The sprawling school compound within the total area of MVC which is 10.24 km² or 1024 hectares is situated on top of a plateau between the Kalatungan and Kitanglad mountain ranges, 20 kilometers from the nearest town through a bumpy road, which during monsoon season could only be traversed by 4X4 vehicles during the first 15 years of its existence. This school was established by the American missionaries of the SDA church in 1953 with the help of the Filipino pioneers that included my parents, which goes to show that I grew up here in the frontier phase of its history.
Strahle clinic is the lower building behind the
basketball court on the right. Behind is
Mt Kitanglad.
This school is the boarding type where the majority of students stay in dormitories owned and managed by the school. During my time as a physician there, there were about 1,200 occupants in the dormitories and some 1,500 faculty and students living in the housing units also owned by the school. Three communities surrounding the school had about 7,000 population and these were the people who made use of my services in the clinic. The nearest secondary hospital was in downtown Valencia, while the nearest tertiary hospital was in the city by the coast about 150 kilometers through mountain roads.
Strahle was a registered 12-bed facility with a delivery room, emergency room, laboratory and a dental clinic with 2 dentists. Consultation was not limited to the clinic because I visited my patients in their dormitory rooms and housing quarters.
Stories about MVC will follow.
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