| Lottie T. Buhain Annandale, Virginia A Compassionate Volunteer Giving to Others is Her Ultimate Fulfillment |
WASHINGTON- In the midst of Fall 2001, Lottie T. Buhain spent
days with friends packing plenty of boxes of donated goods,
powdered milk, books and medicine samples. The ballroom
dancer and tennis player was a foundation of energy, tireless and
brimming with enthusiasm as she helped get the boxes to the
shipper. Their destination would also be hers in wintertime.
Less than 12 weeks after that effort, Lottie has joined a delegation
of Filipino American volunteers flying back to the Philippines six
months after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New
York and Washington. The journey of flying hours out of
Washington to points in the Far East was ushered with anxiety
over new terrorist threats. Fears of terrorist resurgence in air
flights swirled from officialdom to ordinary folks. In the Philippines,
the battle to crush the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group continued to rage,
even as Washington regarded the country as the second front of
the global was against terror.
But for this Washington, DC area community leader, there was
nothing to fear, not even the shadows of this new war without
borders. She was going back home, to the land that is her first
love and to the people who have nourished her desire to serve
days with friends packing plenty of boxes of donated goods,
powdered milk, books and medicine samples. The ballroom
dancer and tennis player was a foundation of energy, tireless and
brimming with enthusiasm as she helped get the boxes to the
shipper. Their destination would also be hers in wintertime.
Less than 12 weeks after that effort, Lottie has joined a delegation
of Filipino American volunteers flying back to the Philippines six
months after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New
York and Washington. The journey of flying hours out of
Washington to points in the Far East was ushered with anxiety
over new terrorist threats. Fears of terrorist resurgence in air
flights swirled from officialdom to ordinary folks. In the Philippines,
the battle to crush the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group continued to rage,
even as Washington regarded the country as the second front of
the global was against terror.
But for this Washington, DC area community leader, there was
nothing to fear, not even the shadows of this new war without
borders. She was going back home, to the land that is her first
love and to the people who have nourished her desire to serve
others. She is a foot soldier in the other war, the war to free others from poverty, hunger and ignorance-
perhaps the stubborn enemies of places like the Philippines.
Lottie and her group from Feed the Hungry, Inc., visited for two weeks poverty-stricken areas in Cavite in
Southern Luzon and Naga City in Camarines Norte of the Bicol Region. She helped feed malnourished
children. The milk shipped last fall had arrived ahead of them. "We were able to get plenty of milk donations. It
was wonderful to see the milk reach the hungry children," she adds. "We went down to the barangays and
met a lot of people. We saw first hand their livelihood projects like piggery and poultry. It was a very moving
experience."
For her, the trip was also an open door that allowed caring involvement in the lives of others, making a
difference" for compatriots, even for just a season, and most importantly, "providing them not just the fish to
eat but also the fishing rod that would allow them to fish later on, on their own."
Embracing Volunteerism
Feed the Hungry is a 10-year old Washington-grown charitable group founded and managed by Filipino
Americans in the nation's capital. For the last 8 years, Lottie has been a volunteer officer of the group. In this
organization and in several others that are in health care, Lottie has totally embraced the call of Volunteerism.
In return, it has nurtured he compassion, sharpened her administrative and management skills and brought
her right into the heart of philanthropy where the mission to redeem others by reducing their poverty and
healing their hurts remains a strong current.
"It is more than a desire this giving back to others my time, my money, everything that I have," she explains.
You can call it a drive, a passion. My passion is whatever I have I want to share with others."
Significantly, the main recipient of her compassionate energy is the Philippines, its people back home; and
kababayans here, in her adopted America and elsewhere in the world.
With Feed the Hungry, where she serves on the board as a Co-Chair, her life-long training as a volunteer has
come full flower, engaged in a dramatic display of compassion.
"I love being with the Filipino community," she says. "You know people think a doctor's wife is typically being
an elitist, someone who would rather be within the folds of high society. All you do if you're an asawa ng
doktor is to stick with your clique, your own group. You're never seen among the people. I say that's a
misconception."
As the wife of Dr. Willie Buhain, a respected and sought-after pulmonary specialist in the nation's capital,
Lottie has been able to nimbly dance the roles of asawa ng doktor and local community leader. She also
knows the glare and glory of the spotlight mantled on leaders of national organizations.
"I enjoy working with ordinary people," she adds, saying her day job has been that of a bookkeeper in her
husband's office, the Asthma and Pulmonary Specialist of Northern Virginia. "I feel good when I give back to
the community. I love being a volunteer."
Complex Variety of Filipinos
In 1996, Lottie served as Overall Chair of the Philippine Festival Committee, the grand umbrella of the Filipino
organizations in the nation's capital that annually mounts the month-long celebration of the Philippines,
including June 12th, the Philippine National Day, in Washington. The Festival has long become a cultural
institution in international Washington.
She experienced as Festival Chair "for the first time ever the complex and exciting variety of Filipinos. I learned
a lot, I saw a lot, I now know that in a crowd there's always at least one who will challenge or who will choose
to dwell on the negatives and not the positives. But that's great, nothing to worry about.
"I was surprised myself that I was able to do it, presiding over the diversity of Filipinos for almost one year."
she says, relishing fond memories of that season. Leading the Festival Committee and moving its cultural
program through planning stage to vibrant showcase etched in her heart and mind the passion "to open up
doors to everyone." Though the Festival, the rest of Washington and its neighborhoods have since been
invited and welcomed to discover Philippine culture and hospitality, she says, "to break down the doors of
misperception and ignorance."
During her time as Festival Chair, Lottie, a skilled organizer with a visionary mind, began preparing the
community for the forthcoming Philippine Centennial celebration in 1998. At the same time, she served on the
board of the Philippine American Foundation for Charities that brings people-to-people aid to the Philippines
and assistance to Filipino American organizations. Her leadership in the local community was gracefully
entwined with involved leadership in the national organization of Filipino American doctors' spouses, the
Association of Philippine Physicians in America (APPA) Auxiliary.
As an active APAA Auxiliary life member, Lottie has served the Filipino American medical community in may
ways; as treasurer, secretary, vice president and finally president of the national organization. She also served
as APPA Auxiliary editor, board member and in 2000-2001, as its Executive Director.
Deep Roots in Faith and Family
In Metro Washington, Lottie has served in volunteer positions in the local Filipino medical community, her
platform of volunteer work. She chaired the Scholarship Committee of the Philippine Medical Foundation
besides serving as secretary and treasurer of the Foundation over the years. The Philippine Medical
Association of Metro Washington, DC Auxiliary chose her as its president. She also served as editor of the
Philippine Medical Association of Metro Washington, DC.
At one point she was the Washington Chapter Executive Director of the Center for Tuberculosis in Children
(Philippines) and a vice president of the Progressive Alliance of Filipinos and Americans (PAFAI), a national
capital area community group of Filipino American immigrants and their families.
Lottie Buhain is gifted with deep roots in family life and faith. The culture of commitment and charity flows like
a strong river in these two areas of her life.
As a child, and in her growing-up years, her faith was nurtured by her family and parents, Jose and Francisca
Torres as well as the nuns of Assumption Convent "where I practically was raised." This bond with the
faith-based community extended to her academic years when she was earning her Bachelor of Science in
Chemistry degree at the historic bastion of Catholic education in Asia, the venerable University of Santo
Tomas in Downtown Manila.
"I have been brought up practically by nuns from grade school to high school and then by UST," she allows,
admitting she is "convent-bred.
"I have no secret formula in my volunteer work. If there is, it is probably because I was taught to make a
difference in the lives of others early on and that's been with me to this day. I suppose playing tennis in the
mornings and ballroom dancing a couple of times a week supply the necessary energy to do volunteer work."
Choosing to Give to Others
Willie Buhain approves of his wife's volunteer efforts, "sometimes he comes along with me to planning
meetings," Lottie says. "He is a very busy doctor but together we both choose to give others our time and to
give our presence to community endeavors."
University of the Philippines alumni in Washington and across America have practically adopted Lottie as
their fellow alum for her indefatigable support of her husband's alma mater and his alumni association. In a
sense, it is a fitting tribute to her selflessness as well as to her maiden connection with the University where
she cut her work milk teeth as a research assistant in the Department of Physiology of the UP College of
Medicine.
Indeed, for almost an entire decade of fellow UP alums' meetings, potlucks, picnics and fund-raisers, the
Buhains would open up the Community guest house across their home in Annandale, in Virginia where they
have resided for the last 28 years. There, the association would meet and break bread together, strategize
and debate issues, typical of life of expatriate alumni and community organizations. Lottie and Willie would
contribute native comfort food to fellow alums and open their checkbooks to donate dollars for visiting UP
presidents and other alumni events - as well as pay the rent and keep the keys to the meeting place.
Besides being a great cook and hostess, Lottie has been known to be a committed fund raiser for her
organizations. "I've probably done them all, fund raisers, from dinner dances to car raffles to golf tournaments,
to dance exhibitions, to selling tickets" like a march band booster.
I have come to a fund raising moment when people would see me and say "what is it this time, Lottie?" she
says, laughing again, adding that at one time in her career as a national and local volunteer, her public
persona become synonymous with fund raising.
Joys of Motherhood
"I do not expect anything in return for this passion, this innate value if you will, to give and to serve," she says.
She believes her rewards have come early in the joys of marriage, motherhood and home making. In these
beginning years in America, she gave every ounce of her strength and time to help build a strong and
wonderfully-knit Filipino-American family.
"Don't forget that I was a mom, a wife and homemaker first before I became a community worker. I never got
refunded in these roles! But I am very proud of the fact that in spite of our busy lives, my husband and I raised
our own boys together. Willie worked. I was at home for the children. I only went back to work when our
youngest was in high school. I now work in Willie's office. Also, we grew deep roots in Annandale. We have
lived in the same house on Elizabeth Lane for 28 years now. We also lived in Long Island, New York where
we got married and I worked for a while in the University o Pennsylvania in Philadelphia."
Looking back at her career from the lenses of Feed the Hungry and the Twenty Outstanding Filipino Achievers
Award, one accolade she will get in the Spring of 2002, she says, "My proudest achievement really is raising
with Willie our two sons and nurturing them in America with the best traditions our Philippine culture." Beyond
any award, Lottie declares, stand her two living rewards-Ronald Buhain, an internal medicine physician at Ft.
Lauerdale, Florida and Edgar Buhain, and Info Tech professional in St. Louis, Missouri. #
perhaps the stubborn enemies of places like the Philippines.
Lottie and her group from Feed the Hungry, Inc., visited for two weeks poverty-stricken areas in Cavite in
Southern Luzon and Naga City in Camarines Norte of the Bicol Region. She helped feed malnourished
children. The milk shipped last fall had arrived ahead of them. "We were able to get plenty of milk donations. It
was wonderful to see the milk reach the hungry children," she adds. "We went down to the barangays and
met a lot of people. We saw first hand their livelihood projects like piggery and poultry. It was a very moving
experience."
For her, the trip was also an open door that allowed caring involvement in the lives of others, making a
difference" for compatriots, even for just a season, and most importantly, "providing them not just the fish to
eat but also the fishing rod that would allow them to fish later on, on their own."
Embracing Volunteerism
Feed the Hungry is a 10-year old Washington-grown charitable group founded and managed by Filipino
Americans in the nation's capital. For the last 8 years, Lottie has been a volunteer officer of the group. In this
organization and in several others that are in health care, Lottie has totally embraced the call of Volunteerism.
In return, it has nurtured he compassion, sharpened her administrative and management skills and brought
her right into the heart of philanthropy where the mission to redeem others by reducing their poverty and
healing their hurts remains a strong current.
"It is more than a desire this giving back to others my time, my money, everything that I have," she explains.
You can call it a drive, a passion. My passion is whatever I have I want to share with others."
Significantly, the main recipient of her compassionate energy is the Philippines, its people back home; and
kababayans here, in her adopted America and elsewhere in the world.
With Feed the Hungry, where she serves on the board as a Co-Chair, her life-long training as a volunteer has
come full flower, engaged in a dramatic display of compassion.
"I love being with the Filipino community," she says. "You know people think a doctor's wife is typically being
an elitist, someone who would rather be within the folds of high society. All you do if you're an asawa ng
doktor is to stick with your clique, your own group. You're never seen among the people. I say that's a
misconception."
As the wife of Dr. Willie Buhain, a respected and sought-after pulmonary specialist in the nation's capital,
Lottie has been able to nimbly dance the roles of asawa ng doktor and local community leader. She also
knows the glare and glory of the spotlight mantled on leaders of national organizations.
"I enjoy working with ordinary people," she adds, saying her day job has been that of a bookkeeper in her
husband's office, the Asthma and Pulmonary Specialist of Northern Virginia. "I feel good when I give back to
the community. I love being a volunteer."
Complex Variety of Filipinos
In 1996, Lottie served as Overall Chair of the Philippine Festival Committee, the grand umbrella of the Filipino
organizations in the nation's capital that annually mounts the month-long celebration of the Philippines,
including June 12th, the Philippine National Day, in Washington. The Festival has long become a cultural
institution in international Washington.
She experienced as Festival Chair "for the first time ever the complex and exciting variety of Filipinos. I learned
a lot, I saw a lot, I now know that in a crowd there's always at least one who will challenge or who will choose
to dwell on the negatives and not the positives. But that's great, nothing to worry about.
"I was surprised myself that I was able to do it, presiding over the diversity of Filipinos for almost one year."
she says, relishing fond memories of that season. Leading the Festival Committee and moving its cultural
program through planning stage to vibrant showcase etched in her heart and mind the passion "to open up
doors to everyone." Though the Festival, the rest of Washington and its neighborhoods have since been
invited and welcomed to discover Philippine culture and hospitality, she says, "to break down the doors of
misperception and ignorance."
During her time as Festival Chair, Lottie, a skilled organizer with a visionary mind, began preparing the
community for the forthcoming Philippine Centennial celebration in 1998. At the same time, she served on the
board of the Philippine American Foundation for Charities that brings people-to-people aid to the Philippines
and assistance to Filipino American organizations. Her leadership in the local community was gracefully
entwined with involved leadership in the national organization of Filipino American doctors' spouses, the
Association of Philippine Physicians in America (APPA) Auxiliary.
As an active APAA Auxiliary life member, Lottie has served the Filipino American medical community in may
ways; as treasurer, secretary, vice president and finally president of the national organization. She also served
as APPA Auxiliary editor, board member and in 2000-2001, as its Executive Director.
Deep Roots in Faith and Family
In Metro Washington, Lottie has served in volunteer positions in the local Filipino medical community, her
platform of volunteer work. She chaired the Scholarship Committee of the Philippine Medical Foundation
besides serving as secretary and treasurer of the Foundation over the years. The Philippine Medical
Association of Metro Washington, DC Auxiliary chose her as its president. She also served as editor of the
Philippine Medical Association of Metro Washington, DC.
At one point she was the Washington Chapter Executive Director of the Center for Tuberculosis in Children
(Philippines) and a vice president of the Progressive Alliance of Filipinos and Americans (PAFAI), a national
capital area community group of Filipino American immigrants and their families.
Lottie Buhain is gifted with deep roots in family life and faith. The culture of commitment and charity flows like
a strong river in these two areas of her life.
As a child, and in her growing-up years, her faith was nurtured by her family and parents, Jose and Francisca
Torres as well as the nuns of Assumption Convent "where I practically was raised." This bond with the
faith-based community extended to her academic years when she was earning her Bachelor of Science in
Chemistry degree at the historic bastion of Catholic education in Asia, the venerable University of Santo
Tomas in Downtown Manila.
"I have been brought up practically by nuns from grade school to high school and then by UST," she allows,
admitting she is "convent-bred.
"I have no secret formula in my volunteer work. If there is, it is probably because I was taught to make a
difference in the lives of others early on and that's been with me to this day. I suppose playing tennis in the
mornings and ballroom dancing a couple of times a week supply the necessary energy to do volunteer work."
Choosing to Give to Others
Willie Buhain approves of his wife's volunteer efforts, "sometimes he comes along with me to planning
meetings," Lottie says. "He is a very busy doctor but together we both choose to give others our time and to
give our presence to community endeavors."
University of the Philippines alumni in Washington and across America have practically adopted Lottie as
their fellow alum for her indefatigable support of her husband's alma mater and his alumni association. In a
sense, it is a fitting tribute to her selflessness as well as to her maiden connection with the University where
she cut her work milk teeth as a research assistant in the Department of Physiology of the UP College of
Medicine.
Indeed, for almost an entire decade of fellow UP alums' meetings, potlucks, picnics and fund-raisers, the
Buhains would open up the Community guest house across their home in Annandale, in Virginia where they
have resided for the last 28 years. There, the association would meet and break bread together, strategize
and debate issues, typical of life of expatriate alumni and community organizations. Lottie and Willie would
contribute native comfort food to fellow alums and open their checkbooks to donate dollars for visiting UP
presidents and other alumni events - as well as pay the rent and keep the keys to the meeting place.
Besides being a great cook and hostess, Lottie has been known to be a committed fund raiser for her
organizations. "I've probably done them all, fund raisers, from dinner dances to car raffles to golf tournaments,
to dance exhibitions, to selling tickets" like a march band booster.
I have come to a fund raising moment when people would see me and say "what is it this time, Lottie?" she
says, laughing again, adding that at one time in her career as a national and local volunteer, her public
persona become synonymous with fund raising.
Joys of Motherhood
"I do not expect anything in return for this passion, this innate value if you will, to give and to serve," she says.
She believes her rewards have come early in the joys of marriage, motherhood and home making. In these
beginning years in America, she gave every ounce of her strength and time to help build a strong and
wonderfully-knit Filipino-American family.
"Don't forget that I was a mom, a wife and homemaker first before I became a community worker. I never got
refunded in these roles! But I am very proud of the fact that in spite of our busy lives, my husband and I raised
our own boys together. Willie worked. I was at home for the children. I only went back to work when our
youngest was in high school. I now work in Willie's office. Also, we grew deep roots in Annandale. We have
lived in the same house on Elizabeth Lane for 28 years now. We also lived in Long Island, New York where
we got married and I worked for a while in the University o Pennsylvania in Philadelphia."
Looking back at her career from the lenses of Feed the Hungry and the Twenty Outstanding Filipino Achievers
Award, one accolade she will get in the Spring of 2002, she says, "My proudest achievement really is raising
with Willie our two sons and nurturing them in America with the best traditions our Philippine culture." Beyond
any award, Lottie declares, stand her two living rewards-Ronald Buhain, an internal medicine physician at Ft.
Lauerdale, Florida and Edgar Buhain, and Info Tech professional in St. Louis, Missouri. #
Washington D.C. Since 1987
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