When Dr. William Jackson and his wife Audrey opened the Mabuhay Deseret Foundation in 1988, he realized that apart from offering free surgery to the underprivileged, equally important are the care facilities where patients can fully recover and live normal lives.
Mabuhay Deseret is a surgical charity organization with over 50 partners and hospitals all over the country. Their mission is to perform “life-changing surgeries and procedures, for those who do not have the means.”
The foundation was born out of the couple’s concern for the number of Filipino children suffering from disfigurations like cleft lip/palate, crossed eyes, and clubfoot. “It broke his heart to see children with cleft palate and club feet. Nobody was helping them, and they were missing out on school. He is a doctor by profession, and he knew that the children were in a very poor situation. And so that he talked to the families and helped them get to the surgery that they needed,” shared Foundation County Director Melody Ledesma.
Dr. Jackson attributes the success of the program to the kind-hearted doctors in the Philippines. In a video clip from the foundation’s website, he shared, “they wanted to help. I sent several patients to them, and they said, ‘Hey, you don’t need to pay us anymore, we will do it for free’. One of the hospitals said, ‘we will give you 6 free operations a month,’ a kind and generous gift to me. The numbers grew as the time went by. The doctors are willing to do what they do best, and the hospitals are willing to do what it does best, and my job is to facilitate it, my job is to make it easy, “he said.
Aside from the free surgery, the foundation also maintains recuperative care houses where patients and their companions can stay. “It is important to have a house, people can get lost in the big city, if you come here with a pocket full of change, and you think you can manage while your child is getting treated, you better think again,” Dr. Jackson shared in the video.
Melody added that it was Dr. Jackson’s wife Audrey who recommended the care facility. It started with a two-bedroom apartment in Cubao, and in time the foundation opened care houses in Cebu and Davao. The Cebu facility can accommodate 80 people, while the Davao facility can accommodate 30 people for now, but will be able to accommodate more when the renovations are done.
“We want the patients to focus on the surgery and on recuperating. Aside from providing food and toiletries, we give post-op medication, rehabilitation for patients with club feet, and for those with prosthetic legs, speech therapy for cleft palate patients and follow-up checkups for eye surgery. They can all stay at the care house until the doctor says they are ready to go home.”
The facility also serves as a temporary home while the patient is recuperating. “It’s like living with a family, we have activities, we support one another, we provide food, toiletries. We also teach them fun skills, in Cubao we taught them how to make rugs. The patients and the companions were so happy they wanted to give the rugs as gifts to those who helped them.
Dr. Jackson firmly believes that the procedures done through the foundation can directly impact the patient’s life. Cleft surgery restores dignity, eye surgery restores independence, clubfoot correction and prosthetic legs restore mobility.
From doing 6 surgeries a month in 1988, the foundation now facilitates an average of 4000 a year. In 2024, the foundation completed over 8000 medical procedures. They help patients with cleft/lip and palate, clubfoot, below-the-knee amputees in need of a prosthesis, and patients with eye maladies.
Dr. Jackson turns 90 this year and continues to be the driving force behind the Mabuhay Deseret foundation. It has expanded to countries all over the world as Charity Vision International, mainly providing eye services. Donors and patients who wish to know more about the program can visit the official website of Mabuhay Deseret Foundation.
