FROM THE MARGINS
There is an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This wisdom holds true. Partnership and collaboration with other organizations have been the cornerstone of my decades-long work as a microfinance practitioner and poverty eradication advocate. Addressing complex social issues like poverty, climate change, and social justice requires collaborative efforts from diverse stakeholders united by a shared vision and common goals.
Through the years, my microfinance network has engaged with numerous partners that complement our mission and social development advocacies. We have partnered — and will continue to partner — with government organizations, businesses, non-government organizations, social enterprises and private foundations to pursue our work of promoting financial inclusion and eradicating poverty. Early this year, I joined CARD MRI leaders in meeting with representatives from the Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission, Inc. (FOLPMI), an organization founded in 1984 by Sister Eva Fidela Maamo, M.D., MSP. Sister Eva is a multi-awarded nun-surgeon who received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1997. She is also a recipient of the Most Outstanding Physician of the Philippines Award (1994), the Outstanding Woman of the 21st Century Award (2002), and the International Peace Prize (2003).
We met with Sister Eva to explore avenues on how CARD MRI, the 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service, can support FOLPMI's mission of providing quality healthcare services to underprivileged communities.
Health services for the poor
FOLPMI has pioneered numerous health initiatives, evolving from its initial medical mission in 1984. One of its flagship initiatives, the FOLPMI-Aeta Partnership, was a resettlement and rehabilitation program for Aeta families displaced by the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. This initiative integrated healthcare, education, livelihood, community organization, and values formation to foster holistic development. From 2005–2008, FOLPMI also implemented the Community Health Workers Training for Indigenous Peoples. This is one of the most impressive aspects of Sister Eva’s work: the training of “barefoot doctors” — community health workers equipped with basic medical skills like performing physical examination, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, reflexology, massage, and minor surgery. FOLPMI successfully trained hundreds of members of indigenous peoples’ groups across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to serve remote indigenous communities with little or no access to hospitals and clinics.
These efforts underscore the foundation's unwavering commitment to delivering essential healthcare services to indigenous and underserved populations.
After years of doing dental and medical missions, FOLPMI opened a hospital that offers discounted rates to economically-challenged patients in 2002. Located in San Dionisio, Parañaque City, the Our Lady of Peace Hospital (OLPH) serves as a cornerstone of FOLPMI’s altruistic work. The hospital — with a 90-bed capacity, laboratories and surgical facilities — provides accessible, high-quality medical services to the less fortunate. It also operates a transient dormitory for patients traveling from distant provinces.
Ms. Susan Afan, the indefatigable president of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF), organized our recent visit to the hospital to help us identify potential areas for collaboration. During the visit, Sister Eva recounted being blind for over a month, during which she had a vision of the Virgin Mary instructing her to build a hospital for the poor. Miraculously, she regained her sight, took it as a divine calling and started her mission of building OLPH. Hearing her story firsthand was deeply moving—a testament to faith, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to serving the marginalized.
Dr. Lester Suntay, the hospital director, provided the CARD MRI delegation with an orientation on OLPH’s operations. Originally founded to serve indigent communities, the hospital has expanded its reach to patients across the Philippines through partnerships with organizations such as the World Surgical Foundation-Philippines, Sunlife, GMA and ABS-CBN Foundations, DSWD, and PCSO. FOLPMI’s efforts to extend health and medical services to poor people is really admirable.
Partnership for a shared mission
Recognizing the profound impact of FOLPMI’s work, CARD MRI is partnering with them to support OLPH’s mission of providing medical services to poor communities. Our collaboration will include:
• Providing an interest-free revolving credit fund to expand the hospital’s service capacity and strengthen its financial stability;
• Reestablishing the hospital’s dialysis center;
• Setting-up a designated space for a Thermalytix machine for breast cancer screening in cooperation with the Asian Breast Center;
• Strengthening the management of the hospital’s financial unit; and
• Referring CARD MRI members, staff, and their families to the hospital, as well as the staff and members of other microfinance institutions like ASA Philippines, KMBI, KASAGANA-KA, AhonsaHirap, among others.
This partnership underscores a shared commitment to bringing accessible, affordable, and quality healthcare to underserved and marginalized communities. By working together, we aim to further Sister Eva’s mission and ensure that no one is left behind when it comes to essential medical care.
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“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller
(Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip is a poverty eradication advocate. He is the founder of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually-Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), a group of 23 organizations that provide social development services to eight million economically-disadvantaged Filipinos and insure more than 27 million nationwide.)