The Rotary Club of Dumaguete led by President Col. Nehru Yurong (ret.) held Operation Tuli at Barangay Batinguel on May 1st. The previous day a similar activity was held at the Zamboanguita gym in cooperation with Rotarian Mayor Kit Adanza.
It was a busy day at Barangay Batinguel with 300 boys listed, along with their respective mothers, fathers, uncles, neighbors and friends. The heat was excruciating but the volunteers were shielded from the hot sun by the huge, spacious tents provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Free medicines and rice were provided by Rotarian Cong. George Arnaiz, and Rotarian Mayor Chiquiting Sagarbarria.
The Rotary Club of Dumaguete extends its deepest thanks and appreciation to all the volunteers — doctors, nurses, barangay officials of Batinguel, who helped make sure Operation Tuli was a success.
Rotarian-spouses, among them Emily Teves-Sy, Adel Blanco, Ginging Bausin, Eppie Ramada, Grace Obanana, and Nanette Arnaiz, were on hand to assist in the management of the orderly conduct of the clinic and the dispensing of medicines.
While dispensing instructions to the boys lining up, one can observe the varying emotions — nervous smiles, pensive hesitations, and outright tears of fear. But the mothers had this to say: “Magpatuli na gyod ka ‘ron kay wala gyod ta ibayad sa doctor ug tambal!” (You really have to be circumcised now because we have no money to pay for the doctor or for medicines!)
The scene between mother and son encapsulates the many repeated similar concerns about the lack of financial resources to pay for any form of health care. This is a significant indicator of how each family is really hard up trying to make ends meet — this difficult task which usually falls on the mother.
The mother is the key home manager as she is the person who has to provide ample budget for food, clothing, and other basic necessities for the family. And in this day and age, the majority of Filipino households are struggling from the effects of the whammy of oil price increases, as it impacted on the purchasing power of the peso. There is no news of wage increase, because the oil prices affects the financial outlay of employers, too.
That mother and son scene touched the hearts of the Rotarian-volunteers who had to give careful instructions on how the medicines should be taken, etc., taking note that majority of the children were either undernourished or malnourished.
The rice distributed was just a one-meal solution; the difficult tasks of confronting the multi-faceted poverty problem is placed on the halls of government.
So, count your blessings, whatever your problems are, always remember there are many more who have greater troubles than you. Happy Mother’s Day!
