By Kathryn Boyle

Ms Kathryn Boyle is a lecturer in the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church at Australian Catholic University, Melbourne.

Since 1929 Columban priests have served the people of Our Lady of Remedies parish in Malate, Manila. This was the first Columban parish established in the Philippines and it remains in their care today. Malate is thus, the ‘oldest parish’ in the Columban world.

Today, 25,000 people live within the parish boundaries; 15,000 of these are the ‘urban poor’ who live in the squatter slums, which abound in the areas behind the main streets of the city. Here narrow lanes and alleyways snake through overcrowded dwellings. Here people live cheek by jowl and every inch of space is used. Water comes only from a pump in the narrow alley or from a hose, perhaps once a day. Sanitation is scarce and people live mainly on the street. Here tuberculosis, chest infections and malnutrition are rife.

The social services program of Malate parish have provided some basic health care programs over the years. This was given a boost in 2006 when the Archdiocese of Manila established a fund to provide for a basic clinic in each of the Vicariates (Deaneries) in the city. These clinics are aimed at people in extreme poverty for whom medical care is completely unaffordable. The neighbouring parishes agreed that the local clinic should be established in Malate. It is estimated that up to 75,000 urban poor will be serviced by this facility.

With help from the doctors of the Philippines General Hospital, the clinic was established in a single ground floor room of the Parish centre. It operates five days per week with volunteer doctors and specialists. The focus of the clinic is on prevention: education, immunisation and nutrition. A stringent system of checking that the patients who present for treatment are indeed the extremely needy has been established and is functioning well, all organised by local elected volunteer leaders of the community. Currently between 600 and 900 people are attended to each month. The need has far outgrown the inadequate space where the clinic now operates.

Parish Priest of Malate, Irish Columban Fr John Leydon, hopes to be able to expand and improve this much-needed facility through an extension and renovation of the ground floor of the current building. This extension will provide space to allow for individual treatment rooms, a specialist area for paediatrics, a small day-surgery for simple procedures, a pharmacy and an x-ray facility. Included in the planning is the creation of a garden in what is now the concrete courtyard. The psychological benefit of a green space in this crowded tenement area will be an additional boon to the urban poor.

A volunteer architect has already drawn up the plans for the extension and renovation. What is stopping this vast improvement in the provision of a desperately needed service is the finance to begin the construction. Fr Leydon estimates the cost to be around US$40,000 to upgrade the premises and some additional finance will be required to provide new equipment. The urgency of this project speaks for itself.