In areas without access to proper medical care, simple illnesses like the cold can turn into a deadly disease. As a way to respond to this, Remote Area Medical Philippines travels far and wide, visiting far-flung areas at the country’s margins, to provide free healthcare to people who would otherwise be forced to go without.
A subsidiary of Remote Area Medical, RAM Philippines started working in 2013 to help the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda, a disaster that killed thousands. Many people from affected areas were not given immediate relief after the storm because of how inaccessible their locations were. Seeing that, RAM Philippines volunteers went to work.
Traveling to the areas would often be an extremely strenuous affair, like their 12-hour journey to Tagapul-an, Samar, where just reaching the area entailed flying to Tacloban, driving to the dock for 5 hours, and sailing on a public boat.
To Stan Brock, the founder of Remote Area Medical, inaccessibility to medical care hits close to home: he started the organization after he sustained an injury in Guyana, South America and could not receive immediate help as he would have to travel 26 days to reach the nearest medical center. Experiencing first-hand how fatal a lack to medical care could be, he vowed to provide medical aid to the world’s most hard-to-reach areas.
As hard-to-reach areas without medical access are also where the country’s poor and disadvantaged lie, RAM Philippines makes sure that they’re reaching those living below the poverty line, who need the free healthcare the most.
RAM Philippines also targets marginalized communities like the Mangyans of Mindoro, who are isolated from proper health care systems.
Their outreach even took them all the way to war-torn Marawi, which was besieged last year by Maute terrorists.
If you want to donate or volunteer for Remote Area Medical Philippines, you can visit their website, Facebook page, or Instagram account.
Featured photo courtesy of the Remote Area Medical Philippines Facebook page.
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