18th Rosa Mystica Medical Mission in the Philippines (4)

New Canaan

On February 5, the village we reached after more than two hours of driving, including 7 kilometers of impassable tracks without raised 4X4s, deserves its name. It is a true tropical paradise. The beauty of the landscapes that make this remote corner of the Sarangani mountains "a land flowing with milk and honey" undoubtedly inspired the first inhabitants of New Canaan.

To get there, we had to cross five or six raging torrents that flow into the Lun Padidu, a wide river with silvery waters bordered by cliffs and hills covered with palm trees, banana trees, mango trees, cocoa trees, and other luxurious varieties. Then follow the slippery mud tracks carved with deep ruts that runs along the river on its rugged banks.

The vehicles were forced to unload their passengers to be able to move forward on the steep sections. The dump trucks got stuck in the mud and were only able to be freed with the help of bulldozers. 

18th Rosa Mystica Mission, Day 1

Wednesday was a day of celebration in New Canaan: the Alabel municipal officers came to register the inhabitants in the civil registry. About 30 weddings were celebrated there. The idea was to set up an administration in these areas that have remained inaccessible because of the state of the roads and the communist guerrillas that have raged in the province of Sarangani for decades.

There was a crowd when we arrive in the center of the village, after this perilous journey. Indeed, alongside the medical mission and the weddings, two “social services” have been organized by the authorities for the 4,000 inhabitants of the village and the surrounding area: circumcision, a common prophylactic practice, and, unfortunately, temporary sterilization by contraceptive implants.

Family planning programs are very aggressive in the Philippines, particularly in these poor regions, despite the fight that the Catholic Church is still trying to lead. And our optician could only note a fairly high illiteracy rate among these destitute populations.

18th Rosa Mystica Mission, Day 2

Fr. Tim vigorously dissociated the medical mission from the authorities’ program, recalling the incompatibility of these practices with a Catholic mission. He conditioned our presence on the abandonment of this program. Will we be able to compete for long against the steamroller of “reproductive health” imposed on these populations?

18th Rosa Mystica Mission, 2nd and 3rd Day

The songs of the commitment ceremonies to the Militia of the Immaculate, of the impositions of the scapular, and of the Miraculous Medal accompanied the work of the doctors throughout the day. Care of the bodies and care of the souls are both parts of the mission.

In the middle of the afternoon, a storm formed on the summit of the mountains encircling New Canaan. Our earthly paradise was transformed at lightning speed into a land where water and mud flow. Despite the speed of putting away the equipment, we could not escape the deluge that suddenly poured down.

In about ten minutes, the track turned into a torrent and the earth cliffs poured down torrents of water and devastating mud and stone flows. The trucks had to be pulled again by the construction equipment present on the road. Then there was four hours of travel on a perilous return to Pinobre Park in torrential rain.