Minister Teng-shi Yang from Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, delivered a speech at the gratitude tea party. In the photo, from left to right, are NCF seed doctor Dr. Dax Pascasio, Minister Yang, and Dr. Lun Jou Lo, the head of the NCF Medical Mission Team and a plastic surgeon from Taiwan’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
 

A glimpse of the “2023 Healing with Love: Gratitude Tea Party for Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery Medical Mission in Davao, Philippines.”
 

Group photo of all participants after the “2023 Healing with Love: Gratitude Tea Party for Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery Medical Mission in Davao, Philippines.”

The Noordhoof Craniofacial Foundation (NCF), in collaboration with the Craniofacial Center team from Taiwan’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, formed the “Medical Mission Team with Love” to visit the Philippines from November 19 to 24, 2023. They partnered with the Craniofacial Foundation Philippine (NCFPI), together with the United Davao Specialists Hospital and Center, Inc., to provide free medical services to local congenital craniofacial defect patients. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines (TECO) warmly welcomed the Medical Mission Team to visit the Philippines.

The “Medical Mission Team with Love” first visited the Philippines for a medical mission in 1999 and has since provided free reconstructive surgeries for 329 Filipino craniofacial patients, aiming to alleviate human suffering through medical services. The last mission led by the late Dr. Noordhoff was in 2009, marking a 14-year gap until this year’s mission. The team, after a 10-hour transit flight, conducted their 13th medical mission in Davao City in the Philippines, collaborating for the first time with the United Davao Specialists Hospital and Center. In the mission, they assisted 18 craniofacial defect patients, completing surgeries including 9 cleft palate reconstructions, 5 cleft lip reconstructions, and 4 craniofacial defect reconstructions, bringing smiles to children and giving their new life paths. Minister Teng-shi Yang from TECO attended the “2023 Medical Mission with Love: Gratitude Tea Party for Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery in Davao, Philippines” on November 23, expressing gratefulness for the fruitful results of the long-term collaboration between the Noordhoof Craniofacial Foundation and Taiwan’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in deepening Taiwan-Philippines healthcare cooperation.

Minister Yang, in his speech at the gratitude tea party, mentioned that besides conducting cleft palate and lip surgeries with seed doctor Dr. Dax Pascasio in Davao City, the Medical Mission Team also assisted Dr. Dax in establishing the first craniofacial center in southern Philippines. This initiative ensures that local impoverished patients can receive comprehensive craniofacial team treatment without traveling to Manila, allowing Taiwan’s compassion to take root and sustainably develop in the Philippines, vividly embodying the spirit of “Taiwan can help and Taiwan is helping.”

The NCF initiated the “Cleft Lip and Palate International Aid Program” in 1998. Including the recent mission in the Philippines, they have conducted 90 missions in nine countries, assisting 2,273 underprivileged craniofacial patients. They have also trained 183 craniofacial medical professionals from 21 countries, with seed doctors establishing teams or treatment centers in the Philippines, Mongolia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Xi’an, China. This year’s medical mission has further deepened Taiwan-Philippines healthcare cooperation. We are looking forward to more milestones to be achieved in the future between Taiwan and the Philippines on the basis of the endless love from the NCF.