By Sister Grace Dorothy Lim MM

Early one morning, I received a call. ‘Sister, please, help us with the Immigration.’ Someone had received notice of voluntary deportation. At 8 o’clock I drove to their house. It was a one-room structure, an extension of a bigger house.

Sister Grace Dorothy Lim MM

One phone call

The caller was waiting for me. The house was dark but I got in to make sure we had all the documents needed for the Immigration Office. The room had only one small bulb, maybe 20 watts. While my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I heard a soft cry. I asked who was sleeping this late. The mother said, ‘The children are all sick with fever and colds.’ This was flu season. I asked if they’d gone to the doctor. She said they had no medical insurance, so she only gave them Tylenol. I told her to get all three children dressed to go with me to the doctor. The woman was, of course, more concerned over Immigration than the illness of the children.

When the children were ready, and we were about to leave the room, I heard another groan from another corner of the room. So I turned around, peered and asked who was there. ‘My mother has a swollen face from a toothache.’ No dental insurance either. So, I told the grandmother to get dressed and go with us. My small Volkswagen was full of patients.

Deprived of medical help

I asked my doctor to look after the sick children and informed the nurse that they had no medical insurance. ‘Please, take care of them and bill the Maryknoll Sisters. I’ll be back after we see a dentist,’ I said as off I went.

Grandmother and I went to the dentist. I wasn’t sure they’d do anything because her face was so swollen. I told the whole story of my discovery to my dentist. He was very kind. He treated her, gave some pills and told us that she should return when the swelling went down. I told him the same thing, ‘Please, bill the Maryknoll Sisters. She has no medical/dental insurance.’ The doctor simply smiled.

Being part of the solution

By the time we got back to the medical building for the children, they were already treated and were waiting for us. I went in and thanked the doctor who told me to give the children plenty of liquid and to get back in two days.

From this experience, I wondered how many more sick people weren’t getting any medical help just because they had no medical or dental insurance. I knew of the Phil-Am Medical Association of Hawaii. I found out that in a week’s time, they’d be holding their annual convention. I managed to contact the president of the association and asked if I could be given a few minutes to address the convention.  He was most gracious and invited me to attend. Since I had no ticket for the dinner, he asked me to be his guest.

Plead for support

I prayed for an openness of heart of the doctors and asked God to put the right words in my mouth. When I was introduced as a special guest, the only ones who knew me there were my own medical and dental doctors.

I introduced myself as a Filipino Maryknoll Sister assigned to Hawaii to serve the Filipinos. I told them I was giving all that I knew how to. I also believed that I wasn’t the only Filipino gifted by God with talents, but I knew I was giving all I had and could for our people. But there were many things I couldn’t do, that I wasn’t trained to do.

Holy Spirit working

I then shared my experience with that call to help with Immigration, which led me to medical and dental trips. I wondered if they ever thought of the possibility of many, many Filipinos without proper medical and dental care simply because they couldn’t afford medical coverage. My story moved a good number of them. I prayed to the Holy Spirit to touch their hearts. I then challenged them to work with me for a more holistic service to our people.

Two days later, I got a call from the president asking me to have lunch with him. Jokingly, I said, ‘Does your wife know about this?’ This lunch meeting was actually the planning stage of the project. He said the doctors were willing to give their time and services if I could give them a place to work. Well, I wasn’t in real estate but I promised to do something about getting a space.

God’s providence

I went to the Bishop and asked for the use of the room attached to our building, the chapel area of the old convent, for the use of the doctors. While the Bishop was excited at the prospect of a medical clinic without immigrant services, he had to consult and get the permission of the Pastor of the Co-Cathedral. When all permissions were given, and after an hour’s ‘lecture’ from the pastor that day I went to get the keys. We had the building surveyed by our Filipino Carpenters of Hawaii. Repairs started and our Bayanihan building was ready for use in a week’s time. Lighting and plumbing were taken care of by Filipino electricians and plumbers who were patients of the doctors. When all that was done, the doctors’ wives came to clean the room, polish the floors, put curtains in the examining rooms and flower pots around. In two days, we had the building blessed and had an open house. We had the Bayanihan Health Services running, and we also added legal services with our volunteer lawyers.

Life in the old building

The old condemned convent was teeming with service activities. During the day we had socio-economic, educational ministries and in the evening the medical, dental and legal services were busy.

Palama Settlement

Our immigration services are now under Catholic Charities, and the Bayanihan Clinics are housed at the Palama Settlement. It is the base clinic of the Aloha Medical Mission (http://www.alohamedicalmission.org/), now serving many poor countries in Asia and the Pacific and with doctors and nurses from several ethnic backgrounds.