By Jennifer Lo
Maricel Lustico, 34, has pelvic inflammatory disease. She sometimes had to work as a doormat maker since her husband, a construction worker, does not earn enough to support their three children who are still attending school. Her sickness has compounded the family´s financial problems, and they are worried about how they can afford both her medical bills and the family´s day-to-day needs.
Didulo and Lustico are just two of the many patient-benefactors of Kaisa´s Alay Medisina program. Since its conception in 1988, volunteers of Alay Medisina have been visiting the Philippine General Hospital every Tuesday to personally distribute P20,000 worth of medicines to patients referred to them by the Medical Social Services Department (PGH social workers).
For Stella Gonzales, Kaisa’s vice president for programs and an Alay Medisina regular volunteer for 11 years, the outreach program is "for them (patients) to know that the Chinese Filipinos are not only here to do business, they're also here to help the Filipinos." She is proud to be part of a project that helps save lives.
Self-described "full-time volunteer" Baby Dy-An is a retired pharmacist who divides her time between early morning exercise, volunteering at Alay Medisina, lecturing in her parish church and Bible study. "I'm not getting any younger and life is short, you have to give your time to the Lord," the bubbly Dy-An says.
Dy-An recounts a time when she was looking for the caretaker of a particular patient who was asleep. The patient suddenly woke up and broke down in tears when handed her medications. Overwrought with gratefulness, the patient told Dy-An, "Kung hindi dahil sa iyo, anong mangyayari sa akin?"
Dy-An herself held back her tears and reassured the woman, "Manang, huwag ka na mag-isip ng kung anu-ano, kasi ito na, ito na gamot mo, para ngayon ito." In all her seven years of volunteer work in Alay Medisina, it was the first time she had encountered such an emotional display of gratitude.
But Alay Medisina has a big problem: the dearth of volunteers. Gonzales, a businesswoman and a mother of two, takes time out from work and family every Tuesday afternoon. Not many, however, are willing to make such a commitment. In the past, Alay Medisina would have at least five to six volunteers a week. The number has gradually dwindled. Nowadays, volunteers are usually Gonzales and/or Dy-An and Kaisa staffmember Gemma Ubay.
Alay Medisina is more than just about helping the needy. The program is also aimed at letting Tsinoys experience firsthand the poverty of their Filipino brothers. This is why volunteers are required to personally negotiate the labyrinthine passages of the PGH to seek out and hand the medicines to the charity ward patients.
Kaisa members are asked to volunteer at Alay Medisina the Tuesday of the week of their birthday. Once in awhile, friends of volunteers would join them. First-timers in the Alay Medisina often learn to appreciate the blessings they receive and realize how small their problems are compared to the hardships of the patients they meet. Dy-An assures them that it’s only natural: “Ganun naman yun, kung wala kang nakikita. Konti lang na problema, parang ang laki-laki na. Pero once na nakita mo diyan, hindi ka na magsasalita ng ganoon.”
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