The Tzu Chi Eye Center had an unexpected visitor recently. Romulo Manongdo dropped by to bring sweet treats for his surgeon, Dr. Bernardita Navarro, and the rest of the medical team.
But the best gift he brought was the story of how his life was transformed after undergoing surgery at the eye center.
Last year, Manongdo had to undergo cataract surgery in both eyes. Estranged from his children and abandoned by his live-in partner, Manongdo wandered the streets looking for hospitals willing to treat his eyes. Manongdo did not have the money for checkup or surgery. His blurry vision had cost him his job at a construction company. At night, he slept in bus terminals and sidewalks.
One day, he missed a piece of rebar jutting out from a concrete road and tripped. He sustained wounds in his left toe and elbow from the incident.
When Manongdo finally found the Tzu Chi Eye Center, his wounds were infected and he hobbled. The medical team treated his wounds and found out he also had diabetes. He was given medicines, and Tzu Chi arranged for his stay at a transient house in Banawe, Quezon City, with Dr. Navarro bringing him food, medicines and hygiene kits.
Throughout all this, Manongdo talked very little, looking tired and defeated. In the following days, one of the Eye Center nurses regularly visited him to check and dress his wounds and monitor his blood sugar level.
One year after regaining clear eyesight, Manongdo stands tall again. He now works as a foreman for a construction company. He may have tripped a few times, but Manongdo has found his footing again thanks to complete strangers who, in his darkest time, treated him like family.
Manongdo told his surgeon that he had heeded her advice: He searched for his children after he recovered and was able to receive their forgiveness. Now he is supporting his youngest daughter’s education, he proudly added.
Manongdo has adopted a Tzu Chi coin bank, with a promise to return to the center to turn over his donations.
“It’s time to give back,” he said.