Starting from nothing

In November 1998, TIMA members traveled from Manila to Zamboanga to hold a free clinic. The chairman of the local Chinese Chamber of Commerce asked his son-in-law, Yang Wei-shun, to help out. The three-day clinic treated 6,000 patients, including 270 patients who underwent operations.

Volunteers in the recovery ward meticulously took care of patients coming around from anes­thesia by covering them with blankets or clean­ing up the vomit of those who felt nauseous. Vol­unteers thoughtfully prepared food, drinks, and entertainment activities for patients in the wait­ing area. Even the doctors joined in to help sweep and mop floors. Although the doctors and volunteers had commenced their busy day at 7 a.m. and worked continuously through until 11 p.m., the smiles on their faces showed how much they had enjoyed themselves.

At the end of March 2000, Tzu Chi returned to hold the second free clinic. With the experience gained from the initial clinic, Yang observed that this time the work was far more successful and ran more smoothly. Yang felt it brought forward a wealth of new ideas.
The two free clinics in Zamboanga initially brought together thirteen residents who shared the same ideas and concepts regarding charity work. Since then, they have traveled with TIMA members to remote and isolated places to pro­vide free clinics. After attaining adequate experience, they decided to set up a Tzu Chi liaison office in Zamboanga in 2001, and Yang Wei-shun became the head of the office.

With about USS1,700 donated by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the volunteers started to distribute vitamins and pills for parasitic worms. The more patients they served, the more kinds of medications they needed to prepare. "We sometimes wondered if we could afford to buy so much medicine since the costs were get­ting higher and higher," explained Yang. "However, compared with the lives of these poor people, we knew we were so blessed." The volunteers were determined to continue despite the obstacles that lay ahead of them.