2014/11/17盡心救援 竹磚獲獎To Do Our Best in Disaster Relief
In the news, Italy has seen heavy rain for much of the past month, and the streets are still flooded. We also see strikes and demonstration in Italy. Both natural disaster and unrest in society are happening in Italy. These strikes have heightened a sense of chaos in many cities. When the society is not peaceful, Mother Nature cannot be brought back in balance.
Many places also suffer from unfavorable climate, such as in Israel and Palestine. Palestine often suffer from natural disasters as well as many man-made crises. Now Palestine is hit by flooding, and I am very worried about the people there. There are always many things I have to worry about.
We also see the refugee crisis in Turkey. On the streets of Istanbul, there are many Syrian women and children who fled their home country to escape violence. They eventually reached Istanbul and stayed as refugees, resorting to begging for their survival.
Thinking of these homeless children and those who had lost their lives, makes our hearts bleed. If our children do not receive education now, the lasting impact can be felt in a century.
A century of ignorant generations will eventually destroy Syria. Children must go to school. Therefore, a group of highly-educated Syrians gathered their resources together and set up a study place for the children to continue with their study. Tzu Chi volunteers brought these children blankets. Seeing them stay warm and sleep well reminds us to love and care for each other. We all live on the same Earth and under the same sky, so we are all family.
In the Philippine, we also saw our projects of prefabricated houses and floor tiles. Actually, in the beginning, I just hoped to create a livelihood for the typhoon survivors, so they could earn some money. I never thought that the design for the floor tile would catch Professor Deng’s attention when he saw how it was made in the Philippines.
He said that this was a wondrous invention. So, he asked if I could give him permission to submit the design of the floor tile for a contest. I did not know what he saw in the design, but I did not mind at all.
Later, he surprisingly told me that the design won a gold medal in the environmental category at the 39th annual INOVA invention exhibition. I felt this was really amazing. Actually, this tile was designed for the Philippines to help the survivors rebuild their life and to create job opportunities for them.
Then we would be able to give them money, not in the name of a financial aid, but helping them in a way that preserves their dignity. I hoped they could make use of local resources, have a job to do, and protect the environment. With their help in making the floor tiles, it also improves the quality of the prefabricated houses.
This was my original intention. Surprisingly, my design resulted in this award. However, this might prompt people to do research into the use of bamboo in the future because it is the most green resource. After the bamboo is cut down, it re-grows, unlike mining for minerals to make iron or steel.
Then we can reduce mining and excavation. This is a good finding. In a word, we inspire the poor to have inner riches and inspire the rich to help the poor. These are our methods for helping more people.
We also see news from Vietnam. It was truly not easy for Tzu Chi to carry out charity work in that country as any gathering of more than three people will be questioned by authority. Now, however, Tzu Chi has been granted a permit to hold large activities in Binh Duong Province for us to carry out disaster relief, aid distribution, make home visits, or even invite locals to Tzu Chi events.
As long as we inform the government ahead of time of our activities and they come to observe what we are doing, we are able to hold Tzu Chi events freely. This is the result of passing years of arduous challenges in Vietnam. Tzu Chi has been in Vietnam for close to 20 years. Though we encountered many difficulties and had to take our steps carefully to overcome them, we have helped many people.
There are many people suffering in Vietnam, especially many people born disabled. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military sprayed Agent Orange in the warfare, which caused pregnant women to give birth to children with deformities. This is what we have seen in Tzu Chi’s free clinic.
All in all, I do not know why people in this world have to fight with each other and be suspicious of each other. When people go against one another, they create crises. Their insatiable greed and other desires also disrupt balances in the environment. It seems this is what I talk about every day. However, I do not know if people are catching my meaning.
Once they understand, I hope they are willing to accept my guidance to live a frugal and simpler life and to joyfully give of themselves. I hope people can minimize their selfish desires and do more good deeds. If we are willing, this is very easy to do.
I’m very grateful to Tzu Chi volunteers for helping us. Because you provide meals to students, they now have the strength to focus on their studies. I have been here for three years and had never eaten a meal in school. Thank you, Tzu Chi, for giving us delicious meals.
Thank you, Tzu Chi uncles and aunts, for giving us meals, thank you, teachers, for teaching us for free. It’s delicious. It’s wonderful to have Tzu Chi volunteers care for us. Sometimes I come here to see how the children are eating. They told me that today’s soup is delicious, I feel very happy.
This gives me the motivation to work harder to come up with more variety of dishes so they can eat better and have better nutrient. In conclusion, love makes this possible. When we keep giving of ourselves with patience and love without asking anything in return, those who receive our aid will forever be grateful. This takes dedication and perseverance. I am very grateful to the volunteers
When we see so many people in hardship in the world, we really need to pay our respect to the living bodhisattvas for their commitment. This is why I keep expressing my gratitude to them every day, but I still cannot show enough gratitude every day.
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