The 1958 Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding

In mid-1954, the group effort known as OPERATION BROTHERHOOD was originated in the Philippines to help meet the medical and relief needs of the tens of thousands of refugees and wounded who were flooding from embattled areas of Vietnam into crowded Saigon and Cholon.

The late President Ramon Magsaysay personally helped provide initial impetus to the drive for the succor of war-ravaged Vietnam and the uprooted families who had sought in the south a sanctuary not hostile to their faith or political convictions.

The first team of seven doctors and three nurses was flown to Saigon aboard a Philippine Red Cross plane in October 1954. Before closing their work in Vietnam in December 1956, OPERATION BROTHERHOOD teams had treated some 730,000 persons. Since January 1957, a 50-member group has given treatment to another 250,000 persons in Laos.

The OPERATION's impact has been felt not only in terms of lives saved and better health attained. Of equal importance has been its heartening demonstration, in keeping with the creed of its civic sponsor, that "the brotherhood of man transcends the sovereignty of nations."

Initially a project of the Philippine Junior Chamber of Commerce, OPERATION BROTHERHOOD was immediately taken up by the Asian Jaycees and later was selected as the Junior Chamber International project for 1955. Other organizations, government agencies and individuals have also made important contributions. Altogether, material aid in cash, medicines and supplies—in some instances bolstered by actual participation through medical teams—has been received from Australia, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, the Republic of China, England, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaya, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States.

In recognizing this group effort, the Board of Trustees makes particular reference to those men and women who have actively participated in this work. The Board of Trustees also recognizes, by extension, the Operation's civic sponsor and all of those others in many countries who have rallied to its support.

The first Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding is given to OPERATION BROTHERHOOD in acknowledgement of the spirit of service to other peoples in a time of need, with which it was conceived and has been carried forward, as well as the international amity it has fostered.