Date: August 19th, 2010 (Thursday)
Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Need to Cherish Water and Care for Our Land 惜水敬天地
In August 18 & 19, 1998 – Tzu Chi volunteers built the first batch of 351 water cisterns in TongWei county, Gansu Province in China. The number ten of water cisterns is for the resident of Gansu, Mr. Chen Yuxiang.
The following conversations are between Tzu Chi volunteers and Chen Yuxiang, a resident in China’s Gansu Province.
“Chen Yuxiang. This is your home?”
“Hello”
“We haven’t seen you in so long. Your house is quite nice.”
“Our home was destroyed in the Sichuan Earthquake, so the government rebuilt it for us.”
“The major quake in 2008 affected you here as well?”
“Yes, our home toppled.”
“Really?”
“Yes”
“What about your water cistern?”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s fine? It didn’t crack?”
“Without your help, we might have died of thirty.”
“Can we see it?”
“Sure….Here, have a seat. Have some water.”
Twelve years ago, Tzu Chi volunteers began building water cisterns for remote communities in China’s Gansu Province where water is scarce. So, it’s been 12 years since we began construction for the first batch of water cisterns in Gansu.
The following conversations are between reporter and Chen Yuxiang’s wife, Gu Fangong:
“Why did you choose to marry Chen Yuxiang?”
“Because his family has a water cistern, I no longer had to go fetch water. Otherwise, I would have to walk 5 km every day to fetch water.”
“You walked 5km to fetch water?”
“Mmm”
See how previous water is to people living in the highlands.
Having a water cistern has improved their life.
In the past, their annual crop yield was poor because of water shortages.
In Taiwan, we irrigate the fields by simply letting water flow across the land.
But in Gansu, people water their crops with cupfuls of water.
A single cup of water is used to water three stalks of corn seedlings.
But with water cisterns, water from the summer rains can be collected and stored in them, and the time they save from fetching water can be used to better care for their crops.
That’s why plants have grown better and crop yield have increased.
In the past, their annual crop yield was less than US$150.
But now, with the wheat and corn they grown, their yield has increased to about US$1,500 a year.
But, despite having a water cistern, they still treasure each drop of water they use.
See how the wife washes the vegetables with so little water.
In fact, seeing the way others live, we truly must learn to cherish water.
Water is the source of all lives, including humans and all living things in this world. So, we must all cherish water.
Do not think water scarcity is not a problem in Taiwan.
As small as Taiwan is, many roads and tunnels were built for the sake of economic development.
To do that, trees were felled and mountains were excavated, thus damaging the water resources we have.
In fact, Taiwan is just a small island.
If we don’t cherish our water and environment, who will bear the consequences in the future?
Last year, at around 11:50 p.m. on August 7, Typhoon Morakot made landfall in Hualien.
The typhoon brought heavy rain to Taidong, as well as to the mountain areas in central and southern Taiwan. This was what happened to Taiwan. On August 7 last year.
This year, again on August 7, heavy rain fell late at night in Zhouqu Country, China’s Gansu Province, washing down debris and mud from the mountains to cause a deadly mudslide.
Such a disaster has already claimed over 1,200 lives.
The disaster struck in the blink of an eye and hundreds of people are still missing. This was what happened to China over a week ago on August 7.
What a grave tragedy it is.
Fortunately, the Chinese government very quickly launched rescue operations.
However, the disaster area is at an elevation of over 1,000 m, and damaged roads and bridges caused by the mudslide have made rescue work even more difficult.
Why did all this happen? The locals have truly suffered helplessly.
In fact, this disaster has something to do with the major earthquake that struck Sichuan on May 12, 2008 as the quake also caused severe damages in Zhouqu and weakened the mountain structure in that area.
In addition to that, more than half a century of heavy tree-felling and rapid hydro development without regard for the consequences have cause even more damage to the environment.
That’s why the heavy rain this time, has triggered a mudslide, leading to such severe devastation in Zhouqu.
We see that China’s premier, Mr. Wen, also went to the disaster-stricken area and yelled out words of encouragement to a victim who
was trapped under rubble.
The devastation there is truly heart-wrenching to see.
A few days ago, the local media forecast more rain in the area, and warned of more mudslides to come.
What’s even more worrying is the lakes that formed after the mudslide, which could burst and lead to even more devastation.
The relief work has been very difficult.
Despite that, rescue workers are still working to open up blocked roads, save those buried under the rubbles, and evacuate people to safety.
See how dangerous and arduous the work is, and yet they still risk their lives to do the work.
Just now, we saw a member of the armed police.
When he was helping with the rescue work, his wife called his mobile phone, but he was too busy to answer her call.
Not long afterwards, he received word that his wife had been buried and died in the mudslide. They were newlyweds and his wife was pregnant.
We can imagine how grieved he must be.
See how he finally came to the store that his wife ran, but he knew he could never see his wife again.
There was also a high school student who was the only survivor in her family as the others had all been buried.
Despite that, she still went to serve as volunteer.
Seeing how the safe and well are helping those in need, I am truly very moved.
All in all, no matter what difficulties we come across, we must overcome them.
Otherwise, it’d be difficult us to move on.
Seeing so many devastating disasters, we truly must awaken to the lessons they bring.
At all time, we must love and respect Mother Nature, cherish everything on Earth, and respect all lives.
For every day we pass in peace and safety, we must be grateful at every moment.
There is indeed to much suffering to speak of.
As Tzu Chi members, we must be prudent and humbly pious at all times.
I am very grateful to our Tzu Chi volunteers for working so hard to hold prayer ceremonies in their communities.
May every one of us pray with sincere piety, and live each day with correct views and beliefs.
(Source: Da Ai TV 人間菩提)
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