Poverty forced the 21-year-old college drop-out to give up her boarding house in La Trinidad, Benguet and live by herself in a hut in Bayom-bong, Nueva Ecija from last December until last week. The hut is only 45 minutes away by jeepney to the dialysis center in neighboring Solano town, which allowed her to be treated on credit.
The geographical shift eased her parents’ burden in delivering her basic survival supplies from their home in Hungduan, Ifugao. However, her treatment frequency reduction, aside from having to live alone for a year in a hut, was taking its toll, prompting her to return to Baguio last Thursday.
“Can I make an appeal for help anew?” she asked. “I need to go back to twice-a-week dialysis schedule as liquid is filling up in my belly due to my skipping treatment.”
She looked much older than her age. Her complexion had darkened, her arms, which bore scars from implanted treatment tube connections, had atrophied. Weakened and a shadow of her old self, she said she would have to go back to Solano for her once-a-week treatment on Saturday.
She didn’t have to travel back, at least for last week. Instead, she had her dialysis session last Friday at the Benguet Renal Center in La Trinidad town with the donation of P3,000 from a bank manager here.
The diagnosis, coming in her junior year at the Benguet State University, shattered her dreams of finishing a degree in commerce.
Her parents – Esteban, 48, from Hungduan, Ifugao; and Nancy, 42, from Tublay, Benguet, both farmers, have now pinned their hopes on Geser, 20, a second year hotel and restaurant management student at the Cordillera Career Development College.
Her eldest brother Gilbert, 23, is raising a family as corn farmer in Aguinaldo, Ifugao, while Granny, 19, works as a laborer in Hungduan.
Genevieve temporarily stays with journalist Rubyloida Bitog in the latter’s boarding house in La Trinidad.
She made her initial plea for help in June last year, after her family’s resources were drained by her continuous need for twice-a-week hemodialyis treatment. Response then was spontaneous, with Samaritans from different walks pooling their resources to sustain her treatment for two months.
Among those who pitched in last year were expatriate Freddie de Guzman in Canada, Shoshin Foundation in Germany headed by former world traditional karate champion Julian Chees, Jody Pimentel, Mila Espino and lawyer Rodrigo Kito.
A “lolo” from Dagupan who requested anonymity followed suit, meeting her at a pizza shop inside SM and handed P3,000. Also last year, a certain Venus dropped in at the Benguet Renal Center while Genevieve was attached to the treatment machine and deposited P2,600, the cost of one treatment session.
Other Samaritans may ring up Genevieve’s cellphone (09352615609). They may deposit their support at the Benguet Renal Center, care of hemodialysis nurse Cherry Palsic (cellphone number 09263762918), or at Metrobank under the patient’s account number 3222197792.
Otherwise, she would have to go back to her hut in Bayombong and there, figure out daily by herself how to sustain and survive on a weekly dialysis schedule. (SunStar / by Ramon Dacawi)
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