 | Being located in one of the poorest and most violent-prone regions in the Philippines, we have received a lot of requests for help from people with special needs. Some of these needs are not attended to by any local organization. Among the most neglected, is the plight of the indigent amputees. From the four previous Tzu Chi Jaipur Foot Camps done in cooperation with Philippine Orthopedic Center, Philippine Mahaveer Foundation, Zamboanga City Medical Center and Philippine Air Lines Foundation, Tzu Chi realized that there exists a huge pool of indigent amputees, who wanted nothing more but to get their former productive lives back to lessen their dependency on other people. We have seen how the free Jaipur Foot prostheses have brought back heartwarming smiles on the anguished faces of amputees in Region IX. Most of them thought their lives ended with the loss of their limbs, some due to diseases like diabetes, excessive smoking and trauma. Some of them were due to congenital deformities, affecting mostly children, who are at the receiving end of cruel taunts by their peers. Not being able to cope, they either drop out of school or perform miserably due to low self-esteem. Tzu Chi Zamboanga volunteers saw first hand that by giving them free prosthesis to stand on, will not only show them that we care, but most importantly, our small efforts give them the reason and the encouragement to move on. A great majority of our recipients have resumed their role as breadwinners for the family. We can also see the changes in the outlook of the children who are now able to walk on their own for the first time in their young lives.
As the news on the ease and comfort of the Jaipur foot prostheses spread, we have been swamped with phone calls and requests not only from Zamboanga City but also from neighboring areas like Basilan, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Jolo, and Tawi-Tawi. Moreso, as the list of our Jaipur Foot recipients continues to grow, we realized the need to have a permanent Jaipur foot manufacturing facility at the Zamboanga City Medical Center, not only to service our 79 existing Jaipur foot recipients, but for thousands of others who will come after them. We also realized that it would be unfair to impose on the kindhearted physicians and technicians of the Philippine Orthopedic Center to serve the never-ending needs of Zamboanga and Region IX. No matter how willing they are to sacrifice and manufacture the foot for us, their workload in Manila plus that of other cities makes it almost impossible for them to come to Zamboanga on a regular basis. Jaipur Foot recipients’ especially children need to have their Jaipur foot adjusted or repaired from time to time because of their rapid growth. With the establishment of the Tzu Chi Great Love Physical Rehabilitation and Jaipur Foot Manufacturing Center, all these can be done locally and we can even, for the first time reach out, to touch the hearts of amputees from nearby provinces by going on foot camps, With the facility here, we can deliver the finished prosthesis at a shorter time.
With these facts in mind, Tzu Chi Zamboanga brought up the idea to Dr. Raymond Sator, who lost no time in contacting the Philippine Mahaveer Foundation. Getting their nod to transfer the Jaipur Foot Manufacturing technology to Zamboanga, we sat down with the ZCMC OIC and Health Undersecretary of Mindanao Dra. Milagros Fernandez for an area where the facility will be built. Dra. Mila Fernandez realized the need and commended the Tzu Chi Foundation for the proposal. An area was located and a Memorandum of Agreement was drawn up and signed within a month’s time. After three months of drawing up the plans, modified and improved upon by Tzu Chi volunteer Marshall Siao in Taiwan; Tzu Chi Zamboanga finally got the nod and blessings of its founder Dharma Master Shih Cheng Yen. She reminded the Tzu Chi Zamboanga volunteers that in doing good deeds, we should not be hampered or discouraged by lack of funds. She reminded us, the volunteers to have faith, "not to underestimate oneself because one has unlimited potentials", and to "continue to have faith in others; that within the heart of every person lies love that is only waiting to be awakened". Because of this vision, Master Cheng Yen has managed to succeed in many difficult projects.
After three months of planning and fundraising, Tzu Chi Zamboanga is very inspired by the response of the community to this noble project. Its many fundraising activities here in Zamboanga like the ‘One Mega Fair and Christmas Bazaar Year 3’ have been warmly received by Zamboanguenos with record sales and attendance led by the late mayor and Tzu Chi donor Maria Clara Lorenzo Lobregat and his son Congressman Celso L. Lobregat. Tzu Chi Zamboanga also sold close to 2,000 love mugs to raise funds for the same purpose. Even with all the hard work, funds were not enough and have started to come in trickles. Tzu Chi Manila and Tzu Chi Cebu joined in and shared the burden by selling flowers last Valentine’s Day and gotten record breaking sales also. All these inspired the Tzu Chi Zamboanga volunteers and members no end. Tzu Chi Zamboanga was re-energized! It’s volunteers continued to burn the midnight candles and conduct fundraising campaigns to fund the 2.5M labor of love --- the Tzu Chi Great Love Physical Rehabilitation and Jaipur Foot Manufacturing Center.
Tzu Chi Foundation Zamboanga Liaison Office has been in existence for almost four years now and is involved in several health-related programs like our Medical / Dental and Sight Saving Programs in remote barangays (which have benefited over 13,000 to date), our VP Shunting Program for children with Hydrocephalus, Meningocoele and Encephalocoele (50 operations to date), Free Cataract Surgery with lens implantation (700 to date) and other eye operations (220), distributed Free Prescription Eyeglasses (455 pieces to date). Vitamin A dosing and Mass Deworming Campaign (5,605 to date), assistance to persons with disabilities (79 Jaipur Foot prosthesis distributed for free) and our Community Medical Assistance Program in charity wards of government hospitals have likewise saved the lives of hundreds with the timely provision of free medicines and surgeries to the poorest of the poor. Every day is a challenge for us, but Tzu Chi Zamboanga welcomes this challenge and is very happy to have this opportunity to do charity, save lives and serve our less fortunate brothers and sisters.
Last February 19, 2004 at exactly 9:00AM, Tzu Chi Foundation, Phils. President Manuel Siao and Zamboanga Office coordinator Anton Lim banged the ethnic Muslim gong three times to signal the opening of the formal groundbreaking ceremonies. It was a groundbreaking ceremony like no other. It was a sight to behold as this was the first time a groundbreaking ceremony was ever held with such dedication, solemnity and symbolism. The ceremony was done the Tzu Chi International way with touches of local custom and Indian influence. Even its guest of honor Department of Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit was moved by the solemnity and the symbolism of the event. Also on hand were Tzu Chi commissioners from Manila and Taiwan, Congressman Celso Lobregat, Vice Mayor Isabelle Climaco, DOH Regional Director Brenda Lopez, DSWD Regional Director Geraldine Valbuena, ZCMC Administrator Dr. Romeo Ong and Mahaveer Philippines foundation Chairman of the Board VK Maloo and President Enrique Lim. Also in attendance to support Tzu Chi Zamboanga on its special day we’re its partners in service, hundreds of its donor members and recipients.
With groundbreaking ceremonies over, Tzu Chi Zamboanga is more than ever, confident of raising the much-needed funds, --- 1.2M out of the 2.5M needed to complete the construction of the Tzu Chi Great Love Physical Rehabilitation Center. This confidence is aided by no small means, the show of love from the community, which Tzu Chi Zamboanga is serving. This early Tzu Chi Zamboanga is looking forward to the inauguration of the center as it aims to REBUILD LIVE...RESTORE HOPE... ONE FOOT AT A TIME! |