Are you nervous? An older child sitting beside her asks the woman, and she just gave him a gentle smile.
How old is he? I asked the woman, she replied “one ma’am.”
I learned that Manang Lita (not her real name) came in with her one year old son for herniorrhaphy, a surgical operation for the correction of hernia.
Lita, who was nervous and at the same time thankful, said, if it wasn’t for this opportunity, her family probably wouldn’t be able to give her son immediate medical attention as they cannot afford such operation.
“Ang laki talaga ng pasalamat namin mam sa Tzu Chi, sa libreng operasyon, sana patuloy sila sa pagtulong sa gaya naming mahihirap.”
(We are really grateful to the Tzu Chi for giving free surgical services and I hope it will continue extending help to the poor like us.)
Tzu Chi …. restores hope, rebuild lives with great love
Manang Lita was one of the hundreds of patients who receive great love and compassion from Tzu Chi foundation through the foundation’s surgical medical mission.
Leonisa Dapiosan, senior nurse of the Tzu Chi Eye Center said a medical team travelled all the way from Manila for the surgical medical mission conducted Feb. 28 to Mach 01 here In Zamboanga.
The medical team from Manila was composed of 18 members that included surgical doctors, anesthesiologist and OR nurses who arrived here Thursday for the conduct of free herniorrhaphy and thyroidectomy.
Dapiosan said, hundreds of indigent patients from all over the region availed themselves of the free surgical operations of the two-day medical surgical mission of the foundation.
“Marami from Zamboanga City, meron din from Sibugay, Dapitan, Dipolog and Basilan,” (Many are from Zamboanga City, some are from Sibugay, Dapitan, Dipolog and Basilan) said Dapiosan, referring to the patients.
Sense of fulfillment
Staff nurse Jun of Tzu Chi-Zamboanga said in previous years, medical surgical mission was conducted every quarter of the year, but now, due to declining number of goiter and hernia cases, the conduct of the mission was reduced to twice a year. “It’s not because dahil marami nang ayaw na magpa opera, we realized na siguro mas nababawasan na ang kaso ng goiter at hernia, kaya pa konti ng pa konti ang nagpapa opera,” (It’s not because they don’t want to be operated on, but we realized that the cases of goiters and hernia are really going down, so the number of those who want to avail of the medical services is also getting fewer) Jun said.
“Because of this, nagkakaroon kami ng self-fulfillment , one evidence doon is kokonti na lang ang mga kaso na nakikita namin that’s why we also extend services to neighboring provinces like Ipil, Dipolog, some parts of Sibugay Province, General Santos City and as far as Tabaco Albay just to conduct surgical mission,” Jun explained.
(Because of this, we got self-fulfillment. One evidence of this is that the number of cases was going down, that’s why we also extend services to neighboring provinces like Ipil, Dipolog, some parts of Sibugay province, General Santos City and as far as Tabaco, Albay just to conduct the surgical mission.)
Aside from the medical surgical mission, Tzu Chi Zamboanga also does free eye check-up and cataract operation and free prosthesis program.
“We have now maker of prosthesis and the manufacturing facility is very accessible here in Zamboanga City, that’s why we no longer need to conduct medical mission for prosthesis because we could directly refer our patients to the manufacturer because it can be made here,” Jun pointed out.