20141113帶動志工發大心Inspiring More People to Give with Love
The love and warmth of people is truly very beautiful to see. On Nov. 7 Tzu Chi volunteers in Jordan held a rice distribution for the people in Ramtha. It was truly heartwarming. I’m very worried for the locals as winter is bitterly cold there.
Apart from those in need, our volunteers also gave out aid, including baby formula and monetary aid, to the Syrian refugees in Ramtha.It’s truly very moving.In Jordan, although there are not many Tzu Chi volunteers, they do a good job carrying out charity work there.
They serve with love and respect. Be it those affected by disasters or refugees taking shelter in Jordan, they serve everyone with utmost respect.We see that there are now more and more locals volunteering with Tzu Chi.
In the past, we only saw the two brothers, Ji Hui anJi Xi, and their families as well as a few local volunteers. But now, there are more locals helping our aid distributions.
See how Tzu Chi volunteers stood together, put their palms together, and bowed to every aid recipient. For the distributions this time, many locals came to help. They handed out rice to people while our volunteers stood a few steps away and respectfully bowed to our aid recipients.
We also see our volunteers in Cambodia, who have reconnected Tzu Chi’s affinity with the country formed over 20 years ago. We first went to Cambodia in 1994.But as Cambodia was politically unstable back then, we stopped going there in 1997.
In 2011, due to a disaster, we went back to carry out relief. Now, our volunteers there hope to promote Tzu Chi’s work there so more locals can feel the love of Chinese people. We have many volunteers in Cambodia now.
At our camp for businesspeople held a few days ago, many people from Cambodia also took part. They vowed to me that they’ll carry out Tzu Chi’s work in Cambodia. Many of them are training to become our volunteers and will be certified this year.
They’ve been doing Tzu Chi’s work in Cambodia for a few years now. Tzu Chi volunteers from other areas also went to share their experiences with them and they’ve come to Taiwan a few times. So, they’re well-grounded in Tzu Chi’s spirt.
Seeing that many are training to become our volunteers, I’m very comforted. Thinking back to the time when we first went to Cambodia, my memory is still very fresh.
Now, we’ve inspired many people there to give with love. Today is an important day in Tzu Chi’s history. In Oct. 1998, Hurricane Mitch brought severe devastation to eight countries in Central and South America. It was truly a catastrophic disaster.
It was truly a catastrophic disaster. In Honduras alone, flooding and landslides caused widespread destruction across a vast area, including the capital and several departments, and thousands of people were killed.
As soon as we learned about the disaster, our volunteer, Stephen Huang, and staff from our headquarters immediately went to Honduras to carry out emergency relief work.
When they got there, Stephen called me and said: “Master, we are now in the disaster area. As far as the eye can see, it’s a scene of devastation. There are massive landslides. Not a single house is intact. Many houses have been buried under where we’re standing now. So, many people have been buried, too.”
Hearing that, I was worried about an outbreak of epidemics.So, I told Stephen: “You should quickly contact the ministry of Health to see if they need any help with disinfection.”
So, on Nov. 13, 1998, they visited the health authority to see what equipment they had and what they planned to do. They showed our volunteers what they had, which were two manually-operated sprayers and one was broken.
Despite being the country’s Ministry of Health, they only had two sprayers, and one was already broken. That’s all they had. Stephen called and told me about it and asked me what they should do to help. I suggested them to give vaccination shots to people and disinfect the disaster areas.
So, our U.S. volunteers quickly sent the vaccines to Honduras. But to disinfect the entire areas, sprayers were hardly enough. So, our volunteers rent a vehicle to carry barrels of disinfectant and drove along the streets to spray and disinfect the disaster areas.
Later, we also bought them all that they needed for the disinfection work, including a vehicle, sprayers, disinfectants, protective gear, etc. That was in 1998. Now, in Honduras, we have a very dedicated volunteer, Mr. Jorge Change.
He came to know Tzu Chi when we brought aid to Honduras after Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998. At first, there were not many people volunteering with him. In 2011, Mr. Chang built houses for people affected by flooding in Macovia and Monjaras.
Later, when he planned to build more houses for the poor, I suggested him to make bricks himself. He did set up a factory, buy a cement mixer, and hire the locals to make bricks for building houses for the needy.
One time, when Mr. Chang came to the Abode, I told him to elevate the foundations for the houses in order to avoid flooding.Two days ago, our staff told me that Mr. Chang called and asked them to tell me not to worry about the recent flooding in Honduras.
He knew we’d see the news, so he called to put our hearts at ease. He also said he was very grateful that I’d asked him to elevate the foundations for the houses he is building in Honduras because all the houses he built were not flooded. So, the residents are all safe and sound.
In Monjaras, he has built 160 houses already. He built these new houses on the land where people’s old houses stood. Mr. Chang formed affinity with Tzu Chi after Hurricane Mitch and affinity has continued to this day. Now, more and more locals are volunteering with Tzu Chi. Seeing that, I’m very happy.
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