Artist and Juan Luna great-grandson Abe Orobia gets his eyesight back

 A great-grandson of Juan Luna recently presented a painting to Tzu Chi Eye Center as a token of gratitude for his successful retina surgery.

The painting depicted a child covered in soot from working in a charcoal kiln, against a theme park in the background. The artist, Eleazar Abraham Orobia, 39, more known as Abe Orobia in the art community, said the picture conveys a message of hope and the persistence of dreams even in bleak circumstances.

It was a piece he had finished a few years back and is a personal favorite, said the artist.

Orobia, who began painting at the age of 3 and had his first solo sold-out show at six years old, lived and breathed art. His maternal great-grandfather is the national hero and painter Juan Luna. His father is also an established painter.

Aside from being a visual artist, Orobia is also a lecturer and instructor. In 2022, he received the JCI (or Jaycees) Philippines Outstanding Young Men Award for "Culture and Education."

But he accomplished all these while quietly enduring poor vision in his left eye caused by a detached retina. Orobia painted and taught art with only one properly functioning eye for nearly four years, until his mother, who learned about Tzu Chi from a relative, brought him to the Buddhist charity group's Eye Center in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

Volunteer retina specialist Dr. Carlo Nasol operated on his eye on 21 September 2023. Orobia said the surgery not only restored his eyesight but also his confidence in painting.

On 23 November, the artist and his mother Fe visited the Tzu Chi Eye Center for a post-surgery consultation and to present his painting. Fe held Dr. Carlo's hands as she thanked him for saving her son's eyesight. In return, the doctor thanked her for trusting Tzu Chi with her son's eye health.

"A mother does not mind falling ill, but when our children get sick, we can never be at peace," said Fe. "Which is why I am so grateful to Tzu Chi and Master Cheng Yen — because of her, many patients were given hope and freed from blindness."