20131217苦既拔已 復為說法Witnessing the Love of Living Bodhisattvas
We see Tacloban City in the Philippines. It’s been over a month since Tzu Chi volunteers set foot in the typhoon-stricken are as in the Philippines on November 13. Compared to when they first went, the images we see now are truly very different.
Seeing these images, I’m very grateful to our documenting volunteers. We didn’t see them in the images because they were the ones recording our volunteers and their work for us to see. To capture these images, which bear witness to our effort this time, staff from our cultural center and our documenting volunteers have all worked very hard.
They tried their best to record each and every one of our volunteers serving there. Be it where they go, what they do, or how they feel about their work, it’s all been recorded and covered in reports. For everything we can see now, it’s all thanks to their hard work of filming, photographing, etc. they really haven’t missed any precious images.
Our Da Ai TV staff were also there to help set up optical fiber connection so that the images taken by our documenting volunteers with detailed information on our work there can be quickly transmitted back to Da Ai TV and then broadcasted for people around the world to see how erratic climate conditions have become and how such a powerful typhoon had caused widespread devastation in the area, brought suffering to people and took away everything they had
In the images, we see Tzu Chi volunteers serving everywhere in the disaster areas. Since their arrival they’ve done all they could to set everyone’s minds at peace and ease, help them rebuild their lives, and give them emotional support. And they do so with compassion and wisdom. They also launched a cash-for-work program and every day, many people singed up. Altogether, the locals took part in more than 280,000 cleaning shifts.
With the money they earned, the locals could support their families and sustain their livelihood. During this period of time, I am very grateful to Mei-you, Jin-gui and many other female Tzu Chi volunteers from Taiwan for going there to help. They stay there for a long time and have helped to bring stability to people. Every day, they prepare instant rice for everyone, sometimes even up to 30,000 people a day.
It was truly not an easy task. They get up before daybreak and work with our local volunteers to prepare meals every day. During this period, our volunteers have also been setting up temporary classrooms for children there. There are more to set up, but our volunteers have taught the locals how to do it so they can set up the rest by themselves.
Our volunteers also held aid distributions. At the distributions, they shared with the locals Tzu Chi’s humble beginning, our blankets made from PET bottles etc. They also told them how Tzu Chi volunteers worldwide are working hard to fundraise for them. They shared all this with the locals and everyone listened attentively, so they understood where Tzu Chi’s aid comes from
Right now, our volunteers are preparing to help those who did not show up at our aid distributions, those on the mane lists that we have yet to receive from the local government, as well as those living in remote areas and having been affected by the disaster.
Yesterday, our volunteers went to the northern of Tacloban and visited 18 barangays in the mountains. Many houses were destroyed and quite a few had their roots blown away. When our volunteers arrived, many locals went to greet them and they were very happy to see our volunteers.
Our volunteers had never been there, so they asked some children how they knew about Tzu Chi. The child said that their parents had participated in Tzu Chi’s cash-for-work program and when they came back, they’d tell them about Tzu Chi. That’s why the whole area knew about Tzu Chi, including children, as they heard their parents talk about it every day.
So, when they saw our volunteers’ blue and white uniform, they knew they were from Tzu Chi. See how our volunteers were warmly received by the people there. The locals were all very respectful and grateful to our volunteers.
We came here to survey the disaster situation. To our surprise, many people here have already known about Tzu Chi. They were very happy to see us. Many were very moved because they knew Tzu Chi has helped them a lot.
We didn’t give out monetary aid to the people there, but they are very grateful already for our cash-for-work program. So, everyone is inherently good and grateful.
I’ll keep this coin bank till next year. One Tzu Chi volunteer, Monica, told me she’ll be back next year I want to give it to her.
If our volunteers didn’t go there, they wouldn’t have known that the locals are so kindhearted and content and grateful for our cash-for-work program. This is only the end of our emergency relief effort in the Philippines. We’ll go back to provide them with mid and long-term aid to help them recover soon.
It’s truly very moving to see. We not only relieve their suffering, but also bring them love, protection and support Tzu Chi volunteers go there to help them in their time of need and further care for their body and mind and give them hope for their future. This is how our volunteers care for people. See, they are truly bodhisattvas in this world.
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