20150714無處不在愛無量 Tzu Chi Volunteers Giving with Love Everywhere
Last year, when I went to Pingdong, the deputy magistrate of Pingdong County told me that when she saw the news about Tzu Chi’s portable beds winning Germany’s Red Dot Design Award, she was very happy for Tzu Chi. She then asked me whether we could give them some portable beds to be kept at their shelters for those evacuated there due to a disaster to use. I replied, “No problem. How many do you need?”
She said, “How about 800?” “I can distribute them to Pingdong City” “and the towns in Pingdong County.” So, we gave them 800 portable beds. Our volunteers even personally delivered the beds to each town the amount of portable beds requested by the county government. Seeing our portable beds, the locals were all very happy. They said that every time a typhoon came and they were evacuated to a shelter, they had to sleep on the floor.
Now, with Tzu Chi’s portable beds, even when a disaster strikes they can still sleep properly at night. See, after much painstaking effort, an object as useful as our portable bed has been designed and produced. It is portable and very useful in times of disaster. This is exactly what people affected by disaster need. Indeed, when people are affected by disaster, we’ll feel deeply for them.
So, it’s very important that we help to minimize the impact of disasters. For example, in Pingdong, we’re mow helping to rebuild five schools, which were very old and unsafe. In many classrooms, steel bars were even exposed. That’s why we decided to help rebuild these five schools for them.
There’ll be 25 new classrooms, including those for vocational training, such as our baking class, which is very important to our ninth graders.
I saw how mindfully Tzu Chi did the work and how they kept the construction site clean. I’m very impressed.
Hopefully, the construction can be done by the end of this year or early next year. The magistrate of Taidong county also came to Hualien and told me that there are nine schools in Taidong that are considered dangerous. So, I asked our staff to take a look. Accompanied by people from the county government, our staff went to see these schools and found that they are in very bad conditions.
We’ve asked specialists to evaluate our building structure and the result showed that it could no longer withstand earthquake. The reinforced brick buildings can only be used for 30 years, but we’ve used it for 47 years. So, they suggested tearing down the buildings.
So, we’ve also decided to help rebuild these nine schools in Taidong. Recently, the architects have finished their blueprints, so the schools will be torn down soon. We’ll also build temporary classrooms for these schools so children’s education won’t be disrupted. This is what the staff of our construction dept. are doing now.
As the school principal, I’m very moved to see how Tzu Chi always thinks more for our school than we do.
In Hualien, there are also six schools that are considered old and dangerous. So, we’ll also help to rebuild these schools for them.
Before tearing down the school buildings of Guo-Feng Junior High School Tzu Chi volunteers went to help move the chairs, desks, etc. out of the classrooms. So, in Hualien, we’ll also help rebuild six schools. Altogether, we’ll help rebuild 15 schools in Hualien and Taidong.
Indeed, when we take precautions to guard against disasters, the impact of disasters will be minimized. At a time like this, we should pool everyone’s love to help these schools. With the work we do now, we don’t need to worry in the future. We also see how Tzu Chi volunteers, go everywhere to serve those in need. Some people say: “Where are Tzu Chi volunteers when disasters hit?” In fact, we can proudly tell them that wherever there are people in need, there are Tzu Chi volunteers.
For example, in Tainan, there’s a family where three out of the four members are mentally challenged. The father is in his eighties, and so is the mother. But the mother, the son, and the daughter are all mentally challenged. The son is already in his fifties. Every night, he’ll go outside and bring home all the stuff, big or small, that people have thrown away. See how he even brought back such a big sofa, table, etc.
After learning of this family’s condition, Tzu Chi volunteers spent moths communicating with them before they finally allowed our volunteers to help clear out the garbage and clean up their house. But as the lane is narrow and a truck cannot go in, our volunteers had to line up to pass the garbage out piece by piece. It took several of our volunteers to move a sofa, but it was amazing that the son could move it home all by himself. It was really incredible that he had the strength to do that.
We also see another family in Nantou and an elderly, ill, and frail grandma there. The house was built with mudbricks. The grandma is 90 years old and bedridden, and there’s no one to tend to the house. This family is so poor that they don’t even have their own bathroom. Feeling for them, Tzu Chi volunteers went to help repair and clean up their house. See, Tzu Chi volunteers are everywhere to serve.
As long as we’re willing to give of ourselves, we can help may people. As long as we have love, we can go everywhere to serve. Such is the power of love.
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