20150805誠心共振願平安 Guarding Against the Typhoon and Working Together to Help Those in Need
Seeing the coming typhoon, I’m very worried. Every one of us should heighten our vigilance. This typhoon, Soudelor, is stronger and more solid than Typhoon Herb, which hit Taiwan nearly 20 years ago. Speaking of Herb now, we’re still frightened. Our senior Tzu Chi volunteers may still remember that when Typhoon Herb struck Taiwan Tzu Chi volunteers across Taiwan all mobilized to carry out relief.
This is because Herb had indeed caused widespread devastation in Taiwan especially in the western part of Taiwan from the north to the south. So, how can we note vigilant and cautious. Thanks to modern technology, weather forecasts have become possible. But when a typhoon doesn’t come as predicted some people would complain. This is wrong. Instead, we should feel grateful and lucky.
Affected by other air currents, a typhoon may deviate from its course and miss its original target. When that happens, we’ll be safe and we should be grateful. If we’re overconfident, then we’ll become negligent and not be prepared. This is very wrong. So, for the coming typhoon, we should really heighten our vigilance. If everyone is on guard and stay vigilant, our prudence and sincere piety will reach all heavenly beings above.
So, we must stay vigilant and pious at all times. Most importantly, we must take precaution against the typhoon. I hope that the staff at our Four Missions and our Tzu Chi volunteers ca visit and remind people in their communities to take precautions as well. Before the typhoon arrives, we should call those who may in need of aid or visit the needy in our neighborhood to see if they need any help from us.
For those who are advanced in age, we should mention to the police how many elder people there are in the community who may need to be taken to a shelter before the typhoon comes. This is what we should do now. When we are well prepared, there’ll be less disaster. This is what it means to heighten our vigilance. Many countries are now being affected by floods caused by heavy rains.
Vietnam is one of them, and more rains are expected to come. In one province, the torrential rains it received were the heaviest recorded in 40 years, which have triggered flash floods and landslides. Apart from Vietnam, Myanmar also suffered from severe flooding. We still remember Cyclone Nargis that devastated Myanmar in 2008. Back then, the government one refused foreign aid.
As Taiwan has no diplomatic ties with Myanmar, we had to ask our volunteers in Malaysia to go. But this time, we see that the government of Myanmar has sent a list of requirements to the U.N. and issued a statement calling for international assistance. From that, we can see that the government is open to foreign aid now as they know that the scale of the disaster will overwhelm local recovery efforts.
Vietnam is now also more open to international aid. Back when we first started our charity work in Vietnam, if more than three of our volunteers gathered together, they’d draw attention from the authorities. But in recent years, the authorities have seen how Tzu Chi has helped the people in Vietnam. So, a local organization responsible for relations with INGOs has signed an MOU with Tzu Chi for future emergency relief efforts.
Learning of that, I’m very moved and grateful. From now on, we can do more work in Vietnam step by step with more ease. Our volunteers in Vietnam have also been listening to my Dharma talk. As they’re taken the Dharma to heart, they’re able to share it with the locals and inspire them to serve. With such a virtuous cycle, there’ll be more and more locals doing good.
In Nepal, we’ve started our mid- and long-term aid projects there. As temporary houses are urgently needed there, a group of our volunteers from Malaysia experienced in building them went to help. Early this year, Malaysia was affected by severe flooding that caused widespread devastation in several states.
Having seen how our volunteers in the Philippines built temporary houses for those affected by disaster, our volunteers in Malaysia also learned to build temporary houses for flood victims so they could have a safe place to stay for the next few years. So, this time, they went to Nepal to help build temporary houses for the locals.
Several of them, such as Mr. Leong Yoke Knuin and Mr. Tan Kong Tong, have all gone to Nepal to teach the locals. Ms. Liao from Taiwan is also there to help supervise the construction project, check the quality of works, etc. She is in the construction business and is as capable as a man. Seeing what they’ve done in Nepal, I’m very moved.
For example, seeing that it was raining when we were holding a free clinic, a group of our volunteers paved bricks and bamboo polls on the ground so it’d be easier for people to walk on. Their compassion and wisdom have moved and inspired many young local people to volunteer with us willingly.
With their help, the free clinic and health education we conducted went smoothly. All this is made possible by everyone working in unity and concerted efforts. In Nepal, they’ve done so much work that I can’t share it all with you.
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