Highlights
- The infant was severely malnourished and was one among ten children from a family who could barely make ends meet
- The family allowed Val to care for her and for the past 15 years has been under her care as a foster parent
- Mona is awaiting to receive corrective surgery in Melbourne
It was love at fist sight when she met a 2.7 kilograms infant with a cleft palate. That moment completely changed her life. Since then she has lived modestly in a rented home in Zambales.
"The minute I saw her something happened, I don’t know what; I’ve met thousands of children and nothing quite compared with the connection I had with her." says Val Smith-Orr.
In the midst of the pandemic she continues to run her , an NGO that cares for burns patients, children with cleft lip /palate and parasite infections based in Zambales.
Gratitude in the midst of pain
Source: Triple B Care Projects
Times have been tough for Val as she continues to endure the pain caused by her hip that needs replacement [surgery].
"I don’t have the funds to pay for my surgery here and can’t travel back to Australia for the much-needed surgery," says the Australian nurse.
Having lived in the Philippines for more than a decade she has learned to appreciate the small victories in life and has discovered that Filipinos have the most incredible patience.
Source: Triple B Care Projects
"There is no option for them but to wait. They might wait four hours, years even to get their children to surgery but they wait," Val says.
Paying it forward
Val has witnessed how Filipinos value her service. "People are so grateful. I said you don’t have to pay but the pay me in kind, mangoes from their backyard. Someone even paid me a rooster! I had to give it back, I said I don’t know how to care for a rooster!"
For Val, helping people is something she loves to do, "I will give someone my last peso and who knows when the time comes that I need help, they might even give me a hundred peso!"
She adds: "I have a God given talent that people obviously need’, she also shares her knowledge and expertise to local medical practitioners by organizing seminars but she says ‘they are a bit tricky to do, how can you teach people everything you know in a day?"
It was on her fifth unsuccessful attempt at surgery that Theresa met an Australian nurse/charity worker who introduced her to renowned Australian burns surgeon. Source: Triple B Care Projects
Most of the funds for her NGO are from Australian based organizations. She is also blessed to have friends like burns surgeon Professor Fiona Wood help her raise funds to support her work in the Philippines.
At the moment Val is content with the life she has in the Philippines, her only wish is to be legally recognised as a parent to teen aged daughter, Mona.
"I may not have given birth to her, but I gave life to her."
ALSO READ / LISTEN TO
