Very soon
A beautiful school for study will be rebuilt.
It will come from the love of many people,
Not just from people in Taichung County or Taiwan,
But from people all over the world.
I am looking forward to the arrival of that moment.
It represents the endless hope of the future.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This is a historical moment. The devastating earthquake that struck at 1:47 early in the morning of September 21, 1999, destroyed countless homes and hundreds of schools. That was a moment of great destruction.

And now is the moment of reconstruction. We are going to rebuild what was destroyed.

Very soon a beautiful environment for study will be rebuilt. This has been made possible through the contributions of many loving people, not just from people in Taichung County or Taiwan, but from people all over the world. I am looking forward to the arrival of that moment because it represents the endless hope of the future.

The hope of society depends on people's talents, and talents have to be nurtured through education. Therefore, our Project Hope of rebuilding forty-five schools is not only the hope of local students, but also the hope of all human beings. Young friends, our society has great expectations of you. I hope you will take your responsibilities with unflinching perseverance. Your responsibility right now is to study hard. Tzu Chi's responsibility and mission is to complete the reconstruction of every school as soon as possible.

We are going to weave a cradle for education with love, expecting to make every school the best, the most beautiful and the most comfortable cradle for education. Teachers can then rock the cradle with the wisdom of bodhisattvas and the love of parents, and students in the cradle will grow up peacefully and smoothly with healthy bodies and minds.

Be grateful to three kinds of people

Just a moment ago, Tzu Chi members performed two songs on the stage. One was "Three No's in the World"--there is no one in the world I cannot love, there is no one in the world I cannot trust, and there is no one in the world I cannot forgive.

Love, trust and forgiveness are very important. If everybody has love in their hearts and can love all the people in the world, then this human world will be full of love. We must trust ourselves, trust that we are righteous and just. We must trust others, trust that there is love in everybody's heart. Conflicts and disputes among people are bound to happen, but there is no one in the world I cannot forgive. I hope all of you can treat each other with love, trust and forgiveness.

The second song the Tzu Chi members performed was "A Teacher's Heart, a Bodhisattva's Heart." Teachers devote their whole lives to education. They love other people's children with a mother's love and they expect their students to be decent people who can make contributions to society. Therefore, students must be grateful to their teachers.

There are three kinds of people to whom we must be grateful. The first is our parents. Respect for our parents is the basis for being good people. The ancient sages stressed filial piety as the center of their teachings. Parents often devote their whole lives to looking after their children. They work hard for the family, give birth to children and bring them up. We must learn to repay them. That is the basic principle of mankind.

The second kind is teachers. Good education can lead us on a successful journey in life. All our knowledge comes from the instructions of our teachers. Therefore, we must respect them. Only when we have respect for them will we listen to them and allow their instructions to work in our minds.

The third kind is all people in society. The earthquake destroyed our classrooms and facilities. Who will build a brand new school for you? It depends on many people who work hard and painstakingly on the project. Reinforcing bars, cement, bricks, tiles... Which of these are not the products of the wisdom and labor of people from all walks of life in our society? Therefore, we must be grateful to them.

Cherish the love

In addition to feeling gratitude, we must cherish our blessings.

I remember that one month after the earthquake, I went to Nantou Elementary School. Walking around the campus, I saw that many classrooms had collapsed and the students were studying in tents. The sun was scorching that day, and it was hot and noisy inside the tents. The voices of teachers in adjacent tents interfered with each other. As I was standing outside a tent, the wind suddenly blew some sand into my eyes.

Sun, heat, noise, wind and sand--the students had to study under these conditions. At that very moment, I decided that we had to improve things for them. The quickest way would be to build prefabricated classrooms for them.

A group of Tzu Cheng Faith Corps members happened to be there by my side. I asked them, "Can you build prefabricated classrooms very quickly?" They were very pleased to hear my request. The following day they moved construction materials into the school grounds, and within four and a half days they built twenty-five prefabricated classrooms. How fast they were!

Small children from the third to the sixth grades helped move linoleum during the weekend. They stood in a line and passed stack after stack of linoleum, five or six pieces in a stack. Very soon, all the linoleum inside and outside the classrooms had been moved.

The moment they moved into the prefabricated classrooms, one of the students said, "Teacher, our classroom is so beautiful! The floor is really clean too. We shouldn't step on it with our shoes on."

"What shall we do then?" asked the teacher.

"We'll take off our shoes before we come into the classroom," the children said. "There is a sentence in Still Thoughts: 'When we step on the earth, we must be careful not to hurt it.' We have to be grateful to the earth and walk on it lightly. If we step on it heavily, it might get hurt."

From then on, they removed their shoes before they entered the classroom. Their parents were so impressed that they even bought a shoe cabinet for them.

The students really treasure their classrooms. One time a student carelessly threw something sticky on the floor. He used a tool to scrape it up, but there was still a stain on the floor. A girl saw it and squatted down to touch it. She said to the boy, "How careless you were. Don't you know this floor was made by many loving people?"

This is a gesture of gratitude. These lovely children are darlings to us.

Beams of love, walls of wisdom

In the reconstruction of the forty-five schools sponsored by Tzu Chi, the beams are made of the love of Tzu Chi people all over the world, and the walls are made of the wisdom of many technicians and architects. This ground-breaking ceremony for Fengtung Middle School is merely the beginning of our projects. We expect that by the end of the year a beautiful school will be ready for all the teachers and students of your school. I hope you students will always feel grateful and constantly cultivate your loving hearts.

I also feel grateful for all the care and concern given to us by people in our society, and the local government offices and organizations concerned. I have every expectation that our children will grow up with wisdom in a cradle filled with beauty and love. I bless you all.