The map of Taipei inside Tsai Pao-chu's head is compiled piece by piece from the addresses of her more than one hundred Tzu Chi members and the bus routes she always takes.

The time between nine in the morning and two or three in the afternoon is usually spent riding buses to the homes of Tzu Chi members to collect donations for charity. She currently has more than a hundred members, so she has to go to at least three members' homes every day. Since she needs to spend quite some time on buses and chatting with those loving people, it is not surprising that she values time so much. It is certainly extraordinary for someone her age, whose peers often need a nurse around all the time or simply kill time in a rocking chair.

However, her schedule was even tighter before. Before she had any commissioner trainees helping her collect donations, she had more members than she has now. When she goes to collect the monthly donations from them, she also gives them their donation receipts from the previous month.

"The receipts fill a large bed! I always place together the ones whose addresses are closer. Good heavens, I have to work until midnight, but I'm very happy to count all of them!"

Pao-chu received a Japanese education in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation [1895-1945] and later learned to read and write Chinese. She is thus able to record the donations, check the receipts and do everything else by herself. She believes there will be no mistakes when she personally double-checks the amount.

She added that she makes hardly any mistakes with the number of families she collects donations from and how much she collects each day. Her memory was better in the past and she could do the arithmetic in her head quickly and accurately. When she goes to buy fruit at the market, the fruit seller says that the old woman's brain is like a computer. But now, she always writes down the collections on a piece of paper and records each piece in the collection book when she gets home. Sometimes she becomes frustrated when she discovers there should be more money than she collected. However, if the money is short, she is happy to make up the difference out of her own purse, "because every donation doesn't come easily."



A dedicated person


When Pao-chu was young, she had her own business. She hardly ever went out alone-her children always accompanied her. But ever since she became a Tzu Chi commissioner some ten years ago, she has always gone alone to collect donations or to visit the doctor. No matter how far she must go, she always takes the bus and transfers to different buses if necessary. She says that as long as she has a donor's address and phone number, she is always able to find the place.

There was a special reason that Pao-chu ran into Master Cheng Yen and started her career with Tzu Chi.

She explained to me that her son died in a plane crash in 1983, and she mourned his death for a year. When she listened to Master Cheng Yen's advice, she realized her grief was useless and she should do more good deeds to commemorate her deceased son. She didn't hear about Tzu Chi until she was in her seventies, so she didn't have much time to catch up.

No matter where Tzu Chi activities are held, Pao-chu attends all of them, be it collecting donations, volunteering at Tzu Chi General Hospital, participating in Tzu Chi tea parties or seminars, praying for the deceased, or attending funerals for other members. Some people praise her for being so healthy at the age of ninety, but in fact it is her strong willpower and perseverance that no one else can match, as well as her commitment to overcome her heart condition, which is deteriorating each year.

Roughly ten years ago, she almost died of heart failure. She was hospitalized for a month. The doctor recommended that she have surgery, or else the problem would persist. She asked the doctor why she, a woman over seventy years old, should undergo surgery. What if the operation failed? The doctor explained that the success rate of the surgery was about 95 percent, but she worried that she might belong to the remaining five percent. Furthermore, a major heart operation would easily cost more than NT$100,000 [US$3,000]. Although the doctor guaranteed that she could live another five years after the surgery, she still felt it was a waste of money.

She also felt that the surgery would save only her, whereas the money could save more people if it were used for building the Tzu Chi hospital. Therefore, she decided not to have the surgery and she went home to recuperate. The doctor ordered her family members to always stay with her, because if the same thing happened again she could die.

At that time, Pao-chu, accompanied by her daughter, was still collecting donations. Two months later, Pao-chu asked her daughter not to go with her anymore. She became healthier after leaving the hospital, and she didn't expect that she would still live for more than ten years!

She told me smilingly that she will work for Tzu Chi as long as she is alive. She wants to make the most of her body until the very last day of her life. "This vow is very practical!"

She then told me of an experience which occurred three summers ago.



A great vow helps her live


It was a sultry summer day in July, and she was taking a bus to a member's home in Taipei to collect donations. When she was about to reach her destination, she suddenly felt her heart was likely to stop and she couldn't breathe.

Unable to breathe or even cough, she walked into the apartment building. For some inexplicable reason she struck her heart hard, and she also asked the building security guard to bang her back for her. After about five minutes, she was able to breathe.

At that crucial moment of her life, she thought that she hadn't yet collected all the donations and she hadn't told others about her will, so she shouldn't just die like that. Tzu Chi still had a lot of work to do, and she wanted to help even though her strength was insignificant.

When she felt better, she went to the member's home on the ninth floor. She thought her problem had passed. Four or five days later, she woke up one night and went to the bathroom. After that, she drank a cup of water and rested in a rocking chair. But suddenly her heart stopped beating again. "It was even more serious this time, and I immediately woke up my son to give me acupuncture."

She waited until sunrise and then went to see a doctor. The doctor told her that her heart valves couldn't open. Pao-chu was pale and weak and lost two or three kilograms in the following few days, but after resting for half a month she looked better.

Since joining the foundation, she has been participating in Tzu Chi activities all the time. Whenever she hears that Tzu Chi wants to do something, she always joins and never complains. Sometimes when people see her running around on a hot summer day, they kindly remind her to stay out of the heat. But she tells them that she doesn't take the weather into consideration when she does Tzu Chi work. If she were concerned about the weather, she'd better just forget the whole thing.

Pao-chu insists on taking the bus to members' homes to collect donations. She feels that she can do something like this by herself and doesn't need to trouble other people. What is more important is that she can interact better with the members this way, because Master Cheng Yen reminds her that it is even more important to cultivate her members' compassion than to just raise money from them. She wants to cultivate her members' kindness and love by telling them all the touching stories that happen in the Tzu Chi world.

She told me that at first her son wanted to drive her to her members' homes, but she felt she wouldn't be able to chat with them in a relaxed way since she wouldn't want to keep her son waiting for too long. She only asks him to drive her on weekends to the homes of members who live far away.



Every donation is valuable


It is natural for people to worry about Pao-chu when they realize that a ninety-year-old lady like her still takes the bus alone. A doctor told her after a check-up that she has fourth-level osteoporosis, so she needs to walk carefully.

Pao-chu is always careful when she leaves home by herself, but sometimes others are not as careful as she. One day after she had attended a funeral, she thought of collecting donations. Unexpectedly, a group of young men approached her and one of them recklessly knocked her over. She couldn't get up even with her umbrella, and she found that her mouth was bleeding too.

There was another time when Pao-chu was in the Abode of Still Thoughts and she suddenly felt dizzy, so she sat down and tried to get some rest. She didn't want to frighten others, but she could hardly see anything before her and her heart almost stopped beating. Miraculously, she felt better a little while later.

She said that whenever she got up from each fall, she always said, "I'm so grateful to you, Amitabha Buddha!" And she never needed to go to the hospital.

Many people attribute Pao-chu's numerous blessings and incredible recoveries to her great commitment to do good deeds. She never complains about how far away her members live, nor about how small the donations are. Her friends often ask her how it is that she is so active and healthy at the age of ninety, and she explains that she sometimes feels dizzy and exhausted after a day's hard work too, but she just never shows her fatigue. "It's impossible for someone my age to always stay in good shape. I just tell myself to do my duty and then go home and get some rest."

When some members saw how hard she was working to collect donations from them, they kindly suggested that she come to collect the donations either once every six months or once a year, and that could save her a lot of trouble. This thoughtful idea was, however, turned down by Pao-chu. She felt it was fun to meet and chat with these kind people once a month. "Besides, these people don't feel the pinch when they donate once a month, whereas they might feel reluctant to donate a large sum every six months or once a year." What a wise lady she is!



Tomorrow's history


Pao-chu humbly stated she hadn't done much, that she just followed everyone else. She praised other Tzu Chi members for guiding her to do charitable activities.

No wonder many people are touched by Pao-chu's spirit, zeal and humility. At her age she is entitled to sit back and rest on her oars, but she still refuses to let other people hold her arms or carry her things while walking with her.

However, a Tzu Chi member reminded her that she'd better let younger people carry things for her; otherwise, the general public might criticize Tzu Chi people as a group of snobs who know nothing about showing respect to seniors. "Then, none of us will dare to stand next to you."

"Oh, you're right about that." Pao-chu finally nodded in agreement when she heard this interesting protest. Her lovely response made everyone present laugh.

In the evening, Pao-chu walked out of the Taipei branch office and was ready to take the bus home. There came a cool breeze. She had a slight cold and said seriously, "Master Cheng Yen once said that the things we do today will become tomorrow's history, so I'd better do a good job today!" She is indeed a shining pearl!