20131007 豪雨防災‧倡導環保 Living Environmentally to Protect Against Storm damages
Typhoon Fitow and its storm circle left Taiwan early this morning at about 1 A.M. and made landfall in Fujian, China. It then weakened to a tropical storm. With the storm there, we pray that everyone in Fujian will be safe and well. As it has weakened in intensity, it will cause less damage.
However, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, there is a road that always sustains storm damages. This time was no exception. So, when it is raining hard outside, it is best not to go near the waterfront or into the mountain. Instead of going out on weekends, it would be better for people to stay at home and spend heartwarming quality time with family. It is best not to go near dangerous areas.
We see that in Central America, Guatemala is suffering from major flooding as a result of a river overflowing due to heavy rain. However, it is very heartwarming to see that amid the widespread disaster and suffering, our volunteers there quickly took action to begin their disaster assessment. This is why I have to express my gratitude to our volunteers every day.
Every time there’s a disaster, the local military helps our volunteers with transportation in their relief mission. They provide boats if our volunteers need to cross rivers, and vehicles when they need to travel the mountain roads. The local government or military will offer our volunteers such assistance in their disaster relief efforts.
We do indeed need such government support because we only have a limited number of volunteers in Guatemala and there are frequent disasters there. There are many places affected by disasters in the country. The government can’t take care of everyone I hope Tzu Chi can provide sustained help to alleviate their suffering.
Every time when there is a disaster, the local government will inform our volunteers. Our volunteers will then go to assess the situation and provide aid accordingly. Although the local government provides our volunteers with disaster information, they do not demand that Tzu Chi give aid in return.
We need to be grateful for this, for it lets us purely do charity work without getting involved in politics while the government supports our charity work I am always very grateful for this. We also saw our volunteers in Vietnam.
What they did was also very heartwarming for our volunteers to do charity work in Vietnam. Over the past 10 to 20 years, when they tried to have a meeting they would be questioned by local authorities. It was under those conditions that. It was under those conditions that they tried to carry out Tzu Chi’s work.
Now, the government is supportive of their work. Whenever they hold a Tzu Chi activity, the local authorities would send a representative hold large Tzu Chi gatherings so they can spread love in the local area. They carry out various charity works, such as provide aid to disaster affectees, give assistance to poor families, and periodically visit senior homes to give the residents care.
Grandma, we’re Tzu Chi volunteers. She can’t hear. She can’t hear? We’re here to see you today. We wish you good health Tzu Chi volunteers went to visit the seniors as though they were visiting their family.
When they go, they help clean up the place. They also cook a meal for them and spend the day with these seniors. You have to put on more clothing to not catch a cold. The weather is changing. Take good care of yourself and don’t catch a cold. They’ve been doing this for a long time now. It’s truly touching. Despite the challenges, they’ve persevered in doing charity in Vietnam.
The rough and bumpy path has now become much smoother. This is all due to their perseverance. With this perseverance in moving forward step by step, even a rough path will turn into a smooth one. This is the result of their works of love. Every time I see this, I’m very touched.
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Tzu Chi Singapore Tzu Chi volunteers marked the occasion through group cultivation activities. They did a bowing pilgrimage though it had been raining hard. Those dressed in white shirts are TIMA members. They also participated in the pilgrimage.
So, the spirit of our Dharma lineage is to diligently cultivate and give of ourselves and to encourage and support one another in walking the path of serving the world with loving-kindness, compassion joy and equanimity. We also see that their dedicated efforts in Singapore have earned them the government’s affirmation.
In these twenty years, Tzu Chi volunteers there started with inspiring people’s love and purifying their hearts. Then, they developed it further to include purification of the environment through recycling. Singapore has a high population density with a population of over five million. However, it is a common practice there to use one-time use, disposable items and to not sort out recyclables from their trash.
These past few years, Tzu Chi volunteers have been actively trying to educate the community by doing recycling and making other environmental efforts. The government saw what they were doing and really supported its direction. So, the government offered Tzu Chi a few sites to use for its recycling efforts. That is truly no easy accomplishment.
In Hong Kong, the government likewise provided a large space thousands of square meters in area at the Material Transfer Center for Tzu Chi to do recycling and get the community involved in recycling. The need to protect the environment is now a global issue. Everyone needs to have greater environmental consciousness.
With such huge number of people frequently using disposable items and creating garbage that won’t biodegrade for centuries, that will definitely harm the environment and land. So, we all need to be very aware and live in more environmentally-friendly ways.
Otherwise, as we can see, Nature is already imbalanced, bringing disasters. We see that the flooding in Thailand is continuing to worsen. It is making living conditions very difficult I hople the floodwaters can quickly recede. Why does such flooding happen so often? It’s because drains and sewer pipes are clogged by loose garbage, so the storm water cannot flow out.
If the public continues to create a lot of garbage and litter and riverbeds aren’t dredged, then flooding will occur frequently and cause big material losses for people. It’s a frightening cycle. In conclusion, we need to change the situation starting with ourselves, by changing our lifestyle.
This is to solve the problem from its source. Each and every one o us has to start with ourselves
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