20141029 Giving with Love and Inspiring Love in Others
We see our volunteers, You Yue-ying, in Austria I haven’t seen her for a long time. She is a longtime Tzu Chi volunteer. Over 20 years ago, she and her husband had vowed to me that they would carry out Tzu Chi’s work in Austria. But they ran a restaurant so they were very busy.
Although they really wanted to promote Tzu Chi in Austria, they had no time. Moreover, language barrier had made it even more difficult for them. Even so, as long as there is an opportunity to give, they will seize it. For example, they also took part in our relief work in Bosnia this time.
In May, Bosnia was hit by severe flooding. When our volunteers went to survey the disaster in July, they could still see the wreckage left behind. This month, they went back to give out aid to flood victims. And now, they are preparing for the second aid distribution in Bosnia. To do that, they have to raise funds themselves.
This is why Tzu Chi volunteers in every country do. So, Yue-ying also organized a fundraiser to help with our relief effort in Bosnia. With no other volunteers to help her, it was truly not easy. I’m sure she was very tired. Despite that, she gave of herself willingly and happily. Tzu Chi volunteers are truly living bodhisattvas. There are no other Tzu Chi volunteers in Austria except her.
But every time a disaster strikes, she works very hard to solicit donations. It’s very hard work as she has few human and financial resources there. But her heart is full of love. It’s truly very touching. Although she can’t collect much money, she does the work with all her heart. Seeing that, I’m truly moved. It’s a pity that despite having the heart to serve what she can do is limited due to language barrier.
That’s why it’s difficult for her to inspire the locals to join her. In other parts of the world, we also see how Tzu Chi volunteers give with love to help those in need. In many countries, we see Tzu Chi volunteers providing tuition aid to children in need. They also go to their homes to see what help their families nay need.
So, apart from supporting children to study, they also do what they can to help their families. Take for example one of our tuition aid recipients in Kunshan, China. When our volunteers visited her family, they found that her brother is deaf due to delayed treatment for a fever when he was a baby.
So, he had low self-esteem. When he was 13 years old, he refused to go to school again and stayed home all day playing computer games. For seven years he’d never stepped out of his home. Seeing how physically healthy and handsome he is Tzu Chi volunteers wanted to help him open his heart. So, they took him to our recycling station in Kunshan. Hi, Ms. He. Hi. A PE bag doesn’t make noise.
You have to separate the transparent and the colored ones. Where should this one go? Right. And this one? Correct. Very good. Tzu Chi volunteers are very nice to him and take very good care of him, so he gradually opened his heart. They also took him to get a hearing aid so that he could hear and learn to speak. Earlier this month, our volunteers brought him to the Abode to see me.
Worrying that I couldn’t understand what he said, he wrote a letter to me. But I asked him to read it to me. He said that he used to resent his parents for not treating his illness in time so that he’d become deaf. So, he hated his parents. But, Tzu Chi volunteers’ love slowly changed him. After the trip to Taiwan he’s completely let go of his resentment. Now, he’s grateful to his parents for raising and caring for him.
Actually, you’re better off than others because when people with good hearing hear unwholesome words, they give rise to afflictions and suffer. But all you hear is kind words because all the people around you are good people. They love you so what they say to you is all kind and good.
You won’t hear unwholesome words. Your parents suffer a lot, too. I know. So, you should not only thank them but also know how much they love you. I can understand very word you said. Thank you. He now works at the company of one of our volunteers and also does recycling in his free time. At our recycling station, he talks more and has become more and more articulate.
So, through providing tuition aid to children in need, we not only help the children but also their families. We also see a mother and a son in Kunshan. Since last May, our volunteers have been caring for them regularly. The mother and son live in a tiny room under a staircase at a local school. The room is only a little more than 35 square foot. The mother has uterine fibroids.
But having seen a doctor once, she didn’t go back to the hospital again. As she is still in pain, our volunteers took her to see a doctor who is a Tzu Chi volunteer. It turned out that she also has gallstones and kidney stones. This is how our volunteers care for her. So now, she’s been inspired to care others--- A student of the school was shocked by high-voltage electricity and suffered severe burns.
To help him, many people donated RMB$$5 or 10, but she donated RBM$$100. When a teacher asked her to donate less as she is poor she said that she knows how it feels to be poor. The injured student’s family is poor and needs help, so she wanted to help. See, despite being materially poor she is spiritually wealthy. Although she leads a hard life, she can still help others.
This is how Tzu Chi volunteers help those in need and at the same time inspire them to give. It takes time. So, we need to seize time to do it now.
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