20141017 真誠互愛 防治疫情Caring for the Earth and People in Need
Seeing so many disasters around the world, we really need to be alert and sincerely pious all the more. In its annual report on disasters, the Red Cross said that in 2013, natural disasters claimed over 22,000 lives. A few days ago, the remnants of Cyclone Hudhud hit Nepal triggering snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayas.
Over 100 tourists were hiking there. The mountains are very high, but people still want to climb them. After such an accident occurred, some lost their lives while many others are still missing. Even those who have survived had gone through a lot of ordeals.
What’s the point in doing all this? We should let the mountains recuperate. Living in this world, we should take good care of Mother Earth. See how Tzu Chi volunteers in Australia worked to care for the Earth by planting trees to reduce the effects of soil salinity. The land we see is covered with a white crust. Actually, it is salt.
That’s why our volunteers went to plant salt-tolerant saplings in that area. In total, they planted over 2,000 saplings. Our volunteers have been doing this for years as they hope the area can be full of trees again like it was over 100 years ago.
But, it takes decades for saplings to grow into big trees. Yet, cutting trees only takes a few seconds. If people can live in peace with Mother Nature, wouldn’t the world be free of disasters?
So, what our world needs is people with love. We see that in South Africa, Tzu Chi volunteers in Johannesburg have been caring for the residents of a local children’s home. They go to interact with the children and provide them with food and supplies.
But the farm where the children’s home stands has been sold. What are the children going to do? They are around 40 children there. Where can they go? They’re helpless. My heart truly goes out to them.
We also see Turkey. There are now over one million Syrian refugees in Turkey. As it is very difficult for them to make a living in a foreign country, many of them ended up begging in cities of Turkey.
Last month, our volunteer in Turkey, Mr. Hu, came to tell me about their plight. In fact, Tzu Chi volunteers have helped the Syrian refugees in Jordan, so of course we can also help those in Turkey. But how?
In Turkey, there is a humanitarian aid association called Kimse Yok Mu (KYM). After Typhoon Morakot devastated Taiwan in 2009, the president of KYM personally came to the Abode and donated US$50,000 to us to help Morakot survivors. In fact, KYM was only founded after a major earthquake struck Turkey in 1999.
Back then Tzu Chi volunteers also went to Turkey to carry out relief. At that time, KYM was just started as a TV program. So, they’d witnessed how Tzu Chi volunteers cared for the quake survivors with love. In 2002, KYM became a relief organization.
Over the years, it has extended its work to many parts of the world. Last month, when Mr. Hu came to see me, he told me that KYM has done a lot to help the Syrian refugees in Turkey and they hoped Tzu Chi could help, too. So, early this month, we gave out aid supplies to the Syrian refugees there.
But, what we can do is limited. So, I hope that more people in Turkey can lend a hand, too. See how dangerous it is when people’s minds become imbalanced. It’s like riding on a boat. When the boat rocks, if those onboard do not work together to steady it, it is likely that the boat will overturn.
This is the case with Syria. The conflict in Syria is caused by the disharmony in people’s minds. See how people fight against one another and how many Syrians have been displaced without being able to go home. So, in this world, manmade disasters are much more frightening than natural ones.
The other thing that worries us now is epidemics. Here in Taiwan, we’re worried about Dengue fever, which is spread by mosquitoes. The epidemic has not been contained yet. So, we need to keep our community clean without trash and don’t let water pool up.
When it gets hot, any small pools of stagnant water will become the best places for mosquitoes to breed. This is what we should work hard to share with more people. There’s also the Ebola outbreak, which is even more frightening than Dengue fever. The epidemic has alarmed people in many countries. Everyone is scared.
In the U.S., another nurse has been infected with Ebola. This is indeed very worrying. So, people around the world should be on guard. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people. This is truly very worrisome.
Nowadays, it’s very convenient to travel and people may contract the epidemic without knowing it. This is truly very worrying. So, every day, we need to be careful and vigilant and take good care of ourselves in our daily living.
There are truly many disasters around the world. We should keep in mind that disasters can strike anytime and sincerely give of ourselves for the suffering. In life, people should love and help one another. Only when the world and people’s hearts are purified can we be safe and the world enjoys peace.
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