Seeds of Love from T.I.M.A. Everywhere on Earth
Translated by: Richard Chang
The number of people needing medical care is a benchmark for the nation's state of health. Disparity between the rich and poor and illiteracy rate underscore the heart of the problem. Most countries aim to solve their healthcare issues with either more legislative bills or money. However, on the fringe of our society is a group of people falling through the cracks. They quietly endure the hardship from lack of medical care due to either their inability or unwillingness to seek help. They do not have representation and are often ignored. They usually stay quiet and have little self-esteem. At the same time, volunteers from different parts of the world are striving to meet this challenge head on. They are thinking outside the box by fudging the rules of traditional fee-for-service medicine. No longer is the bottom line a primary consideration. Instead, the focus is on patients who need help regardless of their age, occupation, education or income. These people give and ask nothing in return, yet the smiles they get in return are priceless. They are the harbingers of missions of love whose far-reaching endeavors not only cross country borders but also significantly help bridge the gap between the poor and healthcare.
In the afternoon weekend of September 28, 2002, Richard Smith, a thirty-year-old white male, went to the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Free Clinic in Los Angeles and handed over a check in the amount of $182.50. This was his donation to Tzu Chi. Two years ago, out on a limb and without a job, Smith was a homeless man in Los Angeles who was also debilitated with repeated bouts of flu. When he found out about the medical outreach mission being conducted at Echo Park, Smith was pleasantly surprised by the bright smiling Asian faces who were courteous all the way from the registration process to the actual treatment and picking up of prescriptions. At that moment, he seemed to have regained his self-respect. It was all so heart-warming! Volunteers with sky blue shirt and white pants who showed them respect and gave them self-confidence left indelible marks in their heart. He was given a booklet titled, "Dharma Master Cheng Yen and Her Tzu Chi World." In it, he read that Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation got started with a contribution of fifty cents from each of its members toward charity. This was his first encounter with Tzu Chi. He then spent the next two years working his way out of the street and started setting aside a bit of money each day just like Tzu Chi did. When he walked in the Free Clinic on September 28, he said, "I have been saving fifty cents a day just as you were in Taiwan. It has been exactly three hundred and sixty-five days, which gives it a total of one hundred eighty-two dollars and fifty cents. Please take this money and help more people!" Dressed modestly but neatly, Smith stressed that he would continue putting away fifty cents a day in support of Tzu Chi and those in need. Generally, everyone needs insurance to pay for the exorbitantly high medical cost. Those without insurance literally cannot afford to get sick. In the United States, there are roughly three types of insurance. Medicare and Medicaid are for the elderly and the low-income while Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) covers those in between. However, these only added up to 75-80% while roughly 20% of the population are stuck with no insurance. Richard Smith was one of them.
Nestled between Highway 5 and Highway 46 is a place called Lost Hill which would soon see the light of the day again. Scattered across the hills are tractors in disrepair which serve as makeshift homes for migrant farmers and their families. On June 22, 2003, volunteers from the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Free Clinic began what would later become quarterly medical outreach missions to this remote area. When they arrived, the farmers were all beaming with smiles, and the fatigue from their early morning commute was quickly forgotten. Most of the people come from the U.S.-Mexico border as they move along farms during harvesting season. Tzu Chi volunteers set up temporary stations in a park with services that include acupuncture, medicine, dentistry, social works, sundry dispensary and haircutting. They distributed backpacks with toothbrush and toothpaste plus school supplies to the kids. Those who were lying down by the trees also got up, cleaned themselves up in the bathroom and quietly queued up to see the doctors. There were over one hundred patient visits that day. Free Clinic's entire funding comes from private donations raised from the American public, a collective symbol of love for the underprivileged living in the dark corners of our society.
Besides north America, Tzu Chi medical teams have also been active in the southeast Asia countries, among which the Philippines was the first one to benefit from such services. Starting February 1995, Tzu Chi have either been dispensing free medications or made referrals on a case-by-case basis rotating among nearly seven hospitals and clinics. However, they knew they needed to do more as they were barely scratching the surface of the problem. One of the diseases that was unique to the vacation city of Zambonaga is hydrocephalus which can cause extreme discomfort in children as unrelenting fluid pressure builds up inside the skull. Their desperate cries would not make the pain go away. As doctors began seeing patients suffering from hydrocephalus in 2000, they realized they had to refer them to the Tzu Chi chapter in Manila because they were unable to perform the operation. When more children began streaming in, they made a decision. They had a doctor go to the nearby town of 宿霧 to learn the procedure so they can begin treating patients and also saving them the burden of making extended trip out of town. Tzu Chi members picked up the entire training cost for the doctor. To this day, that doctor has successfully treated over forty cases of hydrocephalus. But Tzu Chi people wanted to do its part to spread the seeds of love. As each operation can cost from 80,000 to 130,000 Philippine pesos, they gave a donor the opportunity to pick up half the tab while the other half was paid for by the Tzu Chi chapter in Zambonaga. They have steadfastly carried out their mission for four years now as the doctors in the southern Philippines knew enough to refer hydrocephalus patients to Tzu Chi for best care. They did not stop there, though. Comprehensive dental care was their next goal. As palliative treatment and extractions were the only dental procedures done at outreach missions, they saw a declining number of people coming in for their services. T.I.M.A. (Tzu Chi International Medical Association) dentists took it upon themselves and decided at their 42nd outreach mission to begin offering denture service, a break from the status quo of free dental care. The dentist really had the most fun during the two days of medical outreach at the town of Carmona, which lies just south of Manila. Its inhabitants are generally poor but happy-go-lucky folks, but illnesses can deal fatal blows to their already meagre means of living. The dental team arrived a few days earlier so they could start taking molds of people's teeth. As many people have been without teeth for ten or twenty years, getting fitted for a new set of dentures meant a great deal. Some wanted to eat food they have not been able to enjoy; some wanted to laugh with their mouth open wide and so people can see their new teeth. A fifty-two-year-old Teresita is a mom and was still covering her mouth when she talked. After being reassured that her teeth are really in place did she start feeling confident smiling in public. She was overcome with emotions and gave the dentist a big kiss. Dentist Aldrich Arrieta said, "Nothing makes me happier seeing smiles on patients' faces. I know I have made their lives better."
Let us fly across the sea and visit the paradise south of the equator-Australia. A group of young dental graduates from Brisbane also have been actively seeking ways to help the needy. They wanted to apply lessons they learned as Tzu Ching (Tzu Chi Youth Group) and give back to the communities. These young people knew not what fear was as they put their mettle to the "grilling" test of inland Australia. They boldly began their dental outreach missions in July 2000, starting in rural Queensland that quickly expanded across seven small towns and reached as far south as the state of Tasmania. They have seen well over one thousand patients as nineteen dentists, fourteen dental assistants and twenty-three auxiliary members took turns filling the shifts to make it happen. Twenty additional dentists were inspired to join, too. Although the number of dentists may not be great, the challenge of reaching their outreach sites probably ranked top as it tests one's will and perseverance. They had to alternate between single-engine planes and four-wheel-drive SUV's along the route. Certain stretches of road can take up to four to five hours of driving with poor visibility and road hazard such as kangaroo crossing. After dark, it became even more treacherous. As headlights often attract animals, they oftentimes were driving with their lights off as they carefully proceeded in pitch black. Driving actually topped the list as the most grueling task during their missions. Heat posed another unique challenge as they had to deal with a punishing 48.5 degrees Celsius temperature and was often hotter in the car as air condition unit usually gave in to the high heat. What keeps them going again and again are the smiles on people's faces when they show up and render the necessary care. Besides the U.S. the Philippines and Australia, in countries such as Japan where medical care is well-established, acupuncturists also step up to the plate and use their expertise to alleviate symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease. T.I.M.A. activities also flourish in Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. As compassion is very much a part of care, the doctors treat not only patients' bodily pain, but also heal them spiritually. From the time when Hualian, Taiwan, conducted its first medical missions to the establishment of T.I.M.A. around the globe, there are now more than five thousand T.I.M.A. members in ten countries with seventeen Tzu Chi branches. The number of outreach missions tops hundreds with a total of 5,661 patient visits as of December 2003. The power of love continues. Compassion serves as its fuel and wisdom its wheels. As the torch of selfless, pure love passes on from one to another in the world of T.I.M.A., it lights up each dark corners of the earth, all-encompassing and inclusive, like dusts from the nano-world, weaving a universal web of love.
