August 13, 2024
Gratitude in different forms at first Humanity class for schoolyear 2024-2025
By Joy Rojas
At 18, Tzu Chi scholar Axcel Rivera endured his fair share of suffering and heartache. The fourth of six children, he has lived in a vicious cycle of abuse, neglect, and abandonment since the fourth grade, when his widowed mother entered into a toxic relationship.
Resources were always tight, forcing Rivera to fend for himself and his family at a young age. He bought food with the money he earned tidying up his teacher’s home. To escape from the stress of his household, he left home for a year and sold bread from the friend of his classmate’s bakery in exchange for board and lodging. Living briefly with his stepfather’s relatives in the province, he woke up early to go to school, then stayed up late to fish at night. When there was no catch, he would swim to ask for food, or offer to clean fishermen’s tools for fish or food.
Losses from recent calamities only added to his misery. In San Mateo, Rizal, where the family currently resides, Rivera evacuated to the roof of his home twice, first during Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco) in November 2020, then from the monsoon rains triggered by Typhoon Carina (Gaemi) in July 2024. For a moment, he thought he was a goner, as Carina’s floodwaters had reached the roof of their two-storey home. Fortunately, after a six-hour wait, he, his mother, and his siblings were rescued.
Yet for all that he has been through, Rivera remains genuinely grateful “for everything that has happened to me. Grateful that I’m here, able to open up and share my feelings.” While other children would have disowned their mothers for their endless shortcomings, he continues to love his mom despite their differences, abiding by instructions left by his late father.
“In a letter, he told us to take care of our mother, no matter what happens,” he says in tears. “That’s why I’m grateful she’s alive.”
As a Tzu Chi beneficiary for six years, Rivera is filled with gratitude—and not just because volunteers continue to award with a scholarship that has shouldered his tuition and allowances since seventh grade. “They shaped me to be a better person and reminded me I should still appreciate the good things that happened to me, to look on the bright side of the very dark events in my life,” says the freshman taking his Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Mathematics at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
Rivera was among the Tzu Chi scholars who attended the first Humanity class for schoolyear 2024-2025 on August 11 at the Jing Si Hall of Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Co-presented with visiting Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan, the class shared real-life examples of the theme “Nourishing a Fulfilling Life with Gratitude and Respect.”
In Master’s Talk, a doctor made good on his promise to thank the young girl who gave him a cup of soy milk when he was a struggling working student. The young girl, who grew up to develop a lung ailment, was surprised to learn that she was treated for free by the doctor.
Tzu Chi volunteer David, a Taiwan elementary school teacher, showed a video of himself interacting with his students—youngsters who are hearing impaired, developmentally delayed, or have difficulty swallowing and managing their emotions. While these kids’ parents are obviously thankful to him for taking on their children, it’s David who feels gratitude to these students for teaching him patience, compassion, and to keep an open mind on their special needs.
Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan, who go by the nicknames Monkey, Gorilla, Passion, and Duck, shared their volunteer experiences in a hospital emergency room, a rural school, at the home of a lonely senior citizen, and with the homeless near the train station.
The situations were not always pleasant. Passion recalls climbing six floors to the senior’s home and cleaning the place filled with smelly garbage and grease that had been there for at least 30 years! Still, the opportunity to help someone was a reward in itself—and for that they are grateful.
As for Rivera, the plan to become a teacher is his way of ensuring that others experience Tzu Chi’s level of kindness and compassion through him.
“I want to be an instrument to kids, to teach them to trust in themselves and believe that they can do great things,” he says. “To support them in learning and doing things in a different way, to teach them to help in any way they can, and to appreciate everything that is around them.”
Tzu Chi scholars in the elementary, junior high, senior high, and college levels gather at the Jing Si Hall of Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila, for the first Humanity class of schoolyear 2024-2025.
Jovielyn Pichuela (left) and Anna Dianna Reyes host the first Humanity class of schoolyear 2024-2025.
Scholars share their thoughts on the aphorism “There are two things in life that cannot wait: fulfilling filial piety and doing good deeds.”
Scholars share their thoughts on the aphorism “There are two things in life that cannot wait: fulfilling filial piety and doing good deeds.”
Scholars share their thoughts on the aphorism “There are two things in life that cannot wait: fulfilling filial piety and doing good deeds.”
Before attending Humanity class, Tzu Chi scholar Axcel Rivera (right) received relief goods from a Tzu Chi volunteer as one of the survivors of the monsoon floods caused by Typhoon Carina (Gaemi) in the San Mateo, Rizal, area.
At the Jing Si Hall of Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila, Axcel Rivera (third from right) joins fellow scholars in singing the Tzu Chi anthem.
Tzu Chi volunteer Ligaya Ng poses a question on climate change to Tzu Chi scholars.
From Taiwan, Tzu Chi volunteer David is a preschool teacher of special needs children. He is grateful for the chance to learn patience, compassion, and keeping an open mind from his students.
Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan who goes by the nickname Monkey shared her experience volunteering at a hospital’s emergency room.
Playfully nicknamed Gorilla, this Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan talked about her volunteer work at the Jing Si Abode and in a rural school.
In her volunteer work for a lonely senior citizen, Passion, a Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan, recalled the challenge of going up six floors and cleaning a room filled with the stench of garbage and 30-year-old grease.
Duck, the nickname of this Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan, shared how he and his friends brought food to the homeless near the train station at Christmas time.
Flanked by Tzu Chi Education Committee Head Rosa So (far left) and Tzu Chi volunteer Ligaya Ng (far right) Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan receive their certificates of appreciation.
Taiwan’s Tzu Chi Youth (from left) Passion, Duck, and Gorilla display some of the relief items for distribution.
Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan greet Filipino scholars with high fives and relief goods.
Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan greet Filipino scholars with high fives and relief goods.
Tzu Chi Youth from Taiwan greet Filipino scholars with high fives and relief goods.
Tzu Chi scholars are grateful to receive their regular rice allowance.
Relief goods for Typhoon Carina beneficiaries were also distributed after the Humanity class.
Tzu Chi Philippines volunteers pose with Tzu Chi Youth and volunteers from Taiwan after a successful co-presentation of Humanity class.