 | On March 28, 2007, TIMA Philippines traveled to San Fabian, Pangasinan for the annual eye medical mission held at the Free Rural Eye Clinic. Together with the locality’s Dr. Guillermo de Venecia, they hope to alleviate the suffering brought about by eye illness.
For this medical mission, a total of 43 volunteers came, which included 2 volunteers from Taiwan. Under Dr. Say’s leadership, 10 doctors and 3 nurses from TIMA joined. Dr. Frank Myers, from America, and his wife, Mrs. Helen Myers, who is a nurse, also came for the mission.
Early in the morning of March 28, the waiting area was already filled with patients. With Tzu Chi’s Spirit of Gratitude, Respect and Love, Helen took the blood pressures of the patients. While Dr. de Venecia attentively did a pre-surgery check-up on the patients, Dr. Say and his team did the cataract surgery in the operating room.
Among the patients is one 79-year old grandma named Gregoria Tamayo. She arrived with her grandson Ryan Andaya. Because of diabetes, both her legs were amputated, on the years 1990 and 2000. Ryan carried her grandmother in his arms all throughout. Upon talking with them, volunteers found out that he has an 11-month old son named Hans Andaya. Hans has a blockage inside his mouth. When eating, food sometimes comes out from his nose. Volunteers felt sympathy for the family. Volunteers accompanied them to their home, promising to bring Hans to Manila for treatment.
Another patient is 15-year old Jane Alhambra with an inborn cross-eye, which caused her to be teased by her classmates. She cried every time she arrived home. The mother empathized with the suffering Jane went through, but delayed such treatment for fear that there’s a risk of becoming blind after surgery. On January 2007, Jane’s grandmother underwent a successful cataract surgery in the Free Rural Eye Clinic, regaining her eyesight, inspiring the mother to have faith on the surgeon. So on March 28, the mother went to the clinic on the very first day to get a number. Accompanied by medical personnel, volunteers and other patients that have undergone successful surgeries, the mother’s faith increased and eventually allowed her daughter to receive treatment. After a successful operation, Jane’s mother was so happy that she cried! Both mother and daughter were so grateful to the living bodhisattvas, helping alleviate suffering without asking anything in return. With the seeds of love in their hearts, both mother and daughter will most likely share the blessings bestowed upon them.
On the second day of the medical mission, March 29, the waiting area was still filled with patients. Among them was 59-year old Natividad Perez, who lives at Asinan, Bugallon with her husband. Bugallon is 100 kilometers away or is an hour and half trip to San Fabian by car. In these far-flung areas, medical resources are insufficient. Many young people take their chances in the city to earn a living, leaving their poor and ailing family members on their own.
Ochating, as she is known in their area, has taken the responsibility of caring for the health of those in her area. During Tzu Chi’s annual medical mission in San Fabian, with her bright disposition, she accompanies the patients in taking a pedicab trip to go to the mission site. She asks for nothing in return, doing everything because she is happy to do so. To her neighbors, she has become a very important part of their community. Deep within herself, what she gained is everlasting spiritual joy and peace. Tzu Chi volunteers took this chance to request her to lead them to her area and check if previous patients were doing fine. The volunteer were happy that the patients were going on their normal lives.
From Aurora is 48-year old Remigia Andrade. When she heard news about Tzu Chi’s Eye Medical Mission, she quickly headed to San Fabian, hoping to resolve her eye problem. After an initial check-up, it was found that her eye illness is not serious and doesn’t even need surgery. With no complaints, she believed that it was God’s will that she went over there to be of service to the other patients. Wearing a volunteer’s vest, she helped serve tea for the patients. She was grateful because Tzu Chi provided her a chance to be God’s servant. She learned that there are more people out there that need help much more than she did. To be able to share and help others is a blessing that needs to be cherished.
On March 30, as the medical mission was about to come to an end, there was suddenly a power outage forcing the medical services to stop. Because the medical personnel and the volunteers were to return to Manila early the next day, they do not want the patients who came from afar to be disappointed. Volunteers coordinated immediately with companies in Dagupan to borrow a generator. When the generator finally arrived at noon, medical services resumed to normal. Because of the delay during the morning’s power outage, the doctors continued to work non-stop as they continued from one surgery to another. It was only until 6PM that all the surgeries were done. The 3-day medical mission served 166 patients, among which are 151 cataracts, 6 cross-eye, 5 glaucoma and 4 pterydium. |