Twenty years of waiting

Mei-chu was the daughter of a miner. In order to help the family, she worked at a textile factory from age thirteen to seventeen. Although the job was hard, Mei-chu was always greeted with care and love when she returned home. Every night her father would light a cigarette and wait for her to return in the dark alley near her home. The lit end of a cigarette glowing in the darkness told Mei-chu that her dear father was there for her. Although the family was not well off, her parents gave her abundant love. Raised in such a loving family, she was not ready for what marriage would bring her.

Mei-chu was married at the age of twenty. She and her husband, Chen Sheng-shong, owned a tile shop. She would keep shop while her husband went out on business. He believed that socializing with clients and friends was the key to a successful business, so almost every day he left home in the morning and returned late at night tipsy. When Mei-chu was in labor giving birth to their child, he was not beside her; when typhoons struck at night, he was absent as well. Every time he was out "having fun" (as Mei-chu puts it), she was home, sitting on the sofa, waiting for his uncertain return. "Is he safe?" "Did he have an accident?" "Is he having an affair?" Different scenarios played out in her mind and made her sleepless.

Every time Mei-chu heard a door open in the hallway, she thought it would be her husband. But nine out of ten times, she was disappointed. When he finally returned, she would feel relieved, but only for a short while, because soon afterwards her anger would erupt. "Bang!" She would slam the door hard and yell at him for returning so late. Chen would retort that he was home "early"--earlier than the sunrise. The result was always a week of cold war.

As hard as Mei-chu tried to recapture her husband's heart, all efforts failed. She regretted ever having married him. In despair she thought that if he would not take care of himself, then she wouldn't either. Although she got drunk easily, for a good while she drank like a fish. This frustrating life lasted for twenty years.

In the eleventh year of her marriage, a ray of hope shone in. One day, a Tzu Chi commissioner came to the shop on business and happened to mention Tzu Chi. Mei-chu did not know what the foundation was all about, but since it was a charity organization, she generously donated money to it. Every month the commissioner came to collect her donation, and she enthusiastically talked to Mei-chu about Tzu Chi and Master Cheng Yen, founder of the foundation. One of the Master's aphorisms shook Mei-chu to the core: "If you can accept hardships with joy, your suffering will decrease." After that, she realized that instead of changing her husband, she should change herself and let go of her anxieties and regrets. Since expectation leads to disappointment, each time she heard the door open, she would tell herself that it was not her husband. Gradually she learned to sleep soundly even when her husband was away from home.

As hard as she tried to change herself, even after she became a Tzu Chi commissioner, she was still not friendly to her husband. She knew that her cold attitude towards him made her unfit as a disciple of the Master. A commissioner should love, trust and forgive all people. If she could not love, trust and forgive even her own husband, how could she do so to other people? Her parents had given her a family full of warmth when she was young--maybe she should try to do the same to her husband. She decided to take further steps to change her life. When Chen was home, she made him tea and prepared the bath water for him. Before she had refused to talk to her husband, but now she began to fill him in on what was happening in the store and on Tzu Chi. Seeing her transformation, Chen gradually came home earlier and earlier.

"What brought about all these changes?" He could not hold back his curiosity and so asked her. "Because the Master said one must change oneself before trying to change others," she replied. The change in her induced him to participate in Tzu Chi activities. Now both of them are active members of the foundation.

The first step

Mei-chu says Tzu Chi has enriched her life. "I could have been an ordinary housewife who only looked after her own family. But now my horizon has been broadened, and I've done things I didn't know I was capable of."

After paying a visit to the Abode of Still Thoughts, where Master Cheng Yen lives, Mei-chu had an insuppressible urge to tell everyone about this arcadian place. She was a shy, quiet woman who found solace in solitude. Could she motivate others to sponsor Tzu Chi activities? When people came to the store, Mei-chu would start to talk to them about Tzu Chi. One could only imagine how much courage it took her to take that first step.

Soon she pushed herself to do more. Around the time she joined the foundation, Tzu Chi commissioners, who were mostly housewives, promoted Tzu Chi in the way that housewives often do--either talking to others one by one or inviting them home for meals. Mei-chu wanted a more effective way. "A community center would be an ideal place for me to carry out my plan," she thought. She looked around for such a place and finally rented a community hall that could seat 150 persons. She phoned all her members and friends and prayed that enough people would show up. Back then, besides meetings held by Master Cheng Yen, Tzu Chi had never organized an activity of that scale. The pressure was crushing and many times she thought of calling the whole thing off. When the day came, Mei-chu was so nervous that she could hardly stand. To her relief, enough people showed up. Since this Tzu Chi tea party was the first of its kind, the commissioners who had been invited to speak had no idea what to say to the audience. They just stood up and talked for a couple of minutes. On that night, nearly twenty commissioners spoke up. As plain as the presentation was, the event was a success and many more people joined Tzu Chi. Seeing Mei-chu's success, Tzu Chi commissioners in other regions followed her example and held tea parties to attract more people to join the foundation.

Multiple roles

Mei-chu joined Tzu Chi at a time when it was developing into a large international charity organization. Founded in 1966, Tzu Chi started out as a local charity association in Hualien, a small city on the undeveloped eastern coast of Taiwan, with only thirty members. In 1979, Master Cheng Yen decided to build a high-standard general hospital for the medically deprived Hualien area. From that point on, the Tzu Chi missions grew from charity to medical care, and then to educational development, cultural activities, etc. Mei-chu has actively participated in all of these. As Tzu Chi grew, she grew; as Tzu Chi took on new challenges, she encouraged herself to keep pace with it.

Currently she is the deputy chief coordinator of the Tzu Chi Northern Taiwan Disaster Relief Team, and the head of the Sanchung district, Taipei County, which has hundreds of commissioners.

Mei-chu is well loved by the commissioners and members in her district. They look upon her as their mother and best friend. "People do not merely meet by chance," she observed. "We must treasure the time we spend with other people. Most importantly, we should treat everyone with sincerity."

Although Mei-chu says that she is only an ordinary, poorly educated housewife, she emits warmth that attracts people to her. Members often come to her for help, including Lee Mei-fong. Mei-fong's rebellious son had shattered her heart, and she did not know what to do. Feeling at a loss, she came to the Tzu Chi office in Taipei to seek help. There she saw Mei-chu smiling warmly, and for no reason tears streamed down her cheeks. After that, Mei-fong phoned Mei-chu whenever she ran into trouble and dumped her problems on her for hours. Mei-chu always stopped what she had been doing, listened patiently, and helped Mei-fong find the solution. Mei-fong joked, "Mei-chu has not lived a day in peace since she met me!"

As time went on, Mei-fong became curious why Mei-chu had so much patience and love. Soon she found out that in addition to helping her solve her problems, Mei-chu was also busy with Tzu Chi activities such as collecting donations, visiting the homeless, holding tea parties, and going on international relief trips. Despite Mei-chu's packed schedule, she always had time for those who sought her help. Mei-fong thus realized how much a Tzu Chi commissioner had to do. Aiming to be like Mei-chu, Mei-fong joined the commissioner training program and was certified as a commissioner in 1996. Mei-chu has always been there for her since they met seven years ago.

Now they rarely meet, but Mei-fong often phones Mei-chu to consult her about trivial matters. At first Mei-chu could not understand why she called her so often to talk about such unimportant things; but then Mei-fong told her that she merely wanted to hear her voice.

In addition to Mei-fong, Mei-chu has helped numerous other people. Yet like all Tzu Chi people who tend to humble themselves, she says she is grateful to everyone she has met in Tzu Chi, because from interacting with them she has gained wisdom.

The cooking team

After the earthquake that shook Taiwan on September 21, 1999, many people were amazed at Tzu Chi's efficiency in mobilizing its members to help out in disaster areas. How can Tzu Chi reach the affected regions and provide hot meals so promptly whenever a disaster strikes? Mei-chu says one of the reasons is that Tzu Chi people are united in their hearts.

Mei-chu is known for her "cooking team." In times of disaster, she calls together commissioners in her district to cook meals for victims. "I'm grateful to my team members, because they can conjure up so much food in such a short time," Mei-chu laughed.

On October 31, 2000, Typhoon Xangsane lashed Taiwan, causing widespread damage to the island. Electricity was out in many places and many families were trapped in their homes with no food to eat. Tzu Chi people immediately sprang into action. Within twenty-four hours after the onslaught of the typhoon, volunteers distributed more than ten thousand boxed meals to flood victims in the Hsichih area in Taipei. Behind each meal was the love and hard work of many Tzu Chi members. Sitting in the rescue center, Mei-chu was deluged with telephone calls asking for more boxed meals. Responding to the rising need, she phoned commissioners in her district and asked them to prepare more meals. "Three thousand more boxed meals? Sister Lo, do you know how much rice we need to produce that much food?" Mei-chu answered frankly that she had no idea--all she knew was that there were people out there with nothing to eat. Upon hearing that, the commissioners complained no more. When people who had gone to the disaster areas to distribute hot meals returned and described to the commissioners how serious the damage was, those who were cooking seemed to be able to feel the pain of the victims and therefore worked more diligently. Tzu Chi could work so fast because everyone wanted to help. Mei-chu is grateful to all the Tzu Chi members in her district, for they have all sacrificed a lot to help others. The commissioners are also grateful to her for giving them a chance to serve.

This mutual gratitude formed a strong bond of comradeship. To most people, cooking is only a mundane chore. Yet Mei-chu believes that as long as one puts wholehearted devotion into it and carries it out enthusiastically, even such an everyday task can be inspiring.

Two years ago, over a thousand overseas Tzu Chi volunteers traveled to Hualien to celebrate the thirty-third anniversary of the Tzu Chi Foundation by participating in a ten-day training camp. Mei-chu was in charge of providing meals for all the participants. It would have been easy if she had assembled the commissioners in her district to carry out the task, since she knew them well. But she believed that all Tzu Chi people should have the opportunity to learn together, and so she invited commissioners from four districts to help out.

Since most of the people who attended the camp had been away from Taiwan for a long time, and some had never been to Hualien, the team hoped to make everyone feel at home through the food it provided. Their aim was to provide services that were as good as those of a five-star hotel--an ambitious goal for a team of only sixty-five people. They made sure that food would always be ready when someone needed it, and that the same kind of dish would not appear twice. On several nights camp seminars did not end until after 9 p.m., and the participants were tired and hungry. According to the original plan, a night snack was not included. But to everyone's surprise, hot meals were prepared. The team members were like mothers who always anticipated their children's needs. All participants surely felt at home.

The vitality the team displayed moved all the participants greatly. "I was told that when overseas Tzu Chi people chanted Buddhist sutras, they pictured us as flying celestial beings bringing wonderful food to them." Actually, some of the members of the cooking team became exhausted during the first few days, and some said that they could not cope with the laborious task any longer. But Mei-chu convinced them that when their bodies grew used to the heavy workload, they would start to enjoy it. Sensing her sincerity, they worked closely together for nearly two weeks. The strong friendship that developed among the team members keeps them close. Whenever Mei-chu calls on them to provide food for disaster victims, they always comply happily.

Future plans

Mei-chu is always full of new ideas. She has done a lot of things that no Tzu Chi member before her had ever done. She was the first to hold a Tzu Chi tea party, the first to organize a camp for high school students in northern Taiwan, the first one to conduct a community computer class in her district. She never seems to run out of vigor. From a woman who thought her family was her only responsibility, Mei-chu has grown into one who sees the well-being of all society as her responsibility. Her way of bringing love to the world is to do Tzu Chi work. When asked about her future plans, she replied without hesitation that she will continue to work for Tzu Chi--which is a commitment she will never go back on.