Posted December 20, 2001. If you spent the last five Christmases in Chicago, you may forever wonder why other people still keep "dreaming of a White Christmas". If you ask me to sing all the Christmas songs that ever existed, "White Christmas" would be the last on my list.

     Winter (officially starts tomorrow, December 21) in Chicago, and the rest of the upper midwestern sections of the United States is brutal. Temperature can go to as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit (please use as reference the freezing point of water which is +32 degrees Fahrenheit). You don't really have to stay outside, torture yourself with the cold, and wait until your ears turn crispy, but there are times when you really need to be outside. Like when you need to shovel snow in your driveway. Snow can easily build up to a number of feet not inches. If you don't clear the snow on your driveways and pathways, they'll end up as hard blocks of ice, driving or walking through them is virtually impossible. You can try learning hockey or be ready for a concussion or a busted knee.

     Doc Alex & Mergie Guevara may have picked the wrong time when they stayed in Chicago upon their arrival from the Philippines 2 or 3 years ago. That particular Chicago winter was the worst since the 1960's. Snow buildup was as high as 7 feet in some areas. Doc Alex e-mailed me at that time and had mentioned that their kids were devastated. I couldn't blame them. Even Frosty the Snowman would have hated it. They moved south to Texas since then and right now they are in Florida, the best place where you can find not a trace of snow.

     Don't get me wrong. A lot of people like snow. Especially the snowboarders, skiers, and the ice fishers. Ice fishers? These people would bore a hole in the middle of a lake where the upper part of the water has been frozen solid. They would then drop their fishing line and wait all day until a fish bites. Oh well, these warm-blooded human beings are so used to cold, they can even make snow angels in their underwear.

     So much about snow. Christmas is not all about snow or days off from work, or even the cards and gifts that we receive. I think the adage that Christmas is all about giving is true after all. As I grow older the gifts I receive don't really matter that much anymore. The thoughtfulness of the giver is always appreciated, but most of the time, you are most concerned about what you'll give others. I know most of you feel the same way.

     This is why I'd like to share a guilt I've been feeling, on and off, for the past 5 years but usually is aggravated during Christmas time. I chuckle everytime I tell this to friends here but it's not because I think it's funny. I'm just trying to hide my guilt. I have made full use of Philippine public education, from elementary to Medicine, Filipino taxpayers helped me pay my way through school. I have made a promise to pay back, but since I moved to the States more than 5 years ago, I find the endeavour very difficult.

     It's not because it is necessary. Or warranted. Or somebody's expecting it. It's not because I am scared somebody's gonna take my education back. Not that I regretted moving here. Not that you care. Well, I take that back. Of course, you do. I have received suggestions via e-mail through the years on projects that will benefit our school and our respective communities, but due to geographical differences, these projects take time to realize, if they are realized at all.

     All of us, having been part of a government-funded institution, had the opportunity to serve the less-fortunate. The San Enriquezes, Sta. Barbaras, and the Social Hygienes (may be the best service ever if you ask J, A, or J, for security reasons, I am not giving out their full names). For earlier batches, I think they had to go to Oton and Igbaras as well.

     I am not really sure about this but during the early years of the College of Medicine, graduates were required to have one year of duty in a rural area of their choice after they've passed the board examinations. Dr. Art del Rosario (1980) spent one year in Valderrama, a remote town in the province of Antique since it's one of 2 or 3 towns (out of 18 towns) in Antique not situated along the main provincial highway. I can relate to Valderrama easily. My father grew up and spent his elementary schooling there. We used to go there once or twice a year to visit my grandparents. Considering that Doc Art and his family are now living in Las Vegas, Nevada, probably going to Wayne Newton's or Paul Anka's gigs once in a while, or even just staring at the lights, one may easily think that Valderrama is farthest from his mind right now. When he left Valderrama, the town had no electricity or telephone line yet. Well, think again. A couple of months ago, Doc Art e-mailed me asking for the address of a Valderrama couple where he stayed for a year. The couple did not charge him a cent for staying at one of their rooms. Doc Art fondly remembers "the generosity and smiling faces of the folks". "Many would give me chickens and fruits and I did a lot of circumcisions," he wrote. Doc Art certainly cherished every day of his stay in this quiet town. He added, "I was advised by a lot of people not to go there because there are so many NPA's. During my stay, I have never heard or seen one."

     A lot of us are no strangers to places like these. I, myself, grew up in a little barangay where they consider my family rich just because we have a concrete house. We are not. They are just poor, and I am not saying it to degrade them in any way. They either have no choice but be poor or they refuse to come out of their present predicament like get an education. Whenever I met these folks, I've always stressed the importance of education. My parents were just schoolteachers who worked extra hard to send their 3 children to medical school. I am not saying they should all go to medical school. But you know the infamous 'barrio mentality' - "You ain't going to College. You stay here and help us with the farm."

     Still, it is not an excuse to ignore them. My older brother and I used to organize a yearly medical mission to this barangay we still call home. Our parents are still there. The first basketball hoop we had is still there. And the filthy river where we used to fish is still there, and I presume, so are the UFO's (Unidentified Floating Objects). It's not that hard to organize a medical mission. Consultants and drug companies were always generous to donate a few boxes of their samples. For the manpower, I just told about 10 of my classmates that we will have a party at our place for a good cause. Nobody hesitated.

     After doing this for about 2 to 3 years, I have noticed that free consultations and free medicines are not enough for these people to be mindful of their health. You give them a week dose of Amoxycillin and you're lucky if they will even take 2 days of it. They either give them to their fighting cocks or open it up and spread the granules over a laceration. Besides, most samples that are usually given away are a month or two into expiration. You don't have a choice but to dispose them in any possible way, not necessarily taking them.

     The key to missions like this is still education. That was one thing we failed to do. Educate patients instead of asking them how they felt. Probably an hour or two before the actual consultations. What to watch out if you have fever, cough, wound, etc. When is the right time to seek the help of a medical professional. Or why you should not fish in a filthy river full of Unidentified Floating Objects.

     This makes our situation of trying to help even more difficult. For sure, Dr. del Rosario would like to give back in some way to the people of Valderrama. And I always try to remind my brothers to continue what we have started. And rest assured, the rest of the US-based alumni have thoughts on how to help our communities back home. I have received a lot of proposals to this effect, some of them posted on our Message Board. Drs. Dan and Maribel Barrido suggested a creation of a Endowment Fund. Drs. Art and Lorraine del Rosario proposed to sponsor a department, sending journals and other things that may be needed by that department. These ideas have not really taken off but it does not mean they are dead. Because we are located far from each other and we just communicate through this site, organization is a problem. I still hope we can organize an organization of sorts for all US-based alumni so we can realize some of these projects.

     Years ago, a proposal was put forward by the Secretary of Health that graduates of State University medical schools should serve in the rural areas first for at least three years before they can go into residency training or move to another country. This stemmed from the fact that during that time about 65% of UP graduates ended up going to the United States. Not that there is something wrong with that. Everybody has a right to whatever they want to do after graduation. The public clamor during that time was state-sponsored medical schools (and that included WVSU) should at least tell their graduates to augment the medical needs of the country because that's the bottomline why they were 'sponsored by the state'. The proposal was doused cold even before it caught fire. The Secretary of Department of Health then tried to give higher salaries to doctors who are willing to work in far-flung areas of the country. I won't comment if it has worked or not. That Secretary is now a Senator. In fact, he has been a Senator since he left his job as Secretary. I'm wondering what he has done to help the health needs of the Filipino people.

     What should be done in order to encourage doctors to practice in the rural areas? I won't answer this nor comment on it. I don't have any credibility left in me.

     I am guilty as charged.

     Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.

TODAY'S LAST WORDS:

• You may not have heard anything about the Iloilo Mobile Medical Service (IMMS) but it did exist as a legitimate organization based at our College of Medicine. In 1989 or 1990, a good friend from an upper batch approached me if we can organize an organization whose sole aim is to do free medical missions in indigent communities. I replied why not? We've been doing medical missions anyway, why not make it into an organization? I helped frame and write the constitution and by-laws and we had it approved by the University. The organization went well during its first few months. During the succeeding months however, I have noticed that there were numerous meetings held in an office of a religious organization discussing anything but medical missions. When I agreed to help organize it, and it is in the constitution that I helped write, I made clear that no outside organization should be involved. I may have interpreted things wrong but the organization was made to be a sub-chapter of a bigger organization based in South Korea that has nothing to do with medicine. Not that there was something wrong with it, I was just not made aware of it. The rest is history. By the way, that friend who initially approached me, remained my friend. Of course.

• I received an e-mail from a professional research service based in Minnesota asking for a confirmation on the educational background of an alumnus. They probably searched the web in the process of their research and found this site. Normally, an employer seldom hire a professional researcher to do the job. But I understood because this alumnus who was a classmate is of middle-eastern descent. After September 11, one has to understand why. Anyway, I referred them to the College of Medicine Registrar's office. This classmate is one of the nicest and down-to-earth persons I've ever known. He can speak both Ilonggo and Kinaray-a fluently. Not too many Ilonggos can do that. To my friend, if you happen to read this, please e-mail me.

     E-mail the author at drgarcia@wvsumedaa.com

     All views expressed on this column and any other by-lined articles on this site are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization or its members. For comments, please e-mail the author.