The Tzu Chi Foundation: Compassion in Action

I learned about Tzu Chi Foundation as I was reading up one time on good friend Jay Jaboneta's advocacy together with Anton Mari Lim -- the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation. The name of the foundation was familiar. I had heard it mentioned in different instances in the past but I guess I never really bothered to find out what they were all about.

Then recently I heard about them again when a friend, Maizie SyCip-Qua, sent me some information on Tzu Chi Foundation and what it has been quietly doing in our midst for years.


Tzu Chi: A Brief

Tzu Chi Foundation is an international non-profit humanitarian organization that seeks to spread what it calls Great Love through its work in the fields of charity, medicine, education and culture. Established in 1966 in Taiwan by the Venerable Dharma Master Cheng Yen, Tzu Chi came to Philippine shores in 1994. In 1995, volunteers, in cooperation with doctors and nurses from the Chinese General Hospital, headed by Dr. Josefino Qua, launched its first medical mission in Lion's Club, Baguio City. From then on, quarterly missions would be conducted in provinces, with each mission having between 5,000-7,000 patients, many of whom would walk for 3 days down mountains just to get to the medical mission site.

Although Tzu Chi began with members from the Filipino-Chinese communities in the country, a number of Filipinos have likewise joined the group.

Tzu Chi in Action

Below are some pictures from different crisis situations in the Philippines where Tzu Chi was present and helped in various ways.

Clean-up post-Habagat, August 2013

Tiger introduces innovations to kitchen appliances

Who has not heard of Tiger?

Even in my much younger days, Tiger was already a household name. The veritable Tiger lunch containers and water bottles were very well known and if you lugged one around your school, it was almost like a kiddo's status symbol of quality and durability.

Fast forward to the present.

Some of my SoMoms friends and I had the chance to sit down with Lorraine Go-Munoz whose family has long been the exclusive distributor in the Philippines of Tiger products. We had an opportunity to sit down and hear a little bit about the company and some of its product innovations.

Tiger is a Japanese brand that has a 90-year history. It's best known for thermal wares and cooking devices. At present, it enjoys a 23.5% market share in Japan.

Herve Leger launches its first Asian store in Manila

Iconic haute couture has made its way to Manila in a grand way. Who would ever have imagined that Manila would trump the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong by playing host to Herve Leger's first and only store in Asia?

An Afternoon ME Time with Karimadon and the SoMoms

Confession: I have never owned or worn a Karimadon dress or gown prior to an afternoon with the SoMoms at Karimadon's SM Megamall boutique.

I do remember seeing their label at the old Virra Mall many, many, many years ago but I was already a stay-at-home Mom then and never saw the need to check their stuff out as I was always in very casual outfits. I met Karen Go-Wu at an earlier Steveston Pizza event, connected with her on Facebook, and finally got a chance, along with my SoMom-mies to check out the store that her parents, Richard and Josie Go, put up way back in 1980.

As it turns out, Karimadon is a unique name that combines the names of the Go children. Karen is the Kar in Karimadon. To ensure the best quality, Karimadon has in-house designers who oversee the entire production to ensure the elements are all in the right places. Since those Virra Mall days, Karimadon has now grown to 16 standalone stores (2 are franchises) located in prime malls and 4 outlets inside department stores.

Hearing the Karimadon team talk about quality and style of their designs, I was already expecting price tags that were a bit steep. I was WRONG! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Just read on and see how my afternoon in Karimadon was a new discovery for women's apparel from daytime to evening wear to formal occasions that would be surprisingly affordable.