Last January, a major flood ravaged Jakarta, Indonesia, and almost swallowed up the village of Kapuk Murua on the Kali Angke River. The only response to such an assault by nature is for villagers to relocate their homes, clean up the garbage from the river, and return the occupied land to the river. Tzu Chi members are helping to relocate the villagers by constructing homes for them--a Great Love Village. Our hope is that Garuda, the divine eagle that protects Indonesia, will be healed, stretch its wings of love and goodness, and fly into a blue sky of blessings.

On July 8 this year, it was a bright, sunny day with gentle, warm breezes. A group of people, all dressed in blue, gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony of the Great Love Village as the sun shone on the flat five hectares of land fragrant with green grass. Here in Cengkarang, north of Jakarta, Indonesia, a historic construction project was about to be inaugurated.

"Oops!" exclaimed a young volunteer, Budi. He had poured lime powder into a mold to create the shape of a white lotus flower. As the mold was removed, it revealed a white lotus flower on brown sand. Although bystanders admired his skill, Budi began to shake his head in self-criticism. He quickly dug a hole and shoveled the sand lotus flower into it. He decided to do it over again.

This young man had a reason for his demand for perfection. A major flood overran Jakarta in January and swallowed up Kapuk Murua Village. Budi followed Tzu Chi volunteers to the disaster areas, where he helped to pump out floodwater, clean and sanitize homes, and assist with free clinics. The most important thing now was the construction of these Great Love homes, so he wanted his work to be the best it could be.

Chen Chin-fu, a Tzu Chi volunteer, sighed with relief once the construction site had dried out after the previous night's rain. He said the rain was indeed a blessing, because although it had jammed traffic in Jakarta, it had not damaged the construction site. Garuda, the divine eagle who protects Indonesia, probably brought the rain as sacred water for its suffering people.

Dredge the silt

The villagers and local Tzu Chi volunteers in Indonesia were still concerned about the flood that swallowed up the village in January. In March, Huang Yi-tsung (also known as Eka Tjipta Widjaja), an 82-year-old Chinese-Indonesian businessman, went to Taiwan and asked for help from Master Cheng Yen.

When I was in school, my geography class told me that Indonesia, the largest archipelago nation on earth, had the fourth largest population in the world. The weather was hot and there was always plenty of rain. The country also produced lots of goods. Was Mr. Huang unnecessarily worried?

After I went to Kapuk Murua Village, I realized why local Tzu Chi volunteers were concerned. The only "resources" available for the villagers were the filthy Kali Angke River and the garbage that has accumulated for more than twenty years. The villagers' water came from the river, and they depended on the river completely for their livelihood, but at the same time they also dumped garbage and human waste into the water. The river ran deep and clean twenty years ago, but not today. This horrible environment and the ever-present threat of floods placed the entire village in danger.

Huang told me that the villagers themselves shared in the blame for the January floods. Any man-made method of defense against nature's retribution was simply useless. The only solution was to relocate the villagers and to clean up the river and in so doing to return the land to the river. The sooner the Great Love homes can be finished, the sooner the villagers can be resettled.

Yang Ju-yun, a Taiwanese woman married to an Indonesian, appealed to the public to help build the Great Love homes, each of which would cost US$5,000. Tzu Chi volunteers hoped that local Chinese might donate money or pitch in to help build the houses as a way of repaying Indonesian society.

Kuo Tsai-yuan (also known as Sugianto Kusuma), who was responsible for locating land for the new houses, commented that land granted by the government was so limited that the architect had to design the new housing as five-story condominium. Each unit has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The new community also includes schools, a community center, and a free clinic. Kuo said, "The Master admonished us to build the village with the same attention that we would give to building our own homes."

Goodwill solves confrontation

When the guests arrived at the groundbreaking ceremony, some were already singing songs. Soldiers and police regulated traffic at the entrance. Dr. H. Sutiyoso, governor of Jakarta, and Latief Malangyudo, general manager of the National Urban Housing Development Corporation, also attended the ceremony.

Tzu Chi and the corporation agreed that Tzu Chi would lease the land for thirty years. The company will extend the lease for another thirty years if the land is still being used for charitable purposes.

Three Tzu Chi representatives--Kuo Tsai-yuan, Huang Jung-nien (also known as Frankie Oesman Widjaja) and Poo Tjie Guan--signed the lease agreement with Malangyudo just two days before the ceremony. The document has become a key agreement in Indonesia's history of charity and race relations.

Kuo told me that two days before the agreement was signed, thirty houses suddenly and mysteriously appeared on the construction site. These illegal houses were built intentionally to seek compensation from Tzu Chi and the Indonesian government when the residents were asked to move away. The law gave the government the power to demolish these houses and force these people out in just one day. However, Tzu Chi used goodwill to solve the confrontation between the government and these squatters.

Chen Chin-fu noted that twenty-five dentists, internal medicine physicians and pediatricians along with a hundred Tzu Chi volunteers provided a free clinic on July 6 for more than a thousand people living in a community near the construction site.

During the ceremony on July 8, local Chinese youths performed lion dances with such skill that the lions seemed alive. The audience couldn't stop cheering. They made so much noise that the neighbors came to see what was happening.

As the crowd extended outside the police line, the police had difficulty in managing so many people. First a few children managed to slip through, and then adults too found their way to audience seats to enjoy watching the lion dance.

The dancers performed incredibly well. They had practiced for many days. Perfect practice made it perfect!

Words from Sutiyoso

"I sincerely pray that this tangible construction will bring about the purification of people's hearts and social harmony..." Master Te Mao read a congratulatory letter from Master Cheng Yen while the master of ceremonies read it in Indonesian. Except for the sound from the microphone and the blowing wind, we didn't hear anything else. Everyone listened as attentively as though the Master was talking to them directly.

Stephen Huang, a senior Tzu Chi volunteer, reminded the audience that regardless of their different religious beliefs and skin colors, the blood of the Indonesians and the Chinese is the same red color. He continued, "If Indonesia laughs, the whole world laughs too. A powerful country like Indonesia can feed a quarter of the world's population."

The most inspiring speech from the Indonesian government was given by Dr. Sutiyoso, governor of Jakarta. He said that if possible, he would like to go to Tzu Chi headquarters in Taiwan to express his appreciation. He reminded his people not to be violent. He hoped that the horrible racial violence a few years ago was the last.

Everyone applauded when they heard the speech. For hundreds of years, racial violence has been a historical wound in Indonesia. The horrendous violence in 1998 wounded not only the lives and hearts of local Chinese, it also brought strong protests from Chinese around the world and even international embargoes against innocent Indonesians.

We can understand that what these people were demanding beneath the racial violence were their basic rights guaranteeing them all the necessities of life and freedom from fear. When different races respect and care for each other, then the rights of each are complete. Only mutual prosperity allows people to obtain all the necessities of life and to live without fear.

The governor told the residents that even though they might not be accustomed to living in apartments, he still hoped that people living upstairs wouldn't dump water down to the ground, because it wouldn't be good for the people living downstairs. He also reminded them to watch out for fire hazards and not to toss garbage around. The condominium has made them into one big family, so the residents have to think about and care for others.

Through translation, I sensed the joy of the villagers as they moved into their new homes. At first, they may have problems adjusting to the new place, but I believe that in a few years they will be living a better and happier life. And they will have more confidence for their future.

The groundbreaking ceremony was officially opened with the singing of Great Love Sails to the New Century. The governor of Jakarta was asked to strike a drum as an announcement to heaven that the Tzu Chi Great Love Village will appear at this location next April.

As guests shoveled sand, they also made three vows: may people's minds be purified, may society be harmonious, and may there be no calamities in the world. I was so moved at the start of the construction of the Great Love Village that I could not speak for a while.

Among all the guests, Huang Yi-tsung was the happiest. The village was in a terrible condition last March, and the 82-year-old Huang helped to shovel away a lot of garbage. Now he was shoveling again, but this time for the construction of the Great Love Village. Under the hot tropical sun, this old gentleman was finally smiling.

After the ceremony, Tzu Chi members handed out little souvenir shovels to everyone present, and all took turns to shovel the sand. The white lotus flower that Budi had created also became part of the land. It was as though Great Love was sailing into the new century and spreading across the world.

In the afternoon, only a handful of workers and empty illegal houses were on the empty land. Before construction started, Cengkarang would be quiet. The soft-blowing wind swept across my face with the fresh fragrance of green grass.

I sincerely pray that Garuda, the divine eagle of Indonesia, will now be completely healed and that it will be able to spread its wings of love and goodness and fly into a blue sky of blessings.