๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐, ๐๐จ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ โ โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด? ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ดโ – ๐๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฏ, 62 –
Having reached the age of 43, Evangelina Luzon had no plans to have a family of her own nor she had longed for a man of her dreams. As if the days passing by were not enough, she was mostly preoccupied with being busy, committed to taking care of her siblings and ailing mother. One day, as she looked outside their house, while doing the usual house chores, she saw a man working tirelessly nearby a deep well. It was love at first sight for both Evangelina and Renato, who was 19 years younger than her. With no natal checkups undertaken, they were soon blessed with a child, Dodong. The couple decided to seal their commitment by getting married two years after Dodong was born; however, they have not kept any portrait as a family memento. This had also been the start of the familyโs ordeal making their way through each day for survival.
When Dodong was 2 years old, the couple had noticed that he was unable to move his limbs and could not walk. To this day, Dodong has an undiagnosed intellectual and developmental disability. He is sickly and is often taken to the nearby clinic or hospital to get treatment but could barely afford having him see a doctor to check on his condition.
โThis is our fate; this is what God had given us. Dodong is the one who keeps our family together and I will not abandon them. I will keep persevering and continue to love them with all my heartโ, says the now 43-year-old Renato Luzon who takes on different jobs available such as laborer, construction work, or fishing.
After Evangelinaโs mother passed away and her siblings got families on their own, the Luzonโs inherited the house where they now live. The pandemic struck in 2020 followed by the devastation of Typhoon Odette in December 2021 which destroyed the familyโs only valued possession โ their home. During these trying times, Evangelina contracted gallbladder stones that required surgery while Renato began developing a mass on his nape. Seeking medical help would entail leaving their son behind, which they could not afford to do financially and since Dodong also requires focused assistance with his basic daily activities, especially as he needs to be carried to move around the house.
โA wheelchair and a porch (at this house) for Dodong so he can feel the sunlight and breathe fresh air.โ, the hopeful Evangelina told Tzu Chi while she heats a pot of water using firewood to make her son crushed biscuits with milk for his meal that day. โWe sometimes borrow money from our neighbors and cook porridge to warm our stomachs when we run out of food,โ she continued.
Their story captivated the local volunteers in Inabanga and brought this to the attention of Tzu Chi Boholโs Happy Home Project. Construction began after an assessment by the Project Team was conducted. On October 18,2024, Tzu Chi volunteers, Tzu Chi Youth and Inabanga barangay officials gathered on a festive mood around the Luzonsโ newly built Happy Home just right beside their old house. Tzu Chi volunteers and youth formed a line, each holding gifts and home essentials as ceremonial offerings presented to the Luzons. The Tzu Chi volunteers sang a classic Tzu Chi song and sign language, โOne Familyโ as a message that Tzu Chi stands with them in their journey toward a new beginning. To complete the celebration, Tzu Chi gifted Dodong a wheelchair, and happiness radiated from his face that sunny afternoon as he was wheeled out of their new home to see the greenery around him and took in a breath of fresh air for the first time.
โI know that Tzu Chi has been providing several homes for people here in Inabanga, I was hopeful and praying to be one of the beneficiaries, but it did not occur to me that we would actually be blessed with a Happy Home. Had it not been for Tzu Chi and Master Cheng Yen, we would probably still be searching for pieces of wood to use as a foundation for our tilting and collapsing house.โ, a tearful but joyful Evangelina said.
Tzu Chi volunteer Brother Jimmy Chua is the frontman of this project; he felt a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment in having finally completed 200 units of Happy Home within two years despite encountering varying challenges to build each house. โWe are able to achieve our objective because we are sincerely dedicated to giving our beneficiaries hope for a new life by providing them with new homes.โ, says Bro. Jimmy Chua.
This is Happy Home No. 200 marking the completion of the donation made by Tzu Chi staunch supporter, Brother Carlos Chan for the said project intended to provide dignified housing built on strong foundations to deserving individuals and families which was started after the onslaught of Typhoon Odette. Not only will this home provide the Luzon family with happiness they have longed for, but through this house, they now possess their first complete family picture to cherish for years to come.
