20150908一生無量愛無疆 Helping Syrian Refugees with Love
Europe as a whole must move and its states must share the responsibility for refugees seeking asylum.
If Europe fails on the question of refugees, this closes connection with universal civil rights. It won't be the Europe we want.
The refugee crises has lately drawn great public attention, especially from many countries in Europe. This is because a few days ago, the body of a three-year-old Syrian boy was washed up on a beach in Turkey. He drowned while his family were attempting to reach Greece. The news quickly went viral, prompting many European countries to think about how they can take in more refugees.
Such is life! The refugees might lead a good life in their home countries. But due to the disharmony in a few people's minds, struggles, conflicts, etc. occur in their countries. Like how a spark can set the prairie ablaze, the fire that rages in people's inner field can spread to affect many innocent people. As a result, people can no longer live in their home countries, but have to flee to other countries and become refugees. Their suffering is truly unspeakable.
This is exactly the case with Syrian refugees. Many of them have fled to Turkey. This July, our Tzu Chi volunteer in Turkey, Mr. Hu, accompanied a former Turkish deputy mayor and Professor Cuma, a Syrian refugee in Turkey, to visit me at the Abode in Hualien. They prepared a presentation to share with me in great detail what Tzu Chi has done for the Syrian refugees in Turkey.
When many Syrians fled to Istanbul, Turkey, they have nothing to their name and can only live in houses in very crude conditions. According to the Turkish law, foreigners without a work permit cannot work in Turkey. But we've bent the rules for Syrian refugees so they can work to support themselves.
The biggest problem now is that the Syrian refugees cannot make ends meet. They have no money to see a doctor, to buy food, or to pay their rent. To help support their families, even many Syrian children have to work and therefore cannot go to school.
I hope I could go to school like before. But I have to help my dad support our family. So, I need to work.
I work for 12 hours every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. I don't like to work, but I need to help my parents.
To help the Syrian children receive an education, our volunteers in Turkey visited their families one by one.
The man in these families work during the day so we can only visit them between 8 p.m. and midnight. We have to take pictures of each child, compile their files, and scan them one by one.
Then, our volunteers worked with the former deputy mayor, Professor Cuma and a local education official to set up a Syrian school.
If the Syrian children can't go to school, they'll become a problem of our society. So, I'd been thinking what we could do to help. Before long. I met Mr. Hu and Professor Cuma, who were helping Syrian children to get an education.
Eventually, they found a school where the Syrian children are allowed to study in the afternoon. In total, over 800 Syrian children have received our tuition aid. Apart from the tuition aid, we also provided financial aid to families with children who used to work in order to make up for the money the children could've earned. Because of our aid, over 800 Syrian children are able to receive an official education in Turkey.
A few days ago, due to the images of a three-year-old Syrian boy on a Turkish beach, the international community has expressed grave concern over the humanitarian crisis of refugees. And in Turkey, as many media have reported the events of Tzu Chi volunteers providing tuition aid to over 800 Syrian children, giving out aid supplies to Syrian families, etc., many local young people have been inspired to help and care for the Syrian children studying in Turkey.
This is what I've learned lately. Those who have fled to cities in Turkey are indeed very fortunate because there are still many Syrians who are camped on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, waiting for an opportunity to cross. They live in tents and they don't know what tomorrow will being.
Life is truly unpredictable. They were born in Syria and their country has changed completely. All this is not something they have control over, and see how they have to risk their lives to flee to other countries! With life being so unpredictable, what is there to fuss over? We must keep the law of karma in mind. It is a true principle that we cannot ignore.
Love is indeed very powerful. When we pool our love together, we can bring aid to people in other countries and inspire the locals to give as well. Take Professor Cuma for example. He had never heard of Tzu Chi before.
But after coming across Tzu Chi, he further introduced our volunteers to the former deputy mayor. With the help of the former deputy mayor and the local education official, many Syrian children have been able to study and their families have received our aid. This is how one seed can give rise to innumerable seeds and how love can transcend borders to reach every part of the world.
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