Ten years, one evening

Ten years are not a number. They are people.

Surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses who take their annual leave, pay for their own flights and operate where no one else does. And those at home who collect, pack, hand over cheques, carry boxes and bake cakes. Ten years of Surgical Mission Saarland are ten years of people who chose to put their experience to use where it is needed most.

We did not celebrate alone. The Philippine Cultural Organization in Saarland (PCOS) hosted the evening at the Stadthalle St. Ingbert, with everything that belongs to it: dances from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, music, a buffet, a raffle with a flight to Manila as first prize. And a great many encounters. Old companions, new faces, children between the chairs. It was an evening that made the special bond between Saarland and the Philippines visible.

That evening, the Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt honoured the doctors, the people behind the scenes and PCOS, whose support has sustained this work for years.

“People caring for people across borders.”

Philippine Consulate General Frankfurt, on Instagram

It cannot be said better. And while we looked back that evening, our eyes were already on what comes next: in spring 2027 the team travels to Cagayan de Oro on Mindanao. Around 15 medical professionals, four weeks, their own leave, their own flights. For people for whom an operation is anything but a given. The first boxes of supplies are already packed.

Thank you to PCOS, to the dancers, to Kreissparkasse Saarpfalz, to everyone who came, donated and celebrated with us. And to everyone who has accompanied this work for ten years.

This is ten years of history. And the next mission has long since begun.

Surgical Mission Saarland, 12 September on Instagram

If you want to join us on the way to Cagayan de Oro: follow us on Instagram. We will take you along, from the preparations to the operating room.