Monday, March 06, 2006
Dacawi: Samaritans all over
By Ramon Dacawi
THEY'RE not Mother Theresas, just ordinary mortals, but whose hearts seem to have been molded to that of the Saint to millions of the barely surviving and the seriously ill. Most are women, two of whom are in the thick of battle against cancer. Others are kids too young to be in school but never too young to be Samaritans.
One of them, a boy with two first names - Mark Jones - begged off from blowing the candles on his seventh birthday cake. Instead of balloons, he wanted cash for a gift. He got P2,000 which he had his uncle and aunt turn over for nine-month-old kidney patient Rheyvien Jave Villanueva.
Years ago, in Mother Theresa's Mother India, a couple preparing for their wedding came up with a hefty estimate they well could afford. Instead of a banquet, they tied the knot quietly, without the trappings, and then delivered the amount to charity.
When Rheyvien's story appeared in the local papers first Sunday of February, I received a text message asking if it was my cellular number she sent it to. (To my credit, I've been giving away cellular phones without my knowledge and consent, the last of which was the other week.)
"A check for the baby will be ready for pick up tomorrow morning," she advised. Again?, I thought, amazed she hadn't developed donor fatigue after all these years of writing out checks for the needy.
When she learned of Cynthia Miguel, a nurse diagnosed for cancer last September and whose therapy has been delayed for a month now, the anonymous Samaritan sent another message to my lost number. She had to turn to officemate Bong Cayabyab's number, asking him to advise me that another check for P5,000 was ready to start the fund drive for Cynthia.
"I promised the Lord I would donate the same amount I spent recently for my cancer marker check-up in Manila," she later texted to my latest simcard number. "Don't keep donating to cell phone thieves," she advised.
Thanks to the Internet, her namesake in Kentucky, who is also undergoing chemotherapy, read the website posting on baby Rhevien's fight. She transmitted US$120 and requested anonymity.
Earlier, in El Sobrante, Northern California, Elana and Bryan Aliping, the young kids of Joel and Emily, asked their dad to send their US$100 savings through the Western Union branch for Rheyvien. Six-year-old Nickolas, son of Pilar Manno in Sta. Clara followed suit, sending his letter and support through Emily, who was here last week for a reunion with her relatives.
I was on the road last Wednesday when somebody in New York, a lady who hails from La Trinidad, Benguet, texted Conrad, who relayed to me her message: "Am from pico and I read abt. Cynthia online. Will send 200 dollars on thurs."
(March 6, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
