| Events in the Tzu Chi World | ||||||
| Free clinic in Indonesia
The medical team consisted of thirty-four Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) members from Indonesia and Singapore and fifty medical doctors from an Indonesian air force hospital. Services were provided in internal medicine, dentistry, ophthalmology and gynecology, and surgeries were performed for goiter tumor, regular tumor and harelip. Furthermore, the team performed tubal ligations to comply with the birth control policy of the Indonesian government. Padang is about twice the size of Singapore. The total population of Padang and the surrounding islands is approximately four hundred thousand. Brother Feng Pao-hsing, head of the TIMA in Singapore, said, "Due to poverty and insufficient medical resources, most local patients have been unable to receive medical treatment until now." Some children with more critical conditions were transferred to hospitals in Singapore for examination and treatment. "We chose to hold a joint free clinic with Tzu Chi due to past successful cooperation," remarked Major General Suppihardi, air force chief of staff for the western Indonesian region, who presided over the commencement ceremony. Another brigadier general from the air force and organizer of the free clinic said that he has once more witnessed the great love of Tzu Chi and hoped that the foundation could set up an office in every Indonesian province to promote its missions of charity and medicine.
On January 12, a fire in Pulau Gaya destroyed thirty-four wooden houseboats on the sea. Two days later, twenty-three Tzu Chi members arrived on the island and handed out forty packs of used clothes and 3,500 Malaysian ringgit (US$921). A fire in Kampung Lembaga Padi on January 11 burned down three hundred houses and made roughly two thousand people homeless. That night, Tzu Chi members delivered bottled water and four thousand pieces of bread to victims, and they returned with over two tons of used clothes the following day. On January 15, Tzu Chi members again went to the disaster area with 21,600 ringgit (US$5,684) for 216 households. Moslem victims were particularly thankful when they learned that their daily necessities were almost solely provided by a Buddhist charity organization.
The textbook, published in English and French, discusses the influence of religious leaders on page 408, where Master Cheng Yen and the Tzu Chi Foundation are introduced. Claes Nobel, founder and chairman of United Earth, an international environmental protection organization, is quoted as saying, "Master Cheng Yen's healing love and guiding light set the stage for a new world culture in which people can live in harmony with each other and in harmony with the earth." John Trites, co-author of the textbook and writer of the text on Tzu Chi, indicated that through the international media he had many times seen Tzu Chi members engaged in relief work at different disaster scenes. Therefore he selected Master Cheng Yen and Tzu Chi as the sole Asian religious leader and organization included in the book. He hopes to guide students to examine and discuss interactions between humans and relationships between humans and nature, so that they may better prepare themselves for the future. Tzu Chi members around the world are delighted to hear the news and even more determined to carry out the missions of Tzu Chi. Master Cheng Yen indicated that she is proud of all Tzu Chi members, who have given selflessly in the past thirty years and "embraced the global village with great love." It is due to them that Tzu Chi has won this recognition from the international community.
At the end of February 1999, five months after Hurricane Mitch tore through Central America, Tzu Chi members went for the second time to La Romana, capital of La Romana Province in southeastern Dominican Republic, to distribute goods and to hold free clinics. They discovered that schoolchildren had their lessons in morning and afternoon shifts in a simple, makeshift wooden shack. Despite such circumstances, the instructors taught with enthusiasm and the students were eager learners. The volunteers reported what they saw to Tzu Chi headquarters in Hualien, Taiwan, and it was then decided to undertake the reconstruction of La Romana Elementary School. Groundbreaking took place last September. The completed school boasts aluminum sliding windows and new desks and chairs donated by local Tzu Chi people. New grass grows on the ground between the playground and the classrooms. Already more than four hundred first-grade students are enrolled. The students now have an excellent place to learn, and their parents are delighted that there is hope for their children. The inauguration and donation ceremony was held on February 3. Stephen Huang, director of the Tzu Chi Department of Religious Affairs, spoke on behalf of the foundation. "I want to thank the Dominican government for providing the land, the education authorities for their planning and cooperation, and the construction company for their conscientious work. I trust that the faculty will use this spacious new environment to give the children a solid education. And I hope the children will study hard, be good, and give back to society when they grow up." The governor and the mayor of La Romana repeatedly expressed appreciation for Tzu Chi's spirit of great love which has brought such hope to the children. In the future, the school will cooperate with Tzu Chi volunteers in teaching Still Thoughts at the school. Tzu Chi members from New Jersey and the Dominican Republic distributed book bags, books, notebooks and pens to the students in the new classrooms. The students sat at their new desks, leafed through their new books, and fondled the new pens that they were reluctant to use just yet. The classrooms were filled with their laughter. Everyone in the community has grown familiar with Tzu Chi and smiles sweetly at every volunteer. Tzu Chi people are greeted with folded hands and "Amitabha!" And the children happily cry, "Taiwan! Taiwan! Tzu Chi! Tzu Chi!" As the Tzu Chi flag rose and fluttered in the sky, it seemed to symbolize that Tzu Chi's spirit of great love has taken root here.
Many who were chronically poor and ill traveled long distances to be treated at the free clinic. Some walked as long as two hours to reach the site. By seven each morning, close to a hundred people were waiting to be diagnosed and treated. Volunteers kept records of patients with more serious illnesses like hydrocephalus or cancer in order to follow up on their condition and assist them in obtaining medical treatment. On January 22, Tzu Chi members in Vietnam again went to Nha Be County and handed out 2,655 packages of food and daily necessities to residents of Hiep Phuoc and Long Thoi communities. Local children remembered the volunteers from the previous three-day free clinic and happily called out in Vietnamese "Tu Te, Tu Te" ["Tzu Chi"]. |
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On
January 22 and 23, Tzu Chi and an Indonesian air force medical team joined
forces to hold a large-scale free clinic at Otorita Hospital in Padang,
western Indonesia. Tzu Chi volunteers from Indonesia and Singapore and
staff members of an Indonesian air force hospital, altogether 234 people,
treated a total of 1,497 people during the event, the largest free clinic
ever held on the island.
In
mid-January, big fires in Kampung Lembaga Padi and Pulau Gaya in the state
of Sabah in eastern Malaysia caused a total of 2,035 people to become
homeless. Local Tzu Chi members went to these two places immediately to
distribute bottled water, bread, clothes and cash to survivors.
"Cheng
Yen's humanitarian efforts have saved millions of lives. Why do you think
her charity and relief efforts are able to overcome political barriers and
cut across cultural and ethnic divisions?" Starting this year, high
school students in Canada will be asked to ponder this question through
Global Connections--Geography for the 21st Century, a newly published
textbook chosen by the Canadian education authority as elective reading
for ninth to twelfth graders.
The
Tzu Chi La Romana Elementary School in the Dominican Republic was
inaugurated on February 3. It has six classrooms, an office for the
principal and teachers, a library and washrooms. With its green walls and
light yellow roofs and columns, the school stands like a lotus flower
sending forth its fragrance to the students.
From
January 7 to 9, Tzu Chi members in Vietnam held their fourth large-scale
free clinic in Nha Be County. Twenty-five volunteers and doctors from
Malaysia and Taiwan treated a total of 4,418 people.
