Written by Jemma S. Tañada, Writer, Operation Blessing Philippines

“Doc, thank you po! Thank you! Thank you po uli ha, ba-bye po! [Thank you Doc! Thank you! Thank you again, goodbye],”  thankful Angel Pantua,10, said,  after her tooth was extracted at the medical and dental mission of Operation Blessing (OB) Philippines, in partnership with Phil-Asia Association Foundation Inc. (PAAFI) in Pasig City.

OB heard the little voice of Angel as she repeatedly say “thank you” to one of the volunteer dentist. The aura of joy and thankfulness resounds with her voice and reflects with her eyes as she expressed her gratefulness.  While waiting for her name to be called in the pharmacy to claim her free medicines, OB took the opportunity to get to know her story.

The jolly Angel Pantua is a grade five student who lives in a humble house in Taguig City. She is the eldest among her 3 siblings. Her father Ruben, 41, works as a construction worker while her mother, Rea, 31, is the one who takes care of them.

When ask why she is so grateful after the extraction of her tooth, Angela quickly said, that she often experience sleepless nights because of her toothache and sometimes, the pain escalates up to her head. Her mom puts toothpaste on her teeth to temporary ease the pain.

“Sumasakit din po ‘pag nasa school ako, hindi po ko maintindihan yung tinuturo ni teacher kasi ang sakit ng ngipin ko, tinitiis ko nalang po yung sakit (In school, sometimes the pain strikes, it’s hard for me to understand what my teacher is talking about because of my toothache, I just endured the pain)” Angela added.

For almost a year Angela suffered from her toothache and because of her family’s financial constraints they cannot go to a doctor to have her tooth extracted.

Thankfully, Angela was one of the 406 recipients of OB and PAAFI’s mission who received free medical check-up, dental treatment and medicines. With this, Angela’s pain was transformed with thankfulness and joy.

OB love to see children like Angela achieve a transformed life! Angela can now concentrate on her school lessons and study well! Help us to continue to inspire change and transform lives! To know how, visit us at www.obphil.com, or www.facebook.com/obphil