Filipino president of US medical group helping poor in 120 countries

CLARK FREEPORT—A Filipino heads the Michigan-based World Medical Relief Inc. (WMRI), which supports public health care by collecting surplus medical resources and shipping these lifesavers to 120 countries.

This is the third year that George Samson, a nursing undergraduate and a native of Magalang, Pampanga, is serving as president of WMRI.

He currently oversees a mission that was initiated by Irene Auberlin in Detroit for orphans of the Korean War 58 years ago. Apart from his organizing skills, a high sense of ecumenism, and a level of discipline instilled at home, Samson believes his early close encounters with poverty in the Philippines have prepared him well for the job.

“(Auberlin) always said, ‘You help the sick and the poor because God loves them,” he said, citing the source of his inspiration.

He was introduced into this calling through his previous work in his home province.

His first attempt to get a job—as a company nurse at Coca-Cola Bottlers Phils Inc. (CCBPI) in the City of San Fernando—was a failure. But he returned to the company and joined its sales force after he finished a course in commerce. To earn the degree, he worked as a court interpreter during the day and attended classes at night.

It was as president of the CCBPI’s employees’ union that Samson first got to know the WMRI, when he coordinated a medical mission with the group in 1989. When the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo devastated Pampanga and the rest of Central Luzon in 1991, he again wrote WMRI to ask help for workers and other Pampanga residents.

Then WMRI president Carolyn George told him to come to the United States and coordinate shipments of relief supplies for victims of the disaster. George’s message came with an assurance: “We will help your people,” Samson recalled.

Then a bachelor at 30, Samson left the Philippines in 1991 on a US visa granted through the request of WMRI.

“The moment I saw the [WMRI] building [in Detroit], I felt the spirit of giving. So I volunteered while the shipments were being arranged,” Samson said.

He then began putting his nursing background to good use, first by imposing order in the room where the surgical instruments were kept. He sorted things out neatly and meticulously, the way he was taught as a boy by his mother, a public school teacher, and by his father, a carpenter.

WMRI directors saw what he did and were impressed, ordering George to hire Samson on the spot.

Favor from God

“I discerned and realized this is the organization that will give me a chance to reach out to others. When God is really giving you a favor, you are destined for something,” said Samson, who was born to Methodist parents.

He says he was fortunate to have worked with Auberlin, who was then 85 years old.

Until her death at age 103, Auberlin was unselfish, donating her body for medical science studies at the University of Michigan, he said.

In 1994, Samson was designated WMRI’s director for international programs. Six months later, he was assigned to be director for operations. As chief operating officer for 17 years, he agreed to be interim president for only a year in 2010.

Samson expanded WMRI services in 12 US states to provide help to homeless and hungry Americans. He also reorganized the board, taking in more health professionals.

Through his leadership, the number of volunteers rose to 1,770 through tie-ups with universities. This year, WMRI seeks to get more donors and double the number of container vans being sent to different countries—and ultimately save more lives.