This is a photo of my son Daniel when he was 3 years old (1984), with his pediatrician, Dra. Juanita Lu.
We took Daniel and his brother Adrian to Dra. Lu for check-ups and when they were sick – from the time they were born until we migrated to Australia in 1992.
And this is the two of them reunited after 34 years.
I took Daniel to see her 3 weeks ago when I visited the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (Lungsod ng Kabataan) (PCMC) in Quezon City, Philippines.
These two photos were taken in 1989 when Daniel had a surgery for hernia at PCMC. It was during this hospitalization that I got to appreciate how wonderful this hospital was.
PCMC opened in 1980, equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities, and furnished in a way that a sick child would feel delighted and would probably be distracted from their illness. The environment of the hospital was designed to appeal to children; the waiting rooms and general areas reflected a sense of “play” or “fun”. Most importantly, the hospital staff were caring, and provided excellent medical service
PCMC is a government corporation-run hospital that services both pay and service patients. So this is where the poor Filipinos bring their sick children. They come from the city and the from the provinces. They do not have to pay. (We had to pay for Daniel’s surgery and hospitalization; and this was covered by my husband’s health insurance at his workplace.) And they get excellent treatment.
The hospital continues to provide the best pediatric service to Filipino children. However, being a public hospital means that there is always not enough resources.
It was thus during this hospital stay in 1989, while walking around the wards while Daniel was sleeping, that I met many patients from poor families.
This was when my heart broke, hearing stories such as how a sick child was ready to be discharged but they could not leave because they did not have money for the bus fare to go home to their home village. Or how a child could not be discharged because they did not have money to buy the medicines to bring home or devices needed so the child could continue their treatment at home. And many stories of how treatment had been exhausted and their child was not going to get well at all.
I remember starting donating to the hospital to help the poor patients. When we migrated to Australia, I made a promise that every time I visit here, I would donate some money.
And a few weeks ago (June 2018), my son came with me because we were going to UP to visit some cats. (That’s a separate story altogether.)
When I started visiting PCMC since migrating to Australia, the social worker section would assist by finding me some patients to assist. The carer of the sick child would come and meet me in that office and I would give them money. Most of the time, it was for medicine or bus fare to bring their sick child home.
Direct donations
These encounters with the patients or their parents had always been upsetting and I would end up crying as I left.
A few years ago, they changed the system and they would ask me to donate directly to the cashier and they would issue me a receipt. Then they decided who to give it to.
In a way, this was a relief because then I would be spared the experience of seeing the suffering and struggles of the families directly.
But during this visit in June, they asked me if I was okay with donating directly to the patients because they had two patients that were ready to be discharged but could not leave because they did not have money to purchase what they needed to continue the treatment at home.
The first case was a small child who needed an oxygen tank and a suction machine, costing 8,300 Philippine pesos (AUD210/USD160).
The second case was a 15-year old patient who was on dialysis, but could continue the treatment at home with oral medicine. If the medicine was available in the hospital’s pharmacy, they could supply these, but since it was not, the patient had to buy them outside. The cost of one month’s supply was calculated at 8,000 Philippine pesos (AUD200/USD160).
Daniel and I almost literally emptied our wallets to raise the total amount since I was prepared to give P10,000 only that day. Lucky that we brought some more cash that day, otherwise, we would not be able to send two sick kids home.
The social workers asked if we would like to see the patients. I declined, because I knew how it would affect me.
Later, I regretted this since I deprived Daniel of the experience of being directly in contact with the sick child and their carer. I also deprived the sick child of being able to thank a benefactor directly and to know that there are strangers who would help them.
Putting things in perspective
But the impact of this encounter on Daniel is amazing.
First, as we were leaving the hospital, he put his arm over my shoulder and said, “Thank you for continuing to teach me life lessons.” I offered to pay him back the money he added to our donation, but he refused and said that was his contribution. He also said that the next time he comes to the Philippines, he would be happy to come and give a donation on behalf of me or of himself.
Then, on the car on our way to UP, he said, “How can I now upgrade my lunch by $2, when I know that $200 would send a sick child home?”
Apparently, this recent trip to the Philippines helped put things in perspective for him. He felt that in a way, he would be even more of a cheapskate because he would be thinking “why do I need to buy so and so when I can just donate that money?”
Lastly, he summed this up when he wrote on his Facebook page: (Notes: 1. Daniel had to apply for an Emergency passport after his passport was left in his pants that went into the washing machine. 2. Daniel rescued a kitten in 2017 during a trip to the Philippines; her name is Chica. 3. Daniel also experienced first-hand the crowding in Makati MRT and other places during this trip.) 
In a subsequent chat with Daniel on Viber, I wrote that if I won the lotto (jackpot), the PCMC would be a major beneficiary of my winnings. He said: “We can give to them even if we don't win lotto. Maybe someday instead of buying a Porsche, I'll just donate the money to them. If ever I live there, maybe I can focus my energies on things like raising awareness to what they do. It was really valuable to see them in action last week.”
I share this story with you to raise awareness about the sick kids at the Philippine Children Medical Center.
To help these kids, you can donate money, clothes, books, shoes, toys and other things that patients at PCMC would appreciate.
You can direct these donations to PCMC by contacting or visiting their Special Projects office. You may course these through me. I am happy to coordinate this effort to bring things and donations to PCMC for now, until we find a more efficient way to do this. You may email me at: rogeep@hotmail.com
Thank you in advance. – Rappler.com
The author is a retired professor of Psychology at the University of the Philippines, and former Head of the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales (Australia). Contributor to and strong advocate of Sikolohiyang Pilipino.