Written by Jemma S. Tañada, Writer, Operation Blessing Philippines
“Maraming salamat po! Dahil nabunot na yung masakit kong ngipin [Thank you so much! My aching tooth was finally extracted],” thankful Joshua Garido, 13, said during the Medical and Dental Mission of Operation Blessing (OB) Philippines, in partnership with the Phil-Asia Assistance Foundation Incorporated (PAAFI).
Joshua, a grade six student, is one of the 219 children who benefited from OB Philippines and PAAFI’s mission last May 28, 2016, Saturday. Joshua was very distinctive among the children on-site for he kept on smiling and was the most sociable during the event.
Joshua lives in a humble house in Las Piñas City. His father, Felix Garido, works in a gasoline station, while his step-mother, Jocelyn, takes care of his siblings. He is second to the eldest among his eight siblings.
Joshua is a scholar of PAAFI and he gets a support for his studies. He maintains good grades.
Aside from performing excellently at school, Joshua is also industrious inside the house. He is the one who regularly fetches water from their neighbor because they don’t have their own water pump.
As Joshua continues to share his story, he mentioned that for almost two months he has been suffering from toothache. His mom Jocelyn gives him medicine to temporarily ease the pain, but due to financial constraints, she cannot afford to bring Joshua to a dentist to have his tooth extracted.
As soon as Joshua learned about the medical and dental mission of OB and PAAFI, he boldly went on his own to the mission site and had his tooth removed. After the dental extraction, Joshua’s smile manifested a great relief from a long time pain.
He also received free medicines and vitamins and left the site with gladness and thankfulness.
This would not be possible if not for your generous help. Thank you so much for your support! Help us to reach out more children like Joshua! Call us at 477 7802 to 04 and 06 or visit www.obphil.com to find out how.
