A little more than a year ago, Indonesia suffered major floods that left nearly 400,000 people homeless and 80 percent of Jakarta underwater. Local Tzu Chi members joined hands with local Chinese businesspeople and government departments to distribute relief items and clean up the Angke River. Furthermore, Tzu Chi also helped build a village of 1,100 units in Cengakarang for Kapuk villagers whose homes had been ravaged by the floods too. The first phase of construction of 340 units was completed in April 2002, and the rest were completed in August.

The new village includes a school, a clinic, a job-training center, and a community center. Some companies are building factories nearby, thus creating job opportunities which will bring prosperity to the residents of the village.

Although much garbage was removed from the Angke River after the floods last year, some areas of the river still had plenty of garbage. When Dr. Sutiyoso, governor of Jakarta, went with Tzu Chi volunteers and government officials to inspect conditions along the Angke River, he was surprised at the sight of so much garbage still floating on the river. He stated on the spot that he would put the clean-up of Angke River as a top priority. He also ordered Mr. Sobagio, the mayor of Northern Jakarta, to dismantle illegally built houses in the middle section of the river, to plant trees, and to clean up the river.

The Tzu Chi Indonesia branch held its 11th free clinic on January 18 and 19 in Cikarang, on the outskirts of Jakarta. The free clinic involved 250 volunteers and medical staff in the areas of surgery, internal medicine, dentistry, Chinese medicine, and ophthalmology. Furthermore, they provided eyeglasses for children with bad eyesight. The two-day services treated 1,065 patients.

Many patients had never visited a doctor in their lives before because they were too poor to do so. They were delighted that the free clinics could remove their sicknesses once and for all.

Tzu Chi signs agreement with NIH

On February 11, the Tzu Chi General Hospital in Hualien signed a research exchange agreement with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). It stipulates that NIH will provide funding for Tzu Chi Hospital doctors to study advanced medical science in the United States. This is the first time ever that a private hospital in Taiwan has signed an exchange agreement with an American national health institute.

Dr. Barry Hoffer, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an organization within the NIH, came to Taiwan to sign the agreement on behalf of the NIH. Dr. Hoffer has visited Tzu Chi Hospital three times. He remarked that in addition to joint research with Tzu Chi Hospital on drug abuse and scholarship exchanges, the agreement will also allow hospital doctors to study advanced medical science in the United States.

Dr. Lin Hsing-jung, superintendent of Tzu Chi Hospital, observed that the hospital and NIH are both working on stem cell research. Their joint efforts will bring new light to medical treatment.

Free clinics in Texas, USA

On January 25, 130 Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) members and volunteers held a free clinic at Smith Elementary School in Houston, Texas. This was the second free clinic held by Tzu Chi in Texas. With the experience gained from these two free clinics, the local Tzu Chi office plans to hold a major free clinic in the fall.

The majority of Smith Elementary School pupils come from low-income families and depend on the school for free lunch. Many families can't afford to buy medical insurance.

Ho Ming-tung, deputy director of TIMA in Texas, talked with principal Helen Welk about the students' conditions and decided to hold a free clinic for them. One month before the clinic was held, the school distributed notices to the students so they could inform their parents. The school notified the students again one week before the clinic, so many community residents were aware of it and showed up early in the morning.

Based on the needs of the students and community residents, the free clinic included family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, dentistry, ophthalmology, and Chinese medicine.

Most patients thought they could only go to one department. But later when they found out that everything was free and that they could go to any department, they went to all the departments for all the examinations. Some even brought their families to the free clinic for the services.

Children's center opened

The Tzu Chi Guatemala office helped to build a children's center in San Agustin Acasaguastlan on October 13 last year. It was opened on January 20, 2003, with Evelyn de Portillo, the first lady of Guatemala, and Chen Lu-jung, executive director of the Tzu Chi New Jersey branch, cutting the ribbon.

The center consists of two adjacent buildings. The Guatemalan government provided the land and Tzu Chi raised money to build the center. The center has two classrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and washrooms. The classrooms have TVs, VCRs, sound systems, fans, and children's books.

Tzu Chi built the center at the request of Mrs. de Portillo to help children in the area.

Santa Clara County Awards Tzu Chi

A year ago, Irene Whiteside, administration assistant to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, first heard of Tzu Chi from its involvement in counseling students at the Alternative Placement Academy (APA), and she learned about Tzu Chi from their English language publications. Shortly afterwards, Supervisor Pete McHugh invited Chen Ming-chih, executive director of the Tzu Chi Northern California branch, to the county office to talk about the foundation. After researching the Tzu Chi website, McHugh recognized the foundation's contributions to the world and to northern California. Consequently, on March 3, 2002, when Tzu Chi was holding an activity called "Spread the Seeds of Love," he declared the day to be "Tzu Chi Foundation Day" in Santa Clara County.

On January 14 this year, five Santa Clara County supervisors gave the northern California branch a plaque to commend Master Cheng Yen's charitable works and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tzu Chi Northern California branch. Huang Tzu-chin, vice executive director, accepted the plaque on behalf of Tzu Chi. Phil Hsieh, the public relations team leader, gave the acceptance speech and briefly introduced the musical drama "Sutra of Profound Gratitude toward Parents."

Old friends gather in Malacca

Between 1994 and the beginning of 2003, the Tzu Chi Malacca branch has held 100 distributions. Throughout this period, many needy families have never missed a monthly distribution because it gives them the opportunity to get together with Tzu Chi members who bring love into the darkness in their lives.

On January 11, around 300 needy families gathered at the Malacca office to enjoy a hot meal and to receive needed daily commodities. Tzu Chi volunteers wished them good health for the coming year.

Gathering love for the Tzu Chi Hong Kong branch

The Tzu Chi Hong Kong branch was established in August 1993, and since then it has gained much appreciation from society for its charitable deeds. However, since the office building was more than 70 years old, the branch decided to rebuild the office for safety reasons. This will take two years to complete.

Chou Yu-lien, executive director of the Tzu Chi Hong Kong branch, said that while the new office was being rebuilt, they would need a temporary office from which to carry out the Tzu Chi missions. It was fortunate that Master Jui Jung, a resident of the Chi Lin convent, offered the Buddhist Chi Hong Kindergarten to Tzu Chi as its new site. Supported by the board members of the kindergarten, Tzu Chi accepted this place for the temporary Tzu Chi branch office.

Local Tzu Chi members formally took over the office on October 19, 2002, and many members went to help renovate the place. The temporary office was opened on February 23 this year, with board members of the former kindergarten attending as guests. Master Ching Ta of Chi Hong Temple commented that the kindergarten had been closed for three years and that the board members agreed to donate it to Tzu Chi because they were Buddhist monks and were proud of Master Cheng Yen's charitable deeds and Tzu Chi volunteers' efforts around the world.

The office address is: 5 Chair Kung Temple Road, Sun Tin Wai, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.

Surgeries relieve pain and give new lives

The Tzu Chi Dominican Republic office joined hands with Hospital Central, a military hospital, on February 15 to provide a free clinic for the poor in Elias Pina, a city near the border with Haiti.

The free clinic was carried out at Hospital Rosa Duarte, the only hospital in Elias Pina. The Tzu Chi office provided 20,000 pesos [US$867] to purchase needed medicine, needles, swabs, and disinfectants. Hospital Rosa Duarte provided some equipment and space, and Hospital Central provided medical staff.

Hospital Rosa Duarte has 100 beds, but since it lacks most needed surgical tools and much equipment, most patients are transferred to large cities for treatment. However, many people are too poor to even afford the bus fare, so when they are sick they can only pray.

With help from Hospital Central under the leadership of General Alan Checo, the hospital staff first collected patients' information and found out what surgeries were required. They also made reservations for the patients. On February 15, when the free clinic was held, the doctors carried out surgeries for patients with hernia, incontinence, fibroids, and gallstones.

Dr. Francisco Santana and other doctors performed tubule ligations on 14 women that day. He indicated that the health bureau's policy was that women over 35 years old with four children could receive these operations. However, they realized that these women lived in areas with few medical resources, so they decided to waive the age limit and provide operations for any women who wanted one.

Carmen Hernandez, a nurse in the hospital, pointed out that the hospital had only one surgeon who came only twice a week. The free clinics thus gave hope to many patients who needed operations.

One hundred loving hearts to save a life

Abdul Krim Gunes, a little five-year-old boy in Turkey, suffered from serious hepatitis and needed a liver transplant to live. However, the surgery would cost US$50,000. Abdul's father, Imran Gunes, planned to donate part of his liver to Abdul, but he could only get US$40,000 from his insurance to pay for the surgery. He was unable to pay the remaining US$10,000 for equipment and blood transfusions. Abdul's father is a Kurd who works at a car repair shop and can only earn enough money to feed the family of seven people.

When Imran was applying for labor insurance from his manager, the manager found out that Abdul suffered from hepatitis and feared that Imran might also contract the disease from his son and transmit it to other people in the shop. So he fired him.

When Hu Kuang-chung, director of the Tzu Chi Turkey office, learned about this, he accompanied Abdul's father to the car repair shop and informed the manager that Tzu Chi was willing to help pay for Krim's surgery. The manager agreed to extend Imran's labor insurance for half a year and would also give some money to show his sympathy for Imran's son. After the surgery was over, Imran could also return to work.

Tzu Chi negotiated with the hospital and a medical equipment company to lower the total cost of the surgery. Volunteers also talked to Deniz Feneri, a charity organization, which then agreed to supply food to Abdul's family.

Hu and his wife, Chou Ju-yi, also solicited money to help Abdul. Hu phoned his mother and sisters in Taiwan and they immediately donated NT$200,000 [US$5,771]. Hu's wife asked help from her relatives in Taiwan and also Chinese students in Turkey. In two days, they raised US$11,000 from one hundred people.

On January 13, Hu brought the money to the hospital, but the doctor said that the opportunity to conduct a liver transplant had already passed. Abdul had developed ascites [accumulation of serous fluid in the spaces between tissues and organs in the abdomen] and had lost consciousness. He might not live for more than two months. Very shortly afterward, on January 18, Abdul died in the hospital.

Abdul's father felt sad and sorry that Hu's compassion and actions couldn't save his son's life. He also pointed out that the Qur'an [the Muslim holy book] taught people to have compassion and to help people, and he was touched that Hu and other Tzu Chi volunteers were willing to help his son. He wanted to assist other needy people in the future.

After consulting with all the donors, Hu transferred the US$11,000 to a Tzu Chi charity account to help others in need.