August 22, 2026
Handling hardships with grace and gratitude
By Joy Rojas
Amidst the clatter and buzz of Tzu Chi scholars breaking for meals at the annual three-day camp held in July at the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila, Trisha Padilla appeared like any other member of the support crew. Sporting a face mask and yellow Tzu Chi vest, she walked inconspicuously around Harmony Hall’s packed dining area, silently setting tables with vegetarian dishes then diligently clearing them once scholars returned to the camp’s next activity.
The chores were plenty, but for Padilla, the camp was likely a welcome reprieve from her difficult life in Zamboanga City.
The product of a broken family since she was 5 years old, she and her two siblings stayed with her mother, who turned them over to Padilla’s grandparents so she could look for a job. Instead of work, Padilla’s mother found a new husband, with whom she had two more children. That relationship didn’t last, and when she met a new partner in 2020, she became pregnant again.
It was the time of the pandemic, and Padilla left the home of her grandparents and two siblings to look after her mother and two younger half-siblings. When her mother gave birth to her sixth child, they all moved back to her grandparents’ place and built a home of their own.
In time, Padilla’s stepfather, who worked for a fishing company, would feel the strain of supporting a family that was not his own. “He only had one child with my mother yet he was taking care of so many people,” she said. Other than him, Padilla’s grandparents barely made enough from their senior citizen benefits and profits selling rice cakes.
Padilla was supposed to live with her biological father when she reached college, but when an aunt was diagnosed with cancer, the then incoming freshman taking BS Social Work at Western Mindanao State University remained with her mother. To help improve her family’s financial situation, Padilla took on odd jobs.
Though she valued her education, Padilla was forced to skip classes to work as a banana cue vendor. By her second year, her mother, who was not contributing to her studies, suggested she stopped school altogether.
A Tzu Chi scholarship spared her from dropping out. “After I applied with a group of friends, we told each other that maybe only one of us would be accepted. I was okay with that,” she said. “Then we found out we all got accepted. We were so happy.”
That happiness was short-lived. Noticing her blurry vision, Padilla’s mother had herself checked and was told that the problem was not with her eyes; it was with her brain. An MRI confirmed it: a non-cancerous tumor.
Padilla sobbed as she recalled this dark and uncertain period in her family’s life. Eventually, with the help of Tzu Chi, her mother underwent a successful surgery at the Zamboanga City Medical Center.
And then, another letdown. Less than a week after the operation, Padilla’s stepfather, who went on leave from work to watch over her mother in the hospital, left her for good. He continues to provide for the child he shares with her.
Padilla harbors no ill feelings towards him. “I know he had been tolerating the situation for a long time,” she said in tears. “I’m grateful that he took care of us and my mother when she was in the hospital.”
Doctors were not able to remove all of her mother’s tumor as it could pose a risk to her health. Still, tries to keep busy, doing laundry even if she gets dizzy spells.
With Padilla’s family life in shambles, Tzu Chi volunteers provided her with much-needed stability and care. They extend regular cash assistance and rice and grocery subsidies. They also gave her a part-time job at Tzu Chi Zamboanga’s office, an opportunity that allows her to feel a sense of belonging and, to a certain extent, a sense of family too.
For all the hardships that she has been through, Padilla still manages to see goodness and grace even in the worst of times. That’s something Tzu Chi taught her.
“Through Tzu Chi’s Humanities classes and my work as an assistant in their office, I realized that even though I struggle, there are others who are struggling more,” said Padilla, now 20 and on her fourth year in college. “That’s why I want to improve myself and do better in school so I can help my family.”
To support the Tzu Chi Scholarship Fund, please donate to the following Tzu Chi Foundation bank account.
Tzu Chi Foundation Bank Accounts:
Metrobank:
Account Name: Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines Inc.
Account Number: 163-3-163-07190-9
BDO:
Account Name: Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines Inc.
Account Number: 011-9-7800-180-0
As part of the support crew in the 2026 Tzu Chi Scholars’ Camp, Trisha Padilla (second from left) surprises July celebrators with their own birthday cake.
(In shorts) Welcoming Tzu Chi volunteers and staff in a home visit
(Center) Celebrating her 20th birthday with cake and friends
Receiving her rice and grocery subsidies as a Tzu Chi scholar
Working part-time in Tzu Chi Zamboanga’s office, Trisha Padilla (center) assists Tzu Chi volunteers in numerous tasks, like evaluating applicants to Tzu Chi’s Educational Assistance Program.
(Second from right) Bonding with fellow Tzu Chi scholars in a Humanities class
Trisha Padilla checks on a child with hydrocephalus. “Even though I struggle, there are others who are struggling more,” she said.
Standing next to a portrait of Tzu Chi founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen, Trisha Padilla is grateful for the scholarship that shoulders her education, provides her with some of the basic needs of her family, and makes her part of a welcoming and supportive community.
Setting vegetarian dishes on the table before scholars arrive