May 2, 2025
Tzu Chi inks MOAs with three caregiving institutions
By Joy Rojas
Experience is the best teacher, as the old saying goes, and for caregiving scholars under Tzu Chi Philippines’ Technical-Vocational Program, experience is earned through hours of valuable on-the-job training (OJT) with three of the foundation’s partner institutions since 2023.
On April 26, Tzu Chi Philippines CEO Henry Yuñez led the ceremonial signing of Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) with representatives from Camillus Medhaven Nursing Homes, La Verna Aged Care and Dementia Village, and Missionary Brothers of Charity in an intimate gathering held at the Harmony Hall of Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila. In the MOA, Tech-Voc caregiving scholars will undergo supervised industry learning from these institutions, applying their knowledge and skills on resident-patients.
Home to 138 residents, Camillus is the largest private nursing home in the country and one of the premier communities for seniors. The healthcare facility offers independent and assisted living, dementia care, skilled nursing, and palliative and hospice care. Since the partnership, Tzu Chi has deployed 35 of its caregiver scholars.
Recognized as the first dementia village in the Philippines, La Verne promotes healthy aging, dignity, and meaningful quality of life to its 120 active patients. Twenty-three caregiving scholars from Tzu Chi have been deployed here.
Founded by Saint Mother Teresa of Kolota, the Missionary Brothers of Charity is a residential-based facility for abandoned elderly. Thirteen of Tzu Chi’s caregiver scholars have had their OJT here.
While scholars certainly benefit from the practical, hands-on training, key leaders from these facilities consider the MOA a win-win situation.
“Tzu Chi has been a partner of our institution for a long time, and when you send us OJT, they don’t give us a headache,” says Elysa O. Paray from the Mission of Charity Brothers. “They are very hands-on in terms of taking care of the elderly. Our head caregiver always asks, ‘Ma'am, when will Tzu Chi send OJT to us?’ They are really looking for you.”
“The partnership between Camillus and the Tzu Chi Foundation marks a significant step in fostering collaborative learning and compassionate service,” says Rev. Fr. Marven Ruyeras. “By welcoming Tzu Chi students for their on-the-job training, we provide them with meaningful exposure to the realities of healthcare, while also gaining from their enthusiasm, values, and dedication.”
“I feel like it's a family here. We share the same vision, so it doesn't really feel that I'm an outsider. It automatically feels like I belong,” says La Verna founder, geriatrician Dr. Miguel Ramos Jr. “I’m happy to inform you that based on the report of our staff, your students excel. I express my full-hearted thanks to the Tzu Chi Foundation. For me, this is not just a Memorandum of Agreement. This is a promise that we will strive to be better.”
Now working as a caregiver in Camillus, Tech-Voc Batch 7 scholar Rhea Amilano isn’t just a blessing to its residents. Through her earnings, she was able to expand the 10-sqm home she shares with her husband and their two children. “I’ll never forget what my eldest told me,” she says in tears before volunteers and guests. “’Ma, thank you. Now I can sleep with my legs stretched out.’ That’s when I realized that all my sacrifices were worth it.”
Sacrifice for this native of Samar began in childhood, when she and her siblings were forced to fend for themselves following their father’s suicide from their mother’s affair. It would be years before Amilano would encounter her mother again, in Manila and diagnosed with stage 4 thyroid cancer.
“Despite her shortcomings, I chose to take care of her. I always tell myself that I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for her.” It was while looking after her mother (who passed away in 2018) that Amilano decided to pursue caregiving.
In 2020, she enrolled and completed her Alternative Learning System, a substitute for formal education. In 2023, she became a Tzu Chi caregiving scholar after chancing upon the foundation’s invitation on social media. When she finished the course, she completed and claimed her Caregiving National Certificate Level II from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The document opens doors to better job options, including work overseas.
“Being a caregiving gave direction, dignity, and a future to me and my family,” she says. “I used to say things are hard. Now I say I can do it.”
A few days before this MOA signing, Tzu Chi Tech-Voc Batch 10 scholar Esmeralda Daganaso received her own Caregiving NC II from TESDA. It’s a fitting reward for someone who couldn’t afford to go to college yet knew she was smart and capable of so much more. Watching her batchmates graduate and move on to thriving careers hurt Daganaso, one of four kids of a solo parent.
“It’s not that I didn’t want them to be successful, I just pitied myself,” she sobbed. “No matter how much I pushed myself, nothing happened. I couldn’t get out of my situation.”
An ad from Tzu Chi’s Tech-Voc program that popped up on her messaging app convinced her apply to its caregiving course. With perseverance, she finished the course and now works at Sacred Heart Mental Rehabilitation Center, a facility for special kids.
“Through Tzu Chi, I realize that there’s more than one path to your dreams,” she says. “When we feel we don’t have choices, or there’s no place for us, trust me, there is. Maybe, your path isn't what you expected. Maybe it's not the traditional route. But that doesn't mean it won't lead you somewhere good.”
Tzu Chi Philippines volunteers led by CEO Henry Yuñez (seated, fifth from left) and representatives of Camillus Medhaven Nursing Homes, La Verna Aged Care and Dementia Village, and Missionary Brothers of Charity give their thumbs up following the ceremonial signing of Memorandums of Agreement.
Ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between Tzu Chi Foundation and Mission of Charity Brothers
Ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between Tzu Chi Foundation and La Verna Aged Care and Dementia Village
Ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between Tzu Chi Foundation and Camillus Medhaven Nursing Homes
“The partnership between Camillus and the Tzu Chi Foundation marks a significant step in fostering collaborative learning and compassionate service,” says Rev. Fr. Marven Ruyeras.
“This is not just a Memorandum of Agreement. This is a promise that we will strive to be better,” says La Verna founder, geriatrician Dr. Miguel Ramos Jr.
Elysa O. Paray from the Mission of Charity Brothers describes Tzu Chi’s caregiving scholars as “very hands-on in terms of taking care of the elderly.”
“Being a caregiving gave direction, dignity, and a future to me and my family,” says Tech-Voc Batch 7 scholar Rhea Amilano, who works at Camillus Medhaven Nursing Homes.
“Through Tzu Chi, I realize that there’s more than one path to your dreams,” says Tzu Chi Tech-Voc Batch 10 scholar Esmeralda Daganaso. “Maybe it's not the traditional route. But that doesn't mean it won't lead you somewhere good.”
![“Through [the partnership], we aim to train individuals in practical, employable skills, helping them find work in the shortest possible time, and giving them the means to earn a stable and dignified income,” says Tzu Chi Education Committee Head Rosa So.](/assets/news-page/images/10-v66.jpg)
“Through [the partnership], we aim to train individuals in practical, employable skills, helping them find work in the shortest possible time, and giving them the means to earn a stable and dignified income,” says Tzu Chi Education Committee Head Rosa So.
Dolly Alegado Cruz, head of Tzu Chi’s Tech-Voc Scholarship Program, proudly announces that in recent years, Tech-Voc scholars have had 100% employment. “And that is because of your help,” she tells Tzu Chi’s partner institutions.
“Today's signing marks more than just an agreement,” says Tzu Chi Philippines Deputy CEO Woon Ng. “It is a mutual commitment to compassion, shared responsibility, and nurturing of future very warm-hearted caregivers through our Technical-Vocational Scholarship Program.”
Flanked by caregiver scholars Rhea Amilano (first from left) and Esmeralda Daganaso (first from right), Bro. Abinash Minz of the Mission of Charity Brothers receives tokens of appreciation from Tzu Chi Education Committee Head Rosa So.
La Verna Aged Care and Dementia Village geriatric specialist Dr. Miguel Ramos Jr. receives a certificate of appreciation from Tzu Chi Education Committee Head Rosa So.
Tzu Chi Education Committee Head Rosa So presents Rev. Fr. Marven Ruyeras of Camillus Medhaven Nursing Homes with tokens of appreciation.