Help for Mang Domeng’s Psoriasis

WHO IS HE?

Mang Domeng is a 54 year old man with Psoriasis. We first met him, two years ago, in Robinsons Galleria trying to buy food with money from his alms. We approached him and bought him dinner because his money is obviously not enough to buy a decent meal. Though he's wearing long-sleeves, we noticed that his skin in his arms is so dry, it's peeling off. We asked him why his skin is like that and he told us that he has Psoriasis. Told us also not to worry because he's not contagious.

Since then, we usually see him because me and my boyfriend is working around Ortigas Center.

From our chats, we learned that he came to Manila from northern province (I don't remember exactly where though) to find his brother (Kuya) who's also living here alone. So bad that his Kuya is not living in the address he knew anymore. He then met a girl and had a son named Sonny Boy. However, after he was hit and run and confined in the Orthopedic Hospital, his wife left him. He soon learned that she has a new family and he was left alone to support Sonny Boy. Because of his broken neck and his skin disease, he cannot find a job. He purports to begging alms to live and support Sonny Boy, who is in elementary. Everyday he has to travel from Valenzuela to Pasig City to beg while Sonny Boy is studying in a public school. (Sonny Boy wasn't able to finish his 4th Grading period last school year because he's afraid to come to school. He's being bullied).

Still blessed, he encounters people who is willing to help him in the smallest way possible. One family trusted them and allowed them to share with the house they're living in, provided they share with the rent and utility. He said he had given more or less 500.00 pesos per month. However, the owner of the house decided to sell it because of financial difficulty, Mang Domeng and Sonny Boy had to leave. They were given a month to find a new home. God blesses them with another person who helped them find a room for rent. But this time, it was in Malaria and the rent was for P1,000. I am not sure how he can manage to pay his rent but I know that he's not pick-pocketing or sorts because we can see that he's a very gentle and kind man. Since commute is far from Malaria to Ortigas, he's not stationed in SM Fairview. (This is better for us though because we live in North Caloocan.)

We've also researched for Psoriasis medication to try help him relieve the itchiness of his skin and to our disappointment, there is no permanent cure for this. We just gave him Betadine and Petroleum Jelly. I still remember how happy he was then. He was so thankful, telling us "Sobra sobra na po ito. Malaki na po utang ko. Hindi ko na kayo mababayaran. (This is too much. I awe you too much. I cannot pay you anymore.)". Of course we do not plan to charge him anything.

We also asked his cellphone (used for emergency purposes) number so we can ask him how he's doing from time to time. Ever since, he only contacted us for not more than 5 times. Two of them was last Christmas and this June for Sonny Boy school supplies.

Mang Domeng is in a bad situation but he did not allow these circumstances to bring him down. Instead, he claims that God has purpose why He allows these things to happen to him. He's a very positive and considerate person and it saddens us to think that we cannot always provide him what he needs.

The P10,000 fund goal of this campaign is for a house they could live in. He mentioned to us that there are some "House for sale (rights only)" for this amount in their area. This will lessen their burden to pay P1,000 rent monthly. May God be willing that many people be touched by Mang Domeng's story and if the goal exceeds, we will buy a lot of medical supplies for him and school supplies for Sonny Boy.

If you are interested to contact me directly, please send me a message thru 09471504011 or 09287322313.

If you want to contact Mang Domeng instead, here's his contact number: 09070831562.

(Images are limited because Mang Domeng is not aware that we are doing this for him. Once fund is reached, rest assured that we will not claim this generosity of every one who helped.)