Love and tears flowed at the Tzu Chi Eye Center in Sta. Mesa, Manila when it celebrated Mother’s Day together with the birthdays of the Buddha, Tzu Chi Foundation and the founder of the international humanitarian organization on 9 May.

Highlighting the event was the feet washing ritual wherein children and students honored their mothers and teachers by washing their feet. The cleansing ceremony made Marietta Galit, a cataract and detached retina patient, cry as her youngest child, Glen, washed, scrubbed and pat her feet dry in a gesture of humility, love and filial devotion to a parent.

“I cannot see it because of my poor vision but I can feel deeply how much my children love me,” Marietta said, according to the Facebook page of Tzu Chi Medical Foundation Philippines.

With the gesture, the son reassured her mother that he would never leave her side.

“I remembered all my mother’s sacrifices and love,” he added. “Our father passed away early so she had to support all her six children alone. Through this ceremony, it’s like I’m telling her ‘Ma, this time we will be the ones who will take care of you.’”

Other young children also washed the feet of their parents.

Younger volunteer doctors, meanwhile, expressed their appreciation to their mentors and seniors through a tea ceremony.

“I am so grateful to be given this chance to demonstrate how much I appreciated the things that she has taught me,” Dr. Earl Cruz said after serving tea and offering a flower to his trainer, pediatric ophthalmologist and strabismus specialist Dr. Ma. Rebecca Abes-Servera.

Dr. Abes-Servera said the tribute truly warmed her heart.

“Earl is like a son to me,” she said. “I feel like a mother who sees her son grow and I am proud of the man and the doctor that he has become.”

More than 300 individuals joined in the ceremony, including members of the 124th Philippine Air Force Reserve Unit Affiliate and nuns from the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus congregation.

Tzu Chi founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen, whose birthday falls on 14 May, believes that “a heart with filial piety is as pure as the Buddha’s.”

“We owe our life to our mother, who suffered greatly during childbirth, the dedicated care of doctors, nurses, and to many contributions from society. This Mother’s Day, may we strive to make our lives more meaningful by repaying our parents’ grace, cherishing our lives, and contributing to society,” she said in her Mother's Day message.

Also part of the event was the Buddha bathing ceremony, which symbolizes the clearing of worries and ignorance, purification of the heart and cleansing of the spirit. It involves bowing before a crystal Buddha, touching a bowl of water (symbolizing Buddha’s feet), and picking a lotus leaf. The ceremony is also a practice of self-reflection and dedication of prayers for a peaceful world. 

Sixty-year-old Josephine Mattias found the celebration an opportunity to express her gratitude to the foundation and its doctors and staff. Having been to many different eye care facilities before to look for treatment for her eye problem, Josephine’s fears were put to rest at the Tzu Chi Eye Center.

“It was here that I realized that there is hope for me because [Tzu Chi] serves without expecting anything in return, the doctors are the best in their fields, and they welcome everyone,” she said.

Another activity at the event was the pouring of coin donations to a well.

Patient Rodante Barrera, 62, brought his Tzu Chi coin bank filled with his money donations to the event.

“Every time I come here, I make it a point to bring my coin donation can,” he explained after pouring the contents of it in the donation well where it gathered with other patients’ donations. “The services we receive from Tzu Chi means a lot to us. I, honestly, have no means to pay for the expensive eye treatments that’s why even though I live in Taytay, Rizal, I come here for my treatment.”