The old man who had been blind for many years because of cataracts was overwhelmed when he was able to see again. His old wife hugged the surgeon and kissed him again and again on the cheek.

In Taiwan, crowds of people can be seen at pop music concerts or department stores. However, this was not Taiwan, and people were not here to enjoy themselves. This was the Sun Yat-sen High School in Iloilo City, Panay, the Philippines, where the Tzu Chi free clinic team was providing free medical care.

Unless you were there personally, it would be difficult for you to imagine that in three days, from April 30 to May 2, the free clinic treated 5,568 patients. Since this was the twelfth free clinic that Tzu Chi had conducted in the Philippines, team members were already used to this scene. There is a vast distance between the rich and poor in this country. For the poor, it is difficult even to maintain their basic living necessities, not to mention visit a doctor. In the Philippines, dispensing medicine is separate from the medical examination. A patient must pay for medicine in addition to the diagnosis and treatment. Although public hospitals provide free diagnoses and treatments, the patients still have to pay for their medications, operations and X-rays. For those who are unemployed or who have low incomes, it is a heavy burden. Some people may have been afflicted with a disease for decades but have never seen a doctor. The free treatment and free medicine provided by the Tzu Chi free clinic are really what the patients need the most. Therefore, wherever the team goes, the response is always enthusiastic.

Distance Doesn't Matter

The free clinic started at 9:00 a.m., but many people from the mountain areas and the surrounding villages had set out in the middle of the previous night. They began to line up at three o'clock in the morning. So many people swarmed in that the team had to ask the police to maintain order to avoid any danger.

The crowd waited under the scorching sun. If you observed the weathered faces closely, you would find that in the friendly eyes of each person, there was a little doubt in addition to anxious expectation. "Is it really true? No charge for treatment and medicine?" That was something they had never experienced before. Although they had this doubt, they continued to wait because it was a chance for them to get rid of their suffering and recover their health, and thus to be able to find a job and have a future.

Walking among the crowd, you could see cases of harelip, cataracts and thyroid lumps everywhere. Those diseases might not cause immediate danger, but they would torture those suffering from them for the rest of their lives. Waiting a few hours could relieve years of suffering and even change one's life. Could there be anything more worthwhile? This was why the members of the free clinic team would sacrifice their vacations and overcome all difficulties to compassionately provide medical aid to the poor.

An old man who had been blind with cataracts for many years was overwhelmed when he was able to see again. His old wife hugged the surgeon and kissed him again and again on the cheek. She told the doctor that she never thought her husband could be operated on, and now he didn't have to be blind for the rest of his life. The exhilaration and excitement were transformed into a flow of tears.

A young wife had had a thyroid tumor for nine years. She and her husband had been saving money for an operation. Now they didn't have to wait any longer. After the operation, her husband looked after her tenderly. Once in a while, he raised his head to look at Tzu Chi members, his flickering eyes filled with indescribable gratitude.

A large group of older boys came to be circumcised. According to their custom, those boys could never be considered men unless they had gone through this ritual. Some boys whose parents were unable to afford the expense in a hospital had to go to unsanitary barbershops to be circumcised. Here the surgeons in the free clinic provided safe, hygienic service for them. When their fathers saw them coming out, they hugged them and kissed them and said, "Congratulations, now you are a man!"

Many patients were touched by the unselfish giving of the doctors and the Tzu Chi people, and they asked them for their addresses so they could send them "Thank You" cards. What is giving and what is gaining is sometimes very difficult to judge.

A Smile and a Look

"The free clinic is not just a matter of giving," said Lin Hsiao-cheng, head of the Tzu Chi branch office in the Philippines. "We do this with humility and reciprocation. The vast working class in the Philippines needs medical care. Therefore, we decided that the free clinics were the best way to give them direct help and to show that the Chinese community really cares."

Actually, the beneficiaries of these free clinics are not only poor Filipinos, but also local Chinese. Master Cheng Yen has urged Tzu Chi members abroad to rely on themselves and to acquire the materials they need locally. Thus before each free clinic, team members must request the local Chinese chamber of commerce to help locate a site for the clinic, enlist volunteers and advertise. In the process, chamber members discover the happiness that is gained from helping people, the distance between themselves and the local people is shortened, and the image of the Chinese community there is improved. Mr. Zambales, a teacher at the Sun Yat-sen High School and a volunteer at the free clinic, stayed in the recovery room for two nights looking after patients. He also guided Tzu Chi members to the poor areas to tell people about the free clinic. "I am very happy for my people because they can get such nice medical services. I also feel honored myself to be a volunteer. I like Tzu Chi and hope I can become a members."

Chen Su-chun has taught at Sun Yat-sen High School for twenty-eight years. She said this was the first free clinic ever provided by a Chinese organization. She felt proud to be one of the volunteers and also very grateful for the opportunity to give and to reflect. "When school opens again, I will try to tell my students to understand the lives of poor people and to give them love and care."

Bit by bit the awareness and approval of the free clinic has grown. At the most recent free clinic, members of the overseas Chinese chamber of commerce in faraway Mindanao sent a group to observe the operation. They invited the medical team to do the same thing in their area. Thus a trend has been set for overseas Chinese to be of service in the communities in which they are living.

"There are fields everywhere in the Philippines for us to till. No matter how hard we work, we can never finish." We did not really know the true meaning of these words spoken by a Tzu Chi member in the Philippines until we saw the scene ourselves. Nevertheless, nobody has ever been frustrated or wanted to back out. Just the smile of a patient after being cured or the trust and expectation on a sick person's face is enough to make team members forget their hard work and continue to go wherever poor patients need them.

Smiling in His Dreams

When James was moved out from the operation room, he was still asleep because of the anesthesia. He had dark skin and large brown eyes. He was a lovely boy, but people more often looked strangely at his harelip.

At each free clinic in the Philippines, we see many people with harelips. In Taiwan, when a new baby is born with a harelip, he is operated on at three months of age. But in the Philippines, where the daily income of most families is only 100 pesos [US$2.38], how can they afford an operation which costs 30,000 pesos? Therefore, children with harelips often suffer discrimination and emotional trauma as they grow up.

This was also the case with James. He was eight years old, the youngest of five children. When his mother took him to the free clinic, people looked at him with pitying eyes. He shyly hung his head, but his small face revealed a streak of stubbornness. His mother said that James was in the third grade and he liked to go to school very much. Although he was often picked on by other children because of his appearance, he still insisted on going to school.

Now that the free clinic had come to Iloilo, James and others who had the same problem could now change their fates. The surgeon carefully stitched up the gaps and gave them new faces. James' mother was thrilled that her son would no longer be ridiculed. He would have a new life. His friends and the school were waiting for him. Everything would be different.