Manila, Philippines, Pier 15:
At 1445, as ship's nurse, I was summoned to the bridge to
examine a child that had just arrived on board. She was one of a group of about twenty children visiting us that had grown up on
or near the Clark Air Base or Subic Navy Base. Both bases were abandoned by the United States in 1992. Massive amounts
of toxic materials were left at each site and each of the kids visiting us have illnesses that have been attributed
to this toxic legacy. On examining Crizel my impression was that she was an extremely sick child. She was conscious
and responsive to questions, but very lethargic. Her grips were quite weak, but she did follow that and other
requests appropriately. She was very thin and appeared small for her six years of age although I'm not familiar
with normal size-for-age in Filipino children. There was significant bruising on the visible parts of her body
and her head was devoid of any hair. Her radial pulse was weak but present at a rate of 70 beats per minute. Her
respirations were unlabored at 16 per minute. There was noticeable red blood slowly oozing from her gums.
In discussions with Crizel's mother, as translated by Greenpeace toxics campaigner, Von Hernandez,
I learned that Crizel had leukemia, had been receiving chemotherapy and transfusions and was missing
a scheduled every-other-day transfusion by coming to the Rainbow Warrior. She had bloody emesis once
during the hour and a half drive to the ship and her lethargy was unusual in that she was typically
a "bubbly" child. Her mother suspected that the emesis was coming from her stomach since it was
"darker" than that apparent on her gums. I left room for the possibility that the blood had been
swallowed from the gums then regurgitated. My feeling was that it would be best for Crizel to be
taken directly to the hospital based on my cursory exam and indications that her condition had
deteriorated this day. As we proceeded to the quayside Crizel became quite agitated, crying and
beating on her mother's shoulder, clearly because she didn't want to leave the ship. This was to
be the most energetic I saw her all afternoon.
On the dock we were met by Nerissa Augustin, a nurse and member of the 'People's Task Force for
Bases Cleanup', who had accompanied the children to the Rainbow Warrior. In English, she gave
me a more detailed medical history. Crizel was actually born on Clark Air Base in a community
that was situated upon a former motor pool, an area that has later been found to be highly
contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins. The community had been situated there after
the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo destroyed their homes. Crizel was diagnosed with leukemia
in March of 1999. Recently her doctor deemed the disease endstage and halted her chemotherapy
treatment. Transfusions of platelets had recently become whole blood transfusions, and the
schedule had just been changed from twice weekly to every other day. Nerissa's impression was
that the transfusions were palliative only. She also reported that Crizel's doctor had clearly
stated that doing what Crizel wanted was now more important than any medical care, and had
specifically encouraged the trip to the Rainbow Warrior. After a further brief consultation
with Crizel's mother, we all agreed that Crizel should stay. During this conversation Crizel
vomited a small amount of red, blood-tinged, mucoid emesis.
Through the afternoon I discovered a bit more about Crizel and her desire to visit
the Rainbow Warrior. She had learned several months ago that she was going to have a chance to see the ship
and had been looking forward to it ever since. Later, she sat down and drew a picture. It shows the ship sailing
on a calm sea with blue sails unfurled. The sun is shining through puffy clouds, a rainbow arcs across the
sky and a flock of birds are soaring by. Four smiling children holding smiling balloons are standing on the beach.
Three are boys wearing shorts while the fourth is a girl sporting a green dress and a full head of hair.
Underneath the girl is the name "Crizel". The picture is titled "Rainbow Warrior" and is dated February 1, 2000.
This picture ended up being used as the poster announcing the Philippine leg of the Toxic Free Asia Tour. It was
Crizel who decided that going to the ship this day was more important than going to the hospital for her transfusion
and she'd even insisted on getting a new pair of shoes for the occasion.