THE outreach team of Kanlungan ni Maria Aba Muna, Bago Ako (Amba), navigated the narrow and winding roads leading to Sagada in the Cordilleras to conduct its 13th medical mission on April 22.
The mission visited over 120 Igorot senior citizens who were given free transdermal magnesium therapy at Eduardo Gaudan Longid Centrum in Barangay Poblacion, said Victoria Baterina-Solis, Kanlungan special projects director.
Most of the magnesium-therapy recipients came seeking relief for pain on their back, knees, legs, shoulders and waist, said Peter L. Cina-Oy, an environmentalist and one of the locals who coordinated the medical mission with the Kanlungan team.
Others who came seeking pain relief had breathing difficulty, he said.
“Halos lahat sila nakaramdam ng ginhawa, pati may mga sakit ng ulo [Most of them felt relief, including those with headache],” Cina-Oy noted.
Muriel Omaweng, 76, who suffered from stiff neck in the past three years, said she tried all sorts of pain relievers and was surprised that the pain was gone after she received magnesium therapy.
“It’s a miracle,” she said, while easily turning her head from left to right several times and felt no pain.
Omaweng came to the outreach venue unable to move her head due to chronic neck pain.
She felt relief about half an hour after the therapy, said Shirley U. Griba, a magnesium-therapy coach.
Mary Jean Netario Cruz, Kanlungan’s wellness director and a certified well-being coach, said, “Body pains among seniors are mostly related to magnesium deficiency due to aging and diet low in magnesium.”
“The small amount of magnesium that the body gets from the typical meal is easily depleted by unhealthy lifestyle, like excessive caffeine intake, alcohol, overwork and long-term drug intake,” she said.
Magnesium, a mineral, is a natural and safe alternative cure for physical pains, Netario Cruz said. She had dealt with several cases of sleeping problems with magnesium therapy in recent years.
“To address body pains, it should be replenished with the mineral transdermally or orally,” she noted.
After the therapy, the seniors also received a free 100 mL bottle of liquid magnesium, Baterina-Solis said.
Also, about 200 were given a pair of reading glasses, and a total of 274 took home a gift bag, she said.
Each bag contained a blanket, bath soap, detergent bar, shampoo, conditioner, tissue, champorado mix and some adult diapers.
A total of 50 persons also received free medicine, and 22 young Igorot males were circumcised, Baterina-Solis said.
Four seniors went home with a brand-new wheelchair.
The Amba volunteer team who performed the circumcision was comprised of one physician and two nurses from Mary Mount Hospital in Meycauayan, Bulacan.
The locals seldom get the medical services their health conditions require, observed Dr. Aiman Cayabyab, the appointed Emergency Room chief at Mary Mount Hospital.
She described her experience with the Igorots as “very humbling,” and expressed joy at the opportunity of serving them.
Cayabyab said she and the other Mary Mount Hospital volunteers will join the Amba team in its future medical missions.
The Amba team that went to Sagada was composed of Netario Cruz (the world’s magnesium-clinic pioneer), Baterina-Solis (a fashion designer), Nico Cruz (a promising chef and son of Netario Cruz), Cayabyab, Jocelyn L. Cordero (retired nurse), Johnson Torio and Benjo Bernardo (nurses), John Robert Gascon (physical therapist), Marly S. Ponce de Leon (industrial engineer), and magnesium-therapy coaches Griba, Maria Kristen D. Concepcion and Karima Noeli Y. Dimzon.
Siegrid Bangyay, a ceramic artist, and his family took care of the Amba team in their home during their stay in Sagada. The town is a favorite tourist destination up in the Cordilleras.
The sponsors of AMBA’s 13th medical mission were the Magiteque Pain Relief Center and VBS Business Group, in cooperation with Rotary District 3800.
The free magnesium therapy and free magnesium bottles were provided by Magiteque Pain Therapy Center, the first of its kind in the world, and located in Antipolo, Rizal.
Image credits: Oliver Samson