Philippine Tzu Chi's 29th Free Clinic
(Translated by Stanley Peng, Northern California)
At five in the morning of September 16,
Tzu Chi members in the Philippines once again set off to provide
medical service to the poor. The service site was at the historic
Tung Ho Middle School in Rosonna. It took the four buses three
hours to drive from Manila to Rosonna. No one was in the mood
to enjoy the scenery; most people tried to sleep in order
to charge up the supreme energy needed for the day's work.
Dr. Liu Hsiu-chuan led a total of 49 medical
personnel, and Sister Lin Tzu Chien, head of the Tzu Chi Philippine
branch office, led 147 volunteers. The day of medical service
was tremendously successful. A total of 2,590 patients were
treated, including 107 in the external medicine department,
791 in internal medicine, 819 in pediatrics, 253 in the dental
department, and 620 in ophthalmology. One could see this work
record, but not the Tzu Chi spirit, which quietly grew among
the people and paved a road for a pure world with surprising
strength.
This free clinic was sponsored by the Filipino-Chinese
Association of Rosonna, the Tung Ho Middle School board of
directors, the Tung Ho Family Teachers Association, and the
city DSWD Social Service Department. We are deeply grateful
to them for compassionately working with us to assist those
in need.
The dry skin of ninety-year-old Pastino
was full of blemishes. It was actually a normal case of age
spots. But he thought he had been cursed and so he anxiously
consulted a spirit doctor, who wrote spells on one-inch-square
pieces of paper and hung strings of them on his ears. When
he came to the free clinic, the doctor explained to him the
true nature of the spots, and the old man was finally relieved
of the heavy load in his heart.
Mareaso, a 75-year-old grandmother, had
blurred vision and felt confused all day. Her life was unbearable.
After a checkup at the clinic, it was found that her left
eye needed cataract surgery. However, only minor external
operations were being performed at the one-day clinic. Therefore,
surgery was arranged for her at Chung Rung Hospital in Manila.
The grandmother was ecstatic to learn that she would make
a trip to Manila for free cataract surgery. She thought it
wonderful that she did not need to pay for the surgery and
that she also had a chance to tour Manila!
In a Chinese family, a five-year-old child
still needs to be carefully fed by his mother or yaya (nanny).
However, Retorna, only one and a half years old, was not as
fortunate. One night during dinner, he climbed up onto the
table for a bowl of porridge. The boiling hot contents accidentally
spilled over his face, head and shoulders. He was immediately
sent to a hospital to be treated for his burns, but the fees
for doctors and medicine were quite high. Luckily the free
clinic team came to the rescue.
Rosando Cabarles, Jr., 21 years old, had
difficulty making ends meet and was unable to continue taking
medication for his lungs. The bacteria spread to his lymph
nodes and eventually caused fluid to accumulate in his lungs,
making it difficult for him to breathe. A Tzu Chi doctor provided
him with two months' supply of medication to suppress his
symptoms. The doctor also referred him to two local doctors,
who were also his classmates, to help keep track of the patient's
medical condition.
Dharma Master Cheng Yen observed that one
more day of medical service benefits more Filipinos; if there
is one more good person, then there is one less bad one. With
the strength of more and more good people, all of society
will experience a cycle of goodness. September 16, the day
of the free clinic, was also the birthday of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
Everyone spent the day working like bodhisattvas to relieve
suffering, in the hope that every volunteer would carry the
spirit of the bodhisattvas through countless days in the future.
