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Tzu Chi Foundation honors mothers

It’s a good feeling, something different this time because we invited the patients.

Gabriela Baron · May 11, 2024, 12:20 AM

Dr. Antonio Say (top photo with mask) and Dr. Susan Lapid Lim (photo below with mask) examined patients for free at the Tzu Chi Eye Center in Sta. Mesa, Manila during the celebration of Tzu Chi Day, which is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May, which usually coincides with the Buddha’s birthday and Mother’s Day. — Photograph by Analy Labor for the daily tribune @tribunephl_ana

Tzu Chi Foundation on 10 May celebrated its 50th anniversary, along with Buddha Day and Mother’s Day.

Also included in the celebration was cleansing the feet of mothers and elders who lined up as patients at the Tzu Chi Eye Center.

In Buddhism, clean water mixed with sandalwood to clean the feet is one of the eight typical offerings.

In an interview with DAILY TRIBUNE, Tzu Chi Foundation CEO Michael Siao said he noticed that during the feet cleansing, led by Tzu Chi volunteers, doctors, and members of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), many elders were touched, with some seen hugging those who washed their feet.

“It’s a good feeling, something different this time because we invited the patients. To commemorate Mother’s Day, our doctors who were regularly providing services for the patients, they humbled themselves, they themselves washed the patients’ feet,” Siao said.

“You will notice from the patients, many were touched. So this celebration, this is our happiest for us that the best way to be grateful, to show gratitude to the master is by physical practice,” he added.

First non-profit clinic

Opened in 2016, Tzu Chi Foundation’s Eye Center, located in Sta. Mesa, is the first non-profit organization-owned medical center in the Philippines.

According to the foundation’s website, it has a state-of-the-art medical facility which contains the most advanced optical technology where surgeries for cataracts and various eye illnesses are provided by an expert team of eye specialists, all for free for indigent patients.