CBHCP in full swing in Mati

The St. Camillus Hospital of Mati Foundation - Community Based Health Care Program (CBHCP) continues its alternative traditional treatment services such as acupuncture, acupressure, reflexology, ventosa, orthopedic massage (hilot) and herbal products preparations.  The bananas planted by the Community Health Volunteers (CHV) and the herbal plants are growing with new varieties added.  These plants provide food for people and for the animals raised within the compound.

In the making is a farm plan for the adjacent hectare where we intend to grow diverse vegetables and fruit trees that will yield healthy food for the patients and the people in general.  This present practice is integrated with the anthroposophic medicine and biodynamic farming adopted by the Foundation.

While the plants develop, so do the CHV.  They are learning to grow herbal and food crops naturally and to process herbal medicine in new ways such as producing granules to be mixed with polvoron (powdered milk candy) for children.  With their upgraded training on indigenous treatment (paghimulso, hampol, etc) received from AKKAP Kidapawan, they now massage children who need tender touch.  They will undergo follow-up training these coming months.  Dr. Moon Maglana, Director of AKKAP-Kidapawan, will give them a daylong orientation on curative education while Dr. Lyn Redoble of Community Based Health Services Association–Mindanao will walk them through a six-day advanced acupuncture training course.

The present administration of Fr. Marcelo Pamintuan, Jr., M.I., continuously supports this program and facilitates its integration with the SCH services to better respond to the health needs of the people of Davao Oriental.  Hopefully, in six months, the construction of the building that will house Traditional Community Medicine Center (TCMC) and Bio-dynamic Farming Sustainability of Community Health Care Program will be completed. The TCMC, located in the SCH farm, is envisioned to be a sanctuary of life – a community which heals the human soul and the soil as well. As a clinic it will provide traditional health care services such as acupuncture, acupressure, ventosa, and herbal hot bath accompanied by naturally processed herbal medicines.   It will have a prayer room for patients waiting for their treatment. Part of the complex will also be a staff house to be built for the community health volunteers who will serve in the TCMC and care for the plants and animals in the farm.

At present, there is a laboratory house beside the center area where medicinal plants and herbs are air- and sun-dried and processed.  The medicinal plants and other food products are all organically grown with the use of bio-dynamic farming.  This method helps ensure that healing in TCMC takes place in the natural way.