As of presstime, she is enroute to Manila for a battery of tests at the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine. ETA is 3PM

I’ll be there o gretthemand take photos.

God is good.  No qualifications.  He moves hearts.  He saves…

Here’s my post:

For more than two months now, I’ve been engaged in helping a Filipino child, called JM, who is stricken with a malady, called “Epidermolysis Bullosa”, or EB for short. I won’t expound on it here, but, please search Google, and you’ll know more about this disease. Suffice it to say that it’s a rare genetic misfortune and that it’s incurable. The only pallative is a lifetime of wound care.

JM’s barely 6 years old. She hopes for a future. But that hope can only be realized with the collective help and care of other people. You may be one of them.

I’ve created a blog here: www.joyinchrist.wordpress.com. In the next few days, I’ll be filling up this blog with more information.

Through the help of kind souls here and abroad, including a number of DPPers, we have arranged for JM to come to Manila in the next few days to undergo a battery of tests. The Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) has already granted her a free stay at RITM’s ward. Select RITM staff and consultants have also agreed to provide support.

The Challenge : For kindhearted DPPers to spare the time to take photos of her during her her one-week (?) stay at RITM. She will be accompanied by her parents.

Rationale : I need the photos to create a documentary that I could feature in the above website. Hopefully, these photos would lead toward future fundraisings on her behalf. Perhaps, this could also lead to the formation of a Philippine NGO or foundation dedicated to supporting kids and families affected by this disease.

When : Coverage of JM’s journey could start as early as January 25, 2009, Monday.

Prize: Nothing materially tangible. The rewards are spiritul. It’s all about people helping people.

This EB is a difficult task. It is not for the fainthearted. Furthermore, there are ethical issues and challenges that need to be addressed as the photos are published at the website.

I can share you JM’s photos to help you decide. Kindly PM or email me your mobile if you think you can take up this challenge.
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From ER:

“Hi Dan,
I wish to help also. I can donate …. Ill ask some friends also if they would like to make a donation.”

From JRD:

“hi sir, i am just new here in dpp as well as in photography. still don’t know anyone here from the forum or attended any EB or joined a particular group.
as i read your thread about “JM”, i pledge to help in a simple way, though i still dont know in what way.”

They are scheduled to arrive at the Research Institute of Topical Medicine in the afternoon of January 26. 

The  RITM already has a room reserved for her and her parents.

The doctors are waiting in anticipation.

Volunteer photographers will be there to cover the event.

As of today, Richard and his wife are now preparing for a trip to Manila.  A few details to iron out — more donations to collect, coordination with Joy’s teachers, last-minute instructions to the other kids who sill be left behind, more support from the bus and shipping company, possible transport via ambulance, etc.

Richard and his family are brimming with hope.  Well-wishers from his rural hamlet (baranggay, as it is called in the Philipines) is also full of anticipation.

Danny, that guardian angel of an employer, is on top of the situation in that tiny hamlet, called Laylay, located in the coast of Boac, Marinduque, Philippines.

I’ve also made my first version of a logo.  It’s an outline of a butterfly, which (hopefully) also shows the letters EB (which stands for Epidermolysis Bullosa).  This is work in progress.

On my end, I’ll endeavor to populate this blog with more content in the days to come.

I am a newbie to blogging. I also am learning how to make this website more pleasing. Constructive comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

In Christ,

Dan

However 2008 turned out to be for me, I have only one thing to say:  Count your blessings!!!!

At times, I think I don’t have any to count, so I try counting other’s blessings…

Come to think of it, it’s not about you, or me.  It’s about other people’s lives God has touched. 

I’m starting this blog on behalf of a stranger, a little girl and her family.  I came across them by coincidence.  Some will say, by Divine Providence.

This blog is dedicate to a Joy, a small child born to an indigent family, who I cam across in my forays to an island I now call my home — Marinduque.