Rhoda Cabanes

In 2017, Rhoda was bedridden. She had Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder where the body’s immune system attacks the nerves. “I couldn’t move. I took only milk. I could hear, I could think, but I couldn’t speak. I was just there lay on the bed with oxygen, a catheter, a diaper and a feeding tube. My condition could have been triggered by stress, the doctor said.”

She continued, “We were four children raised by a single mom who worked as a farmer. I was a year old when my father left. I reached Grade 3, two siblings finished Grade 6 and our eldest brother finished high school.

“At 15, she worked as housemaid in Tuguegarao City, but stayed only a year. At 20, she found her way to Manila and worked as a babysitter in Taguig. After three years, she took a vacation. She returned to Metro Manila and worked in a bakery where she met her first husband. They had a son and separated shorty after that. When the boy was seven, his father took to live in Roxas City.

Rhoda worked as a house helper in Quezon City. After two years, she moved in with her youngest sister Loida to take care of her children while Loida worked as a stayout housemaid. She stayed there for 20 years. When the children were grown up, Rhoda ventured out once more to work as a housemaid. When her employer died after five months, Rhoda rented a room in Baseco, a sprawling slum area in Manila, and worked as a manicurist.

A year later, she was struck down by Guillain-Barre Syndrome. She was 50 years old. Her landlady brought her to a hospital. She was transferred from one hospital to another as doctors tried to help her. “I was bedridden. All I could do was pray. I begged forgiveness for my sins and surrendered my life to God. I asked to be normal again.

“When I was discharged, Loida and her daughter, Angelica, had to help me sit up and give me baths. Loida’s husband was a driver who was out of work. They didn’t fight about having to take care of me. I begged the Lord to heal me and, after a year, I recovered. I moved out because I couldn’t find a job in Pandi, where they lived.”

Rhoda went back to Luneta,and joined the feeding lines again. “I went to a center in Binondo to get free medicines each month. The Lord sent people to teach me how to obtain help. By God’s grace, someone brought me to Hospicio in 2018.

“Hospicio offered livelihood courses and I took up manicure/pedicure and earned a national certification in housekeeping. The Sisters gave me a job as a cafeteria assistant in Cafeteria del Rio. I had free food and money to buy my medicines for maintenance and nerves. And I shared a room with a friend.

“Hospicio’s program is perfect. They are able to help people who are totally destitute, as I was. They teach us moral values and skills, and give us jobs. The Daughters of Charity and the staff of Hospicio have good hearts, kind hearts. They are true children of God.”