Banding together

The mother of four could barely walk, limping about 10 feet across the room before falling to the ground in pain.

Her plight deeply touched Alma Schmidt and Dr. Averly Nelson, two Spokane-area residents who met the woman during a recent trip to the Philippines.

“We felt so sorry for her,” said Nelson, a doctor at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake. “She asked us if we could help her. We said we didn’t know if we could, but we would try.”

The woman is Rebecca J. Caballero, a 40-year-old from the Philippine island of Cebu. As a child, she was stricken with polio, which caused permanent damage to her hips and left leg.

For years, she worked as a maid or sold flowers on the streets to help feed her family, according to Schmidt, the woman’s cousin and a native of the Philippines. Now, Caballero is too weak to work and may even die from a fall if she doesn’t receive immediate hip surgery.

After learning about Caballero, Filipino Americans in the region have volunteered to help.

This Saturday, the Filipino American Association of the Inland Empire will host the “Merienda Cena,” a Filipino-style tea party that will help raise money to pay for Caballero’s flight to Spokane.

Dr. David Scott, a local orthopedic surgeon, has volunteered to do the operation for free when Caballero arrives in the fall, according to Nelson.

“This is an opportunity for us to help other Filipinos,” said Norma Gavin, president of the FAAIE. “We will do our best to bring her here.”

Nelson – who is in the process of getting a passport and visa for Caballero – is also working with Pacific Orthopedics to obtain a donation of a hip prosthesis from Depuy, a company that specializes in orthopedic supplies.

Without the help, the prosthesis alone could cost at least $5,000, Nelson said.

Members of the FAAIE, which has dozens of members in Spokane and North Idaho, also hope to raise enough money to buy Caballero special shoes that she will wear after the surgery.

Last year, more than 100 people came to the merienda cena to enjoy a light lunch of pancit and lumpia – Filipino rice noodles and egg rolls – as well as traditional desserts such as leche flan, a type of custard, and bibingka, sticky rice made with eggs, sugar and coconut milk.

The event isn’t just a chance to try Filipino food, said Gavin, but to experience the culture.

After Nelson and Schmidt returned from the Philippines in May and told others about Caballero, the medical community and local Filipino Americans were very eager to help, said Nelson.

“This is a story of a heartwarming, compassionate response by the community of Spokane,” he said.