20131216黑暗之中點明燈 Every Bit of Giving, Bringing Light to the Darkness
We see the people in the disaster area in the Philippines praying very sincerely at church. The parish priest conducted Mass and also expressed gratitude to Tzu Chi and spoke of the work Tzu Chi has been doing to help the church and the local people. This is an example of how different religions can work in harmony with one another.
Also, yesterday we held a distribution at Leyte Normal University. From the news, we saw our volunteer Chieh Fang Uy. Our Da Ai News reported that she has been there for more than a month, and we can see very clearly that she has more white hair now.
She and Michael Siao used to be our collegiate volunteers Tzu Ching in the Philippines. Right now, this group of Tzu Ching alumni are taking on key responsibilities in our Philippine Tzu Chi missions. In the recent distribution, we saw Chieh Fang at the front of the auditorium speaking to everyone. Although we have many volunteers there helping, they don’t speak the local language.
So, she needs to introduce Tzu Chi to the recipients, help with translation, and also inspire the recipients. She took on the jobs of many people. Many of our volunteers worked with her to bring an inspiring and very joyful distribution program.
She started with telling them the history of our bamboo coin bank. She also told them how there are so many people caring for them, as people in over 40 countries are fundraising and donating for the disaster relief. She shared with them many inspirational stories in a concise and clear way.
She also held up a PET bottle and our blanket and demonstrated to them how our blanket is made from such PET bottles, which were collected and sorted by our recycling volunteers. We see that many aid recipients understood Tzu
Chi’s spirit of giving and how they can also contribute coins PET bottle and made it into a coin bank.
What was really to touching yesterday was that one local actually went and found a bamboo and made it into a bamboo coin bank by cutting, polishing, and carving on the bamboo, expressing his aspiration to be a part of Tzu Chi. So, he brought a real bamboo bank to us. We see how the love in people’s hearts can bring hope to the disaster area.
We also saw Dr. Wang president of Tzu Chi University, and Dr. Kao, superintendent of Halien Tzu Chi Hospital, and 40 other medical volunteers return to their posts yesterday at the free clinic. Because there were a lot of patients, some of the doctors had to move their workstations outdoors by the roadside, like running a roadside medical booth. Our doctors are very willing to serve regardless of the conditions.
At the disaster area, we have several volunteers whose family members also participated in the relief effort, such as Henry Yunez, Alfredo Li, Manuel Siao, and others. They said that normally it is not easy for them to all get together because their children are grown and have careers of their own.
This time, however, they were all able to come to help. Yet, though their entire family is involved in the disaster relief, given that there is so much work, it’s not easy for them to see one another. Every one of them is busy working on the tasks they are responsible for. Seeing our Da Ai News reporting on our volunteers and their dedication to the relief effort, I’m truly touched.
All in all, in life, disasters happen and people fall into hard times. What is needed at such a time is the genuine, sincere love of people who go to their aid to relieve suffering with the spirit of a bodhisattva. Look to how Tzu Chi volunteers went to Central America in 1998 when a hurricane caused disaster for eight countries including the Dominican Republic.
Honduras. El Salvador. and Guatemala our relief mission inspired local residents in these countries to join Tzu Chi. They are now carrying out Tzu Chi’s missions locally and are continuing Tzu Chi’s work there.
We saw that in Honduras the Philippines typhoon disaster inspired people to bring out their love. Such a circumstance of disaster can provide the causes and conditions to awaken the bodhisattva spirit in people if we act quickly to reach out to inspire people’s love. Our hope is that in everyone’s hearts, seeds of love can sprout and people can become rich in heart.
Our local volunteers held a fundraiser. A sound system rental company generously let our volunteers use their audio equipment for free for the event. Also, in the Dominican Republic, where we had built a school in a community that used to be next to a garbage mountain, local Tzu Chi volunteers likewise appealed for donations for the Philippine disaster.
The origins of this school goes back to 1998, when the Dominican Republic was devastated by Hurricane Georges. A large number of homes were destroyed and many people were without clothing and without any food Tzu Chi volunteers came all the way from Taiwan to help us and eventually built this school. So, today, we should show the same compassion to help those in need in the Philippines.
What I shared with the children today is that it’s much better to give than to receive. No one is poor to the point that he cannot give. Even expressing love and care is a form of giving.
Everyone can contribute something. In this world, there is no such thing as being so poor that one can give nothing. One student of our school had no money to donate, but she brought a bag of cornmeal to donate to help the typhoon survivors. Another child not only donated money but also contributed a small package of noodles for a charity sale to help the Philippines.
They have such a pure heart of wanting to help even if they can only contribute a small amount. Everywhere, people’s love is being activated to help the Philippine survivors.
Even an inmate in a U.S. prison sent a donation in the form of goods. People are responding to others’ suffering and reaching out to help. When people are in a dark hell, what’s most needed is light even the tiniest light, be it the glow from a firefly, is still so needed by those in darkness. In a word, no good deed is too small.
The worst is not doing anything at all I am grateful there are so many heartwarming stories which come about because people, seeing others suffering, give of themselves to help, being a living bodhisattva in this world. These real-life bodhisattva acts create humankind’s history and are treasures of Dharma in.
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