make dentures, and Johnny is learning technical stuff

It takes a lot of concentration to get a denture just right

Before...

...and after. It makes a big difference in a young person's life

This little girl already had a bad infection, so she was given free antibiotics. Marie also gave her a toothbrush from 3DP - Steka Reklame A/S, who sponsored 10.000 children's toothbrushes. Everyone were given a toothbrush, and the rest will be distributed in needy areas to help improve the dental health in Cebu

The dental team worked hard to treat as many patients as possible - and the documentary team watched constantly to make sure they got to record some good stories to tell

We have hundreds of photos from the 5 days dental mission, and we would have liked to share them all with you, because it was so inspiring to see the change it made in each of the patients. We are so very thankful for the dental team from “Svanen” who made this dental mission possible. You definitely made a big difference, and you’re always welcome to come to Cebu again. We wish you all the best for 2012, and that this beginning of the year was an experience that will live with you for the whole year and more.

DENTAL MISSION AT INAYAWAN RUBBISH DUMP

A team of 12 arrived last Saturday from Denmark for the Dental Mission that we are holding from January 9-13. The dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants and office personnel all work at “Svanen” (the Swan) dental clinic from Lyngby at the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr. Per Bjørndal, co-owner of the clinic, has joined our dental mission twice before, and was so touched by the wonderful experiences he had, that he decided to suggest to all his work-mates that they go to Cebu together, and as a team make a difference  for extremely poor and destitute people in Cebu.

Dr. Per and his assistant, Birgitte treating a patient from the rubbish dump

The dental team did fundraising for their trip, and brought with them a good amount of materials from companies who donated toward the dental mission. Flemming and Elisabet Hansen worked on getting it all organized for the Dental Mission that started Monday morning. We want to express our gratefulness! You are helping us make a big difference!

In Cebu, friends of Rise Above Foundation also gave donations toward the mission, making it possible to treat everyone for free.

Before the team started, they had to get acquainted with what kind of medicines, materials and instruments were available

This is how the clinic is set up. Everyone are working well together, and there was plenty to do for everyone

Mercedes, a 32 years old woman had 5 teeth removed, including two of her front teeth. Mars from Rise Above Cebu and Birthe made a small denture with 2 teeth to replace the front teeth she lost

No wonder Mercedes is smiling. Not only was she rid of her pain, she also received the artificial teeth that again made her feel like a beautiful woman

Mercedes together with the two technicians who made her new teeth - Mars and Britt

Lone, far left is volunteering with Rise Above for 6 months, and Lene are visiting for 3 weeks. They worked at the sterilization area, seeing to that all the instruments were washed and sterilized before being returned to the trays

Dr. Camilla and her assistant, Michelle worked hard to treat as many patients as possible

Dr. Per with his assistant Dorte together with two of the teachers from Cebu Missionary Foundation and the mother, all tried to encourage this little 5 year old girl to open her mouth for treatment, but she plainly refused. They will return again tomorrow. Maybe she will let the dentist extract her tooth. We'll see. It was filmed by Victor, who is one of a team of 3 that's working on making a documentary on the work the dentists from Denmark are doing here in Cebu.

The children are so brave. Only very few have cried. This girl is playing with Joe the Rabbit, who was here to cheer up a lot of kids, while she is waiting for treatment.

Day 2 is almost over, and the team have 3 more days to go. Stay tuned for more news from the Dental Mission among the extreme poor in Cebu City, Philippines.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We from Rise Above Cebu want to wish all our friends world wide a fruitful and fulfilling New Year!

We had a lovely time through the month of December, bringing cheer to people in need. Many gave a donation toward our request of giving a “Christmas gift to poor families”, so here we want to share a few photos.

Marie visited the Baclaan family in their "house" to give them their Christmas gifts in the form of 1 sack of rice, canned goods, coffee, milk powder, toilet paper, soaps etc.

Mars is working for the foundation, and he is a great help - it seems so easy for him to carry a 50 kilo sack of rice - and even smiling!!

Eljen and Tawie Mag-aso and their family received the bundles of joy at Umapad rubbish dump

Felicidad and her two children live at the vegetable market where they sell vegetables to make enough money for food. Since they don't have electricity, the children study in the evening by the light from the trucks that come into the market with fruits and vegetables.

A picture tells a thousand words! The happiness radiates from this family after they received their gifts.

Again this year, our kids, who have now turned into teens, did their puppet show again in institutions for handicapped and abandoned children.

Many groups contacted us as they wanted to give of their abundance to make Christmas special for the poor. Here is a team from the British Telecoms' Call Center in Cebu who brought food and gifts in the form of school materials for 300 children

The building of our Rise Above Community Center is progressing, and Timex Philippines moved in just before Christmas and started on the construction of the medical/dental clinic

Juliette is Marites' friend, and they studied together. Juliette was born with 1 1/2 leg, and had the crippled leg amputated so she could get an artificial leg and learn to walk. Because of poverty, the quality of the leg is very bad, and it gives her constant pain. Marites requested we help Juliette by fundraising for her to get a proper artificial leg. We have already raised US$ 900. A new leg costs between US$ 1050-1500. We would like to get her the best, so that she will not have to suffer anymore. Can you help?

Between Christmas and New Year, Flemming, Elisabet and their two children, Suzy (21) and Johnny (15) took a trip up to the north of the island to visit a livelihood project where they focus on goat raising. We wanted to share a photo of the beautiful scenery - all lush and green and very fertile. It rains 10 months out of the year (with lots of sunny days in between) causing everything to grow effortlessly. In the front, the farmer had just harvested sugarcane.

For the 11th Christmas in a row, Flemming and Elisabet have performed as Mr. and Mrs. Santa, bringing lots of cheer to the children. As you can see at the top of the page, they enjoyed making Christmas special, and are looking forward to do it again at the end of 2012 as well.

We are so happy to share the good news of our work and accomplishments with you. Thank you for your support and encouragement. You are always welcome to come and visit us. Just stay in touch, and we will look forward to seeing you again!

With love from

Rise Above Cebu Team

Christmas love gifts for poor families

As we have done for several years already, we have requested help from our friends, offering to bring their Christmas donation in the form of care packages out to poor families in Cebu. Loaded with rice and dry goods, the team set out to bring Christmas to families who are very poor and have no chance to make Christmas different from any other days of the year.

Suzy, Abigail, Einar, Marie and Aida - ready for the trip to share "bundles of joy" to the poor.

This is the family of one of our sponsor children (front). They have no water or electricity in their house. Being unemployed, he father gathers sand from the river to earn a little bit for their family. Receiving the care packages made a big difference for them.

Thank you Mars for helping us carry the heavy sacks of rice!

Peregrina is a single mother with 7 children. Some of her children receive sponsorship for education. They were so thankful for the Care packages they received. The sack of rice will carry them over the holidays and well into January.

Peregrina received training for the bag making program, and has become one of the best ones to weave the bags. Making bags is her only source of income, so she is working hard to earn for her family.

We want to express our gratitude to all of our friends who gave to help the poor families. We wish all of our friends a wonderful Christmas Celebration and a Happy New Year! God bless you!

Love from the Rise Above Team in Cebu

 

Fundraising for Juliette’s s artificial leg.

Right-click on this safe link: http://vimeo.com/33757128 and it will bring you to Vimeo. We only have a little bit more to go to raise the needed funds, so please help us to help this sweet young lady.

You can donate through our Paypal account. Just copy and paste this link onto your URL: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7ZX258SUK6DA4

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CONGRATULATIONS TO JEANREY CORDOVA

HONOR STUDENT – STUDYING FOR A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN ACCOUNTANCY

A few years back, Dr. Per, one of the volunteer dentists from Denmark, told us that he would like to help a young person in Cebu receive a good education. Having just atteded a Kiwanis meeting where one of the points on their agenda was college sponsoring, we were told that they had interviewed and put 30 honor students through an exam and had given scholarships to the 10 top students. Thinking about Per’s request, we asked them if we could get the name of the student that came in # 11. They happily gave us his name and contact number.

Per gives Jeanrey's family a Christmas gift every year, and here Marie is delivering the donation to Jeanrey and his mother

Jeanrey was elated to be contacted by the Rise Above Foundation, and even though he was not one of the 10 best students, here he got another chance. We told Jeanrey, that a sponsorship for college is expensive, and he would have to show himself worthy of his sponsor’s trust and faith in him. He promised that he would do his best to honor his sponsor’s faith in him.

This is now 4 1/2 years ago. Through the years, we have sent copies of the report cards and personal notes to Jeanrey’s sponsor. His grades have been good, and he even took up Summer classes so that he could excel. Recently, Jeanrey came and showed us his papers and medals and he truly has kept his promise.

Jeanrey was very proud when he came to show us all his medals.

1st place Gold Medal
Cebu Federation Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants – Philippine Accounting Standard/Philippine Financial Reporting Standard Challenge.

1st place Gold Medal
University of Cebu Level 2 Intercampus Accounting Quiz Bowl

1st place Gold Medal
University of Cebu Science Quiz.

2nd place Silver Medal
Theory of Accounts, Practical Accounting

3rd place Bronze Medal
Cebu Federation Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants – Business law and Taxation Quiz

3rd place Bronze Medal
Regional Federation Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants Cup

3rd place Bronze Medal
Intercollegiate Finance Competition (Central & Visayas)

4th Place
Management Advisory Services Quiz (Regional Federation)

It is impressive to see Jeanrey with all his medals. Jeanrey comes from a very poor family. Without the sponsorship from Dr. Per, this boy would not have had a chance to show what he is capable of. We are so happy to have been the ones that helped him on the way to a brighter future.

Jeanrey showing us his diplomas

Jeanrey has another few month of studying until he gets his Bachelor of Accountancy degree. We are confident that he will achieve his goals. We are rooting for you, Jeanrey. You make us proud!

RISE ABOVE COMMUNITY CENTER

Progress is being made. A group of Canadians from Developing World Connections worked with us for 10 days, and in that time, the rest of the wall around the property was done. We appreciate all your hard work and support for the center.

Kenny putting his all into building the wall. Thanks Kenny!

At the same time, the construction workers that were laying the roof, worked long hours to get it done.

They way they build houses here is quite different than what we are used to in the West. Normally, they have a scaffold where long bamboos are tied together with rope. At least here they're using an iron scaffold, but still it looks a bit dangerous, doesn't it?

The roof is on!

The people who are working there are volunteers from Cebu, who asked if they could please come and make food for the children in the slums next to our center. They cooked for 300 children! We always welcome people who would like to give to help the less fortunate.

One of the boys from the slums together with Mars and Johnny worked on spreading out the truckloads of lime stone that was brought there to level the ground.

 

Right: Gabriel Tangalin who is the coordinator at the building site together with Sherwin and collegue from Timex Philippines. Timex are sponsoring the building of the dental- and medical clinic.

Stay tuned for more news from Rise Above Foundation in Cebu.

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteers from Developing World Connections at Rise Above Community Center.

COMPLETING THE WALL AROUND THE PROPERTY.

We were again blessed to have another team of volunteers from the Canadian Foundation: Developing World Connections. This is the second time we have had volunteers from their foundation this year, and every time they come it’s to help with the building of our new community center, as they are committed to aid the Rise Above in this project.

Below are photos from their 10 days stay with us. It was a lot of hard work, but also lots of fun!

First the gate and temporary wall had to be removed

Every day the children from the slums came to watch them work. Digging in the dry and compact soil/road was just plain hard work.

The holes for the pillars have to be deep to give the support needed for the wall

Getting above ground

Every day children came to watch the foreigners working, and to keep them outside the building site, a rope was used to make a "line" and the children willingly obeyed - staying away from danger

Kenny, Mark and Tom cementing the wall

Nario, one of Rise Above's workers and a mason, was directing the work, here together with Grant, Kenny, Mars (his back) and Mark

With sunny weather and temperatures above 30 degrees, it was needful to take a rest now and then

Day by day the wall grew taller. Here with Grant, Kenny, Kristian, Mark and Nario

Mars and Johnny are from Cebu and they have been working with us for over a year. They are very diligent, and the Canadian team appreciated their cheerful and happy participation

Mars and Johnny live at the building site, and here they are in their little house, a "nipa" house which we build for the caretakers. Kristian is of Filippine background and enjoyed working together with Mars and Johnny

Almost done - a high wall, that will keep the property safe

There were some opportunities to sight-seeing in Cebu. Cebu is the city where the Spaniards made their first strong-hold in the Philippines through bringing in their Jesuit priests and merchants. The famous battle where the explorer Ferdinand Magellan got killed happened off the coast of Mactan Island. The warrior’s name was Lapulapu, and the city on Mactan Island got it’s name from this local hero.

Lapulapu - a great Filippine hero

Cebu is also known for the skilled guitar makers

The team: Vice president of Developing World Connections, Canada - Mr. Tom Fair, Kristian, Earnie, Kenny, Jenny and Gabe, Project managers from Rise Above, Grant and Mark. Photographer: Al

Al, we needed to get you in there also, here at the appreciation party on the last day after work, in Happy Valley together with Jenny, Mars and Johnny

We want to express our gratitude to the Developing World Connections for the great job their volunteers did. It makes a big difference for us, and all of us enjoyed meeting and working together with more volunteers from Canada. You were great. We will miss you, and hope that we will see you again here in Cebu.

The building is scheduled to be finished at the end of 2011.  The Aboitiz Foundation from Cebu is the main sponsor of the building, and Rise Above are matching that grant with 30% if the actual building cost. We are still seeking more sponsors, so if you would like to give a donation, please use this secure link. Thank you for your help. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Alfonso Diaz receives an artificial eye

Blind on his right eye from the age of 1

When Alfonso was one year old, his right eye was hit by a barbecue stick. Right after the incident, the mother, together with Alfonso, went to a hospital in Cebu for an eye check-up. The surgeon who was examining the eye of Alfonso, asked the mother for a big amount of money, but because they were so poor, they couldn’t afford the operation. So nothing was done to the right eye of Alfonso with the result that the eyeball shriveled up.

Alfonso is one of the sponsor children and is a good student

Procedure

When we decided to help Alfonso, the first step was to have him undergo a series of eye check-ups at Perpetual Succour Hospital. The attending Eye Specialist, told us that Alfonso needed an eye operation which the doctor termed as “CONJUNCTIVO PLASTY’, which was scheduled at Velez General  Hospital.

Alfonso at the eye doctor

The eye operation took 2 hours and right after the operation we were allowed to go home. The doctor prescribed an Eye Drop for Alfonso, to be dropped into the operated eye 4 times a day. A series of follow-up check –ups was being conducted just to make sure that the eye had no infection, or any complication that might occur in the eye which had been operated.

If the eye would remain in good condition, then after 5 weeks, the ARTIFICIAL EYE would be placed on the right eye of Alfonso Diaz Jr.

Choosing an eye that would suit Alfonso

Fitting the eye

Alfonso came to our office in Happy Valley to show us how changed he is. Here together with Jenny.

Alfonso was so thankful that he could get a new eye. It was sponsored by “Philippines in Mind” from Denmark. He wrote the following letter.

The letter in Alfonso's handwriting

It made a big difference in Alfonso’s life to get an eye. The cost of the operation and to get the eye fitted was way beyond what Alfonso’s family would ever be able to afford, so we at the Rise Above are very grateful that we could channel this donation to help a young person to get a better chance in his life.

Article written by Elisabet Hansen and

Aida Commendador, Social Worker with Rise Above Foundation

Rise Above Community Center

Center for Women and Children

In Guadalupe in Cebu City, we are building a center that will hold a clinic, computer class room for out of school youth who have dropped out of high school because of lack of money, a kitchen, bathrooms and an outdoor dining and children’s play area.

The center will cater to families from the slum area close by, and by working with the mothers, giving them skills training, we will give them an opportunity to earn money for their family – which will give them a possibility to feed their children every day and send them to school.

Workers laying the concrete foundation

Ireneo (Gabriel) Tangalin, our contractor Marlon Ferelino and Luisa (Jenny) Pityo in front of the building while the foundation is being cemented

We are now in the process of building the roof, and when that’s done, the different rooms will be built.

We are still looking for sponsors for this center. Contact us at info@riseabove-cebu.org