20171222盡心拔苦祈平安Being Determined in Helping People 中英
We see that in the Philippines, Typhoon Kai-Tak (Urduja) brought heavy rainfall, especially in Leyte, where several cities were flooded. The Great Love Village that we built in Ormoc after Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) was also flooded. There are over 1,500 household in the village. The outskirts of the village are severely affected as well. There are also over 1,000 houses in the outskirts of Ormoc affected; they weren’t build by Tzu Chi.
My husband nearly died in the flood. Luckily someone spotted him and grabbed hold of him. He then held on to a plastic container and swam to safety.
All my belongings are ruined. It is devastating.
A lot of things were damaged, or simply lost. When we arrived, we could sense that the villagers had looked forward to our arrival because they could rely on us and that we respect them.
Many affectees stayed in the shelters for days, and now they’ve returned to clean up their house.
If not for Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) we wouldn’t have formed this affinity with you. We feel your sufferings, but stay strong and don’t lose hope.
The most important thing is we’re still alive, and the house is still there. Although it was flooded, we can live in it, and we can start over. I believe that as long as we help each other, things will be back to normal again.
When Tzu Chi volunteers arrived and the residents saw them coming into the village, everyone said that they saw a spark of hope and were encouraged to clean up their village. We saw that the prefabricated house were intact. The furniture was soaked and ruined like garbage. But, when we saw the Jing Si multipurpose folding beds, it looked all good and brand-new after being washed.
Only a few rear doors came loose. Overall, houses in the village were fine and cleanup was underway. Tzu Chi’s eco-blankets and instant rice are also being shipped to the Philippines. This is what’s happening now. Including houses in the Great Love Village, there are 2,000 plus households in that area affected by the typhoon. In fact, several villages in that area are also seriously affected by floods.
There is also an island reported to be in worse condition, with very serious landslides. There are many disasters in the world. On the news we see more and more people suffer in a worse condition. They’ve been suffering for a long time.
In Yemen, in addition to the ongoing war, there is an outbreak of cholera. Cholera, an infectious disease, along has claimed more than 2,000 lives. Also, the war caused casualties, led to shortage of resources and water contamination, etc. Diseases and hunger problem have emerged; the situation is really devastating, but (there’s nothing we can do to help them) as there is no way for us to go in.
People in South Sudan are also suffering! They have been in suffering for many years, especially food shortage, and people are starving. More than a million people are suffering, with no food to eat and are waiting for reliefs, but the aid they received is just a drop in the ocean. Life there is full of suffering. There are numerous sufferings.
A few other countries, like Somalia, are in similar situation. There’s little we can do to help them. Some people have fled their country and became refugees. Some of them are lucky to receive aid. In Serbia, the temperature has dropped below freezing. Fortunately, several days ago, Tzu Chi volunteers from Austria, Italy, Singapore, Germany, and Taiwan went to Serbia for a relief effort and inspired the locals to join them. Volunteers from Bosnia also joined them.
They conducted aid distributions with joy, and the refugees were happy with the food and having warm clothing. In a short period of time, volunteers were able to hold these distributions with respect and love. They truly warmed the heart of the refugees.
They also gave red envelopes to refugees. See how happy the children with their red envelope are. The red envelope is a token of blessings filled with sincerity and the power of love. I am touched and grateful that there are Tzu Chi volunteers around the world. They come from different countries and pit together their power of love to help the refugees. With Tzu Chi volunteers’ help, these refugees are luckier than other refugees.
There are also disaster affectees in the U.S. From some of the affectees impacted by the hurricane in August, their life hasn’t returned to normal yet. Also, we see Tzu Chi volunteers in New York helping people in need. Wherever there are people in suffering our volunteers will go and help them. I am very grateful. There are so many things to be grateful for.
In China, despite the freezing cold, Tzu Chi volunteers will still gave of themselves. See, it was snowing hard. Volunteers conducted an aid distribution in the heavy snow. But they said it was rare as it was a beautiful sight. Aren’t we all touched by this? Carry out a distribution under such a condition is hard, but people with determination can achieve it. It also takes many people’s love. Such beauty is like the sun in a cold winter. Isn’t this beautiful?
So, we should harbor the mindset of helping people no matter how difficult the situation is, and then we can help them. We must count our blessings.
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