Tahan-tahanan (Home Away from Home)

PHILIPPINES | Sunday, 13 January 2013 | Views [239] | View Smaller Image

Jen (not her real name), diagnosed with lymphoma, reads a storybook inside one of the dormitory rooms while waiting for her doctor's appointment. Four to five families share living quarters, making it quite cramped and uncomfortable. It does however establish a community feel, especially among the parents who are constantly chattering and sharing experiences as if in a PTA meeting.

This is Leslie (not her real name), one of the cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy that are staying in Tahan-tahanan. It's a half-way house wherein indigent patients, together with their families, can stay during their regular therapies and medical treatments.

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Mitch (not his real name), another leukemia patient, plays telephone cups with a volunteer, during one of the regular play-therapy activities in Tahan-tahanan. The center relies substantially on support from foundations and charities, as well as volunteers who become members of the staff. According to the World Bank, healthcare in the Philippines is still troublesome, with only 35% of total healthcare expenditures allotted to public health.

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Tahan-tahanan (Home Away from Home)

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