Project Davao serve the Langub and Gumalang villages in Davao City, Philippines, working with Sowing the Master’s Seed Ministry (SMSM) and our mentor Associate Prof Eric Yap Peng Huat.
For our trips to Davao, our focus is to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases by providing free health screening for the villagers to aid with identification and management of these diseases. This year we conducted our health screening for the villagers at Langub. At the end of each consultation, we educated the villagers on ways to improve their lifestyle and manage their chronic conditions. We also conducted health education for the seniors at Gumalang to share with them about diabetes and hypertension. We ended off the session with an exciting Zumba lesson for everyone to spread awareness about the importance of exercise in preventing chronic illnesses.
We also aim to empower the children in Davao by cultivating a curiosity for learning through education across multiple grades. We conducted science education lessons at Langub relating to the heart and the lungs. The participants got to make their heart model and lung model and we had a great time interacting with them. For our English proficiency and digital learning lesson, we conducted lessons on Microsoft Excel – teaching them about simple formulas and the participants shared that it was very helpful to them.
We also partnered with House of Hope, a home next to the Children’s Cancer Institute which provides a place for families to stay while they receive treatment. We prepared some games and art and crafts activities to play with the children staying there. We had a lot of fun interacting with the kids, and were amazed by their optimism towards life despite suffering with different illnesses.
Overall, this trip was a great success and we learnt a lot of the way of life of the locals in Davao. Their hospitality left us with warmth in our hearts and we forged many unforgettable memories.
It was a privilege to have interacted with them, learning from their perspective of life and how they live every single minute of their life to the fullest. The kids were extremely aware that they had cancer and continued to take each day with smiles. I also learnt how privileged we were in Singapore, for we can get easy access to medical care. Chong Xing En Glenda, Participant
About Project Davao
Founded in 2015, Project Davao is one of the longest-running Overseas Community Engagement Projects (OCEP) in Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. Each year, a team of dedicated and passionate medical students travel to Davao, Philippines, to make a positive impact through community service – by contributing their knowledge, skills and enthusiasm to support the local healthcare community and provide assistance where it’s needed most.
