Filipino children are irreplaceable for they are not only sources of our joy, companionship and pride, but also our hope, light and strength. They are the lifeline of the whole human species. Just consider the idea of childbirth ceasing and it would mean the extinction of mankind in a span of a lifetime.
But not all kids, especially those living outside Metro Manila, are lucky enough to live a healthy life and enjoy the benefits of social security. In fact, some of them are suffering from cancer and their parents are penniless, unable to afford the high cost of living in today’s age.
Caring for kids who are afflicted with cancer is very stressful for both the kids and their parents.
It requires commitment of the parents to bring their kids for treatment for at least a year.
Expenses for diagnostic and therapeutic modalities are restricting especially for the poor.
Notwithstanding, society and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to those kids without adequate means of support.
That is how Tahan Tahanan was conceived.
A haven for indigent kids with cancer, Tahan Tahanan, just found at the lower ground of East Avenue Medical Center’s North Wing in Quezon City, is the right answer to the tireless prayers of Dra. Maria Victoria Abesamis, with the full support of PCSO Chairman Margarita P. Juico.
Supported by volunteers from all walks of life, from the academe, concerned artists, Kapisanan ng may K sa Pilipinas group, social workers, to housewives and students, Tahan Tahanan (it has a growing Facebook-account membership) is the first in the country – the first half-way home for children (from one to 20 years old) with cancer inside a public hospital – that will certainly benefit those young cancer-stricken patients living in far-flung areas. The treatment of a pediatric cancer patient, for instance, requires admission to a hospital every 21 to 28 days for at least six treatment cycles. A majority of these patients may be treated on an out-patient basis, but on a more frequent treatment schedule such as everyday, once a week or twice a week, for at at least three to six consecutive months.
Not long ago, a memorandum of agreement between EAMC and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office was signed by Dr. Roland Cortez (EAMC’s chief) and Atty. Jose Ferdinand Rojas II (PCSO general manager) with Dra. Abesamis and PCSO Chairman Juico.
The young cancer-stricken patients need not worry anymore about where they would stay in Manila every time they would have a therapy session because they could stay temporarily at Tahan Tahanan, which provides bedrooms, a playground, an activity room and other amenities for kids.
The PCSO gave P3 million for the said new kids’ haven and will also provide a yearly donation of P1.2 million and monthly grant of P100,000. It has also funded the EAMC’s newly renovated birthing center, central sterilization supply facility, diagnostic imaging center, radiology department and staff dining of the dietary section that have been transformed through magnificent generosity within a short span of time.
“We’re considering opening up other halfway houses in other areas in the Philippines,” says PCSO Chairman Juico, but, she adds, it depends on the availability of pediatric oncologists on a particular area. “Hindi na kailangan pumunta sa amin, kami na mismo ang pupunta sa kanila (We’re going to reach out to them instead of patients trying to reach out to us).”
Truly, Tahan Tahan is set to bring happiness to these ailing kids, giving much-needed assistance to the kids and their needy families in their distressing plight. After all, happiness is “an illusive, transitory thing but if you bring happiness to someone else, then it comes to you.”