Master Cheng Yen awarded by
National Liberty Museum

With recommendations by over thirty scholars in the United States, Master Cheng Yen was honored as a hero of the 21st century at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She became one of 27 representatives from around the world who contributed greatly to world peace.

The National Liberty Museum was created to illuminate the human spirit in seeking peace and freedom. Project manager Gail Momjian noted that their choice of candidates was based on the influence the nominees had on public welfare. Asian countries nominated included Taiwan, Tibet, Vietnam, Pakistan and Myanmar. Master Cheng Yen represented Taiwan and the Dalai Lama represented Tibet.

Museum staff indicated that many people who read the description of Master Cheng Yen praised the Master and the foundation for their deeds. Irvin Borowksy, founder and chairperson of the museum, has been promoting religious and world peace for years. He admires and respects Master Cheng Yen's spirit in her daily life and spiritual cultivation.

First bone marrow donation to South Korea

South Korean Kim Hyung-kwang, 43, suffered from blood disease, but he wasn't able to find a match among the forty thousand voluntary marrow donors in South Korea. He sought help from a Japanese marrow bank, but again no match was available. In January this year, he turned to the Tzu Chi marrow bank. There was matched with a college student surnamed Chao. When Chao was notified by Tzu Chi, he immediately agreed to donate his marrow.

On April 29, nurse Kim Kwang-cheng from St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, came to Taiwan to receive the marrow. She said that what impressed her most were the Tzu Chi volunteers. She remarked that there are about 42 million people in South Korea, twice the population of Taiwan, but the South Korean marrow bank only contains data on around 40,000 donors, much fewer than the 192,000 donors registered with the Tzu Chi marrow bank. Thus, the success of the Tzu Chi marrow bank was due to the hard work of its volunteers.

The Tzu Chi marrow bank has completed 175 marrow transplants, of which 83 donations have gone to recipients in thirteen countries on five continents. The marrow bank hopes to register 200,000 donors, so the foundation is calling out to all people aged from 17 to 55 to join the good cause.

Fertilizer to North Korea

The Tzu Chi Foundation and the government of North Korea have signed an agreement to send a team to North Korea to distribute 9,000 tons of chemical fertilizer and clothes to the needy in May or June.

Chin Cheng-chi, deputy director of the North Korean International Trade Promotion Association, reported to Master Cheng Yen that ruinous food shortages cause by the drought last year are continuing this year. It has been estimated that by the end of September this year, the nation will still need 1.2 million tons of food. The drought also affected the production of hydroelectricity, so that there is not enough power in Pyongyang to meet demand. Without enough electricity, factories cannot produce enough goods to purchase fertilizer.

Chin stressed that food aid was important, but fertilizer was more important because it could help increase food production. North Korea received 20,000 tons of fertilizer from Tzu Chi last year, which helped to increase food production. This solved the crisis faced by the food industry and also helped to feed workers.

In North Korea, Wende County is a major food center and Kaichuan City is a major coal-mining town. If the harvest is good, workers can also be well fed. Thus, Tzu Chi chose these two places to distribute the fertilizer.

The foundation assisted North Korea six times between 1998 and 1999. Altogether, Tzu Chi has sent over 900,000 winter coats, 30,000 cans of food, more than 90,000 packs of milk powder for children, 20,000 tons of fertilizer, and 26 tons of rice. The distribution this year was the seventh time Tzu Chi assisted North Korea.

New Zealand branch office

The Tzu Chi New Zealand branch office was officially opened in Auckland on April 1 this year. During the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Helen Clark sent a letter of congratulations that expressed her wish for cooperation between Tzu Chi and the New Zealand government to create a better life for all New Zealanders.

Close to five hundred guests from Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand came to celebrate the event. Tzu Chi commissioners from Taiwan and Australia shared their own experiences in Tzu Chi with 30 or so new volunteers in the new office, and they also attended lectures and tea parties in the Hamilton liaison office on April 2. Brother Yeh Chung-chih, head of the Hamilton office, expressed his appreciation to Taiwanese Tzu Chi members for coming to New Zealand to plant the seed of Great Love while they were also busy with Project Hope, the reconstruction of 45 schools destroyed in an earthquake in Taiwan in September 1999.

In the past five years, Tzu Chi members in New Zealand have been visiting and caring for residents in old people's homes, or assisting new Chinese immigrants and other local institutions. Brother Sung Tu-chih, executive director of the new branch, stated that the new office would provide language lessons in English and Chinese, assign volunteers to children's hospitals, and promote environmental protection in New Zealand.

Here are some of the good deeds Tzu Chi members have done in New Zealand. A secondary school in Auckland was once short of money to open English lesson classes, so local Tzu Chi members raised money and donated it to the school. The school built a language center and named it the "Taiwan Buddhist Language Centre." A secondary school in Someville was in urgent need of funds for computer science equipment, so Tzu Chi members raised NZ$15,000 [US$6,873] for the school. In April this year, members also donated US$5,900 to Middlemore Children's Hospital to purchase equipment. The offices may be contacted as follows:

Tzu Chi New Zealand Branch Office
Address: 20 Someville Howick, Auckland, NZ
Tel: (649) 535-7696
Fax: (649) 535-7660
Tzu Chi Hamilton Liaison Office
Tel/Fax: (647) 854-1496

Free clinics create good affinity

The Tzu Chi Philippine branch office held its 21st free clinic in Zamoanga from March 30 to April 1. Internal examinations were carried out in Fuchien Temple and surgeries were performed in Zamoanga City Hospital. The clinic mobilized 50 medical staff and 67 volunteers. A total of 5,450 patients came to be treated.

A pregnant woman was diagnosed with very high blood pressure, so the doctor immediately sent her for emergency treatment. A few hours later, this same woman smiled and said, "If I hadn't come for the free clinic, I wouldn't have known that I had high blood pressure. This is my first pregnancy, so I'll be very careful from now on." Her husband also thanked the doctor for saving two lives.

An eight-month old baby with harelip was brought by his mother. After the surgery, the mother, a Moslem, thanked Tzu Chi volunteers again and again and said that she had begun to like Buddhists.

The abbot of Fuchien Temple, Master Chuan Chan, told us that after a Tzu Chi free clinic in the area in 1998, the locals started to show more respect for Buddhists. Young children of local Chinese merchants would help in the temple. A resident who had a tumor removed would even greet Buddhist monks with "Amitabha!"

After the event, locals said they hoped that this wouldn't be the last time. Master Chuan Chan now supports the creation of a Tzu Chi liaison office in the area.

Chechen families in Jordan

The Tzu Chi Jordan liaison office compiled a list of Chechen refugees living in Jordan through a Chechnya friendship office in March. On April 24, volunteers handed out fifty kilograms of flour, three kilograms of white sugar, one can of cooking oil and twelve rolls of toilet paper to each of twenty-three Chechen refugee families in Sweileh. Volunteers also went to Zarka on May 2 to distribute goods to forty-six Chechen refugee families there.

Although volunteers and refugees belong to different religions and speak different languages, the volunteers' systematic distributions and smiles won the friendship of these Chechen refugees.

Chechnya was originally an autonomous state in Russia, but when it tried to seek independence in 1994 it received strong opposition and military intervention from Russia. So far, thousands of people have died and 500,000 refugees have become homeless. Some 600 Islamic refugees came to Jordan, also an Islamic country.

The Jordanian government accepts these refugees but only provides them meager support. Refugees receive some relief supplies from local charity groups. Tzu Chi will continue to provide them assistance in the future.