The Tzu Chi New York branch office and the North American Taiwanese Doctors Association held a large-scale free clinic in the Taiwan Center in Flushing, New York, in the afternoon of April 22. With help from 50 Tzu Chi volunteers, 19 doctors treated 306 low-income people and also gave a $15 medical subsidy to each of 90 low-income families.

By noon, several people were already waiting in line in front of the Taiwan Center, so Tzu Chi volunteers brought out chairs so they could sit and wait. An old man from New Jersey set out around six in the morning and took four buses to get to the clinic. He remarked that free clinics were quite beneficial for a person like him, who had no medical insurance.

A Chinese woman who had come from Shanghai more than ten years ago was the first patient. She said she had gone to free clinics held by other organizations, but she felt warm and loved at the Tzu Chi clinic. The doctors were patient and asked detailed questions about her illness, and that made her feel that her sickness was already half cured.

Paraguay, in the southern hemisphere, is in the winter rainy season. However, days of rain suddenly stopped on April 22 when a Tzu Chi free clinic was held in Ita.

Roads were muddy because of the rain. Thinking that some villagers might not be able to come because of the bad conditions of the roads, some doctors and volunteers stayed at a school where the free clinic was held, while others went to provide medical care in nearby areas.

Due to bad sanitation many children were infested with parasites, while gout and diabetes were major problems for adults. The free clinic treated 18 people in the obstetrics and gynecology department, and 87 children and 48 adults in the internal department.

The Tzu Chi Philippine branch office held a major free clinic from March 13 to 16 in the Medical Community Hospital in Bolinao, Pangasinan Province, to bring relief to residents living in this remote area, which has few medical resources. Services included optometry, dentistry and surgery. The free clinic benefited 1,510 people.

Lea Gamueda, a young first grade student, came for her harelip. Her classmates often made fun of her condition by saying that it came from her overeating. Their taunts often made her clench her fists in anger.

When the news of her surgery spread, a fourth-grade boy, Robert Valenzuela, also came for harelip surgery. During the operation Robert tightly gripped the hands of accompanying Tzu Chi members, expressing his pain and fear. When he came for examination the next day, he heard that his teacher and classmates were all eager to see his new appearance. That brought smiles to his face.

Mrs. Palaway Castrine, 44, had a mouthful of decayed teeth. Each decayed tooth would cost her $150 to remove, so she asked the dentist in the free clinic to remove all twelve of her decayed teeth, which broke the free clinic's previous record of removing nine teeth.

Two events in Tzu Chi Hawaii branch office

On May 6, during the fifth anniversary celebration of the Tzu Chi Hawaii branch office, Senator Rod Tam officially announced that from now on May 6 will be Tzu Chi Day in Hawaii.

The branch currently has close to one thousand members, including immigrants from Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Together they visit senior homes, provide meals to street people, collect canned food for local food banks, and carry out other charitable activities.

Senator Tam gave an introduction of Tzu Chi to his colleagues in the Hawaiian legislature and praised foundation members for providing free clinics for earthquake victims in El Salvador earlier this year. The legislature decided to show its respect for Tzu Chi by designating May 6 as Tzu Chi Day.

The Hawaii Food Bank regularly gives food to poor families every month. On April 14, Tzu Chi members in Hawaii participated in the bank's canned food drive. Tzu Chi volunteers stood along roads holding placards to inform passing drivers about the campaign and using fishing nets to collect donations from drivers.

It was the first time that Tzu Chi volunteers had tried this method, but they were very agile. When the traffic lights turned red, they would go onto the road and talk to drivers and passengers, and then return to the sidewalks when the lights turned green.

Ground-breaking ceremony for Gushi Tzu Chi High School

Tzu Chi helped flood victims in Gushi, Henan Province, China, rebuild their homes in 1991. Now Tzu Chi is bringing more blessings to the district by building a high school, which will be completed in 2003.

The district produces 60,000 junior high graduates every year, but there is only one senior high school in the county, which means that less than five percent of graduates can enter high school near home. Other students have to leave town to attend school elsewhere. However, students from poor families often have to quit their schooling and enter the job market.

Tzu Chi will provide a quarter of the total cost for the new school, and the local district will be responsible for raising the rest.

Elementary schools in Sumatra completed

On June 5, 2000, the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, suffered a major earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale. Thousands of people died and many buildings were damaged in the quake. In addition to giving relief supplies to survivors, local Tzu Chi members rebuilt three elementary schools in Panjang, Napal and Ngalam villages so that children could continue their studies. On April 30 and May 1, Tzu Chi members went to those three districts to attend the opening ceremonies of the three schools.

After the ceremonies, Tzu Chi members presented schoolbags, pencil boxes, pens, pencils, rulers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, bowls, and cups as gifts to the students.

Many children were poor and their shoes and clothes were old. Tzu Chi will also give these students new clothes and shoes in the near future.

Marrow donors and recipients meet

On May 13, more than four hundred marrow donors and recipients and their families from Taiwan, Singapore and the United States came to the Tzu Chi Still Thoughts Hall, where they could finally meet each other. This was the moment the marrow recipients and their families had been waiting for to express their gratitude to the marrow donors.

The Tzu Chi Foundation first held a happy meeting of marrow donors and recipients in 1995, to allow marrow recipients and their families to fulfill their dreams of meeting the marrow donors and also to raise public awareness of marrow donation. Since then, the foundation has held such meetings every year. By law, marrow donors and recipients must wait at least one year after the transplant to meet each other. This year, sixty cases had passed the one-year waiting period. There were 21 cases from Taiwan, 24 from mainland China, and 15 from the United States, Australia, Singapore, Sweden, Japan and South Korea.

Chen Kun-sung had no children of his own, so he grinned with delight when seven-year-old Wu Po-shu called him, "Marrow Daddy."

Wu is now a very healthy boy. His mother tearfully told Mr. Chen that after the marrow transplant, her son had been quite well and his body had not developed any sign of rejection, so he was able to leave the hospital sterile room very quickly. What was more encouraging was that his body was now producing healthy marrow.

A special case was a boy named Kyle Collazo from New Jersey, USA. He and his parents are Caucasians, but apparently have some Asian connection in their family lineage. Kyle's mother, Danielle, said that her son developed blood cancer when he was only eighteen months old. The family couldn't find a match in the States, but found one in Taiwan. She was grateful to the marrow donor and to all Tzu Chi people.

The donor, Lin Hsiu-ching, couldn't come to the meeting due to a typhoon, but on May 14, Kyle finally met Lin with help from the Tzu Chi marrow donor registry. He ran and hugged her with gratitude, bringing tears to her eyes.

Lin Pi-yu, vice president of the Tzu Chi Foundation, remarked that the Tzu Chi marrow donor registry has more than 210,000 donors in its data bank, and it has completed 273 marrow transplants. The registry is a shining light of hope for blood disease patients of Asian ancestry around the world.

Wheelchairs in Cape Town

Christine Revell Kinderhuist orphanage is located in Athlone, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It was established by the South African government, but its operation was in constant trouble due to sporadic funding from the government. Therefore, Cape Town Tzu Chi members started visiting the orphanage on May 18 to provide warmth and care to the orphans.

Alicia Rhoda, principal of the orphanage, indicated that it had been in operation for twenty-five years. It housed fifteen babies from age zero to three months old, and thirty-six children from three months to five years old.

Although the orphanage was poor, the place was still clean and tidy and the children still maintained good habits. The staff and volunteers were attentive and patient.

Tzu Chi volunteers presented fruit, vegetables, baby food and clothing, toys, diapers, and other daily items.

Volunteers also donated twenty wheelchairs to Belporto School for the Handicapped near Cape Town. School staff showed the Tzu Chi members around the school and reported to them that the school had classes in sewing, cooking, painting and computers, so that students could learn skills that they could use when they grew up and entered the job market.