20140116《人間菩提》讓人性啟發大愛Giving with Love to Inspire Love in Others
It has been over two months since. Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines. Up till now, Tzu Chi volunteers are still there giving aid. On Jan. 11, a preparatory team of Tzu Chi members went again to prepare for our next aid distribution. However, it’s been raining there for days, which made the work of setting up temporary classrooms much more difficult.
Even so, our volunteers continue with the work. They also gave out vouchers for Tzu Chi’s aid to typhoon survivors, and they came across many elderly people, women and children whose living conditions are truly heartrending to see.
So, there are still many people who have not received any aid and many small towns that are not cleaned up yet. This time, our volunteers will give out aid to around 10,000 families. But as they’re still surveying the disaster areas, the number of people receiving aid will increase.
Our volunteers will also hold Year-end Blessings Ceremonies there. These are the events they’ll conduct this time. So, Tzu Chi members from Taiwan and others countries have started to gather in Tacloban and make preparations. This is how Tzu Chi volunteers from around the world reach out to the Philippines after the typhoon caused severe devastation there.
In addition, people in 45 countries and regions have also donated money to help the people in the Philippines. In their time of need, many people have given them much warmth and love and brought them comfort and care to relieve their suffering in body and mind.
We also see Central America. In October 2011, several countries in Central America were affected by severe flooding, including Honduras. In the aftermath of the disaster, Tzu Chi volunteers in the U.S. went to Honduras and worked with Mr. Chang, our volunteer in Honduras, too see what they could do to help.
Apart from giving out material aid, they also thought of building shelters for people to settle down into. Our U.S. Chi volunteer, JiYue worked very hard on the project as I kept saying that we should design temporary shelters that were easy to set up and could be shipped immediately.
So, JiYue designed one and even went to Honduras to help set them up. But, due to the extreme weather conditions there, as sometimes it was hot and sometimes it was rainy and windy, these temporary shelters, which weren’t built with steel bars, couldn’t last very long.
So, eight months later, the shelters became unlivable.Seeing that, Mr. Chang built 30 permanent houses for the locals. When he wanted to build more, I suggest that he build houses of different sizes for different families and make sure that the houses are well-ventilated, etc. He followed my advice and built over 100 houses that came in two sizes of around 320 and 430 square feet for the locals. The houses were nicely built and were inaugurated last weekend.
He said that he has handled many projects worth several million US dollars, but those are not as difficult as this project he’s done for Tzu Chi. Indeed, this is a project of love that requires him to give with utmost sincerity so people can be touched deeply in their hearts.
Such a spiritual project is no easy feat.Actually, Honduras has a high crime rate. So, our volunteers there all hope to give with love to further inspire love in more people. It is truly not easy to carry out Tzu Chi’s work there as there are many difficulties.
Mr. Chang also said that sometimes he felt so frustrated and exhausted that he only wanted to go home and talk to me in my portrait in his study.This time, our volunteers from the U.S. also attended the hand-over ceremony of the permanent houses and held a Year-end Blessings Ceremony for the locals.
More importantly, they certified our second commissioner in Honduras on my behalf. This commissioner, Mr. Chen, has volunteered with Tzu Chi for many years. Because of work, he moved to Honduras in 2003. There, he works with Mr. Chang to care for the needy, help with our aid distributions, etc. He is very dedicated.
So, I think he’s qualified to be certified. As he couldn’t come to Taiwan, I ask our U.S. volunteers to certify him on my behalf. This time, our volunteers also held a volunteer training session for the locals. Over 700 people took part in the three-day training session.
They were very enthusiastic and listened to lectures attentively. Seeing that, I truly feel that Honduras is full of hope. Our volunteers also arranged an event for children to offer tea of their parents. Indeed, filial piety is very important. Human nature is loving to begin with.
But, due to people’s desires, they distance from or even go against one another, leading to severe consequences. That said, we must have faith in people and work hard to inspire love in them. Only then can there be peace in the world.
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