 | Tzu Chi Cebu’s 11th Medical Mission held in Barangay Luz, Cebu City came to be through the invitation of the Teresian Association. Founded by Father Pedro Poveda of Linares, Spain in 1911, the Teresian Association is a group of lay people who commit themselves to live out their Christian faith in the service of education and culture. Father Pedro Poveda believed that education is an antidote to poverty and social ills.
The Teresian Association has a Guadix Open Center in Barangay Luz wherein they hold classes every Saturday afternoon to augment the education of the indigent children in the area. Depending on the needs of the children, their classes range from Science to Math to English. The classes also serve as a support group for the young children. For the adults, the Teresian Association offers Catechism and livelihood classes like cooking and soap making. Seeing the need to provide medical assistance for the residents of Barangay Luz, The Teresian Association approached Tzu Chi Cebu.
Volunteers from Tzu Chi went to Barangay Luz on several occasions to survey the area and to interview the residents. From the outside, the area looks deceptively clean and peaceful. However, upon entering the area, volunteers saw a labyrinth of pathways with houses built very close to each other. Entering several of the houses, volunteers noted that as small as some of the houses were, different families were co-living with each other. Several of the houses do not even have wash areas. With their bed to their back, some were washing their clothes right on the floor with a basin of water they fetched outside. With so many people living close to each other, young children were prone to common diseases. Noted too were several cases of skin infection borne by lack of water supply and drainage in some houses. For those residents whom volunteers chanced upon needing immediate medical attention and medication, Tzu Chi coordinated with local barangay officials and immediately provided them with the medications they needed.
To plan and execute a medical mission of this size require coordination amongst a large group of people. It is very heartwarming to see the close cooperation between two groups with two different backgrounds (Teresian Association being Catholic and Tzu Chi Foundation being Buddhist) working together for a single goal – that is to alleviate the sufferings of the less fortunate.
Very noteworthy also was the good number of youth volunteers working hand-in-hand with their adult counterparts. The care group department comprising mostly of the very young volunteers with the youngest at just nine years old, was a bundle of joy. With their youthful enthusiasm and charming smiles, they worked tirelessly the whole duration of the mission to bring food and drinks to the volunteers and to the waiting patients.
One of the patients treated is Senando Abalac. Senando is a 32-year old resident of Cabantan, Barangay Luz. According to Senando, he discovered a tiny lump between his shoulder blades a year ago. The lump kept on growing to the size of a peanut and this caused him much apprehension. Just like the other patients, monetary concerns prevented him from consulting with a surgeon. He earns his living by driving a public utility vehicle. With the continuing oil price hikes, his meager earnings are even more lessened and medical attention was a last priority. Aside from the surgery to remove the cyst on his back, Senando was also given tetanus shots as he had accidentally pierced his palm earlier that morning with a piece of wire.
The medical mission was able to treat a total of 1,692 patients, broken down as follows: General Medicine 467, Pediatrics 552, Minor Surgery 66, Dental 364, Eye 243. Volunteers, on the other hand, numbered 198. |