The Tzu Chi Mexicali liaison office, located near the US-Mexican border, held its sixth scholarship awards ceremony on April 11 in Calexico, California.

Eighteen outstanding Imperial Valley Community College and San Diego State University students from poor families received scholarships. Each student had a yellow rose and a blue ribbon pinned to his or her chest.

Victor Jaime, deputy principal of the Imperial Valley Community College, said in his speech that he wanted to thank Tzu Chi for giving scholarships for three consecutive years and for helping many students complete their education. The scholarships not only changed the lives of these students, but also made other people learn about the Tzu Chi spirit of humanitarianism and selfless giving.

One recipient was Rosa Hernandez, a single mother with three children. She goes to school in the daytime and looks after her children at night. Thus, she can only study after her children have gone to bed. She uses her student loan and Tzu Chi scholarship to continue her education and hopes she will be able to pay back Tzu Chi and society after she graduates.

Tzu Chi aid in Iraq

Tzu Chi volunteers in Jordan distributed relief goods to a hospital and a refugee camp in Baghdad, Iraq, in mid May. They plan to continue carrying out relief work to these places.

During the US-Iraqi war, Tzu Chi volunteers in Jordan carried out numerous relief efforts in refugee camps along the Jordanian-Iraqi border. After the war, Tzu Chi worked in conjunction with the Hashemite Charity Organization of Jordan to deliver relief goods to Iraq in mid May.

Twenty trucks loaded with 30 metric tons of goods traveled for 12 hours and 580 kilometers [360 miles] to reach Baghdad. Twenty-two metric tons of rice, sugar, beans, cooking oil, tea leaves, noodles, canned food, and medicine were handed over to Al Falluja General Hospital on May 15.

The hospital, 55 kilometers from Bagdad, has 172 beds and close to 200 staff members. It has enough medicine and surgical tools, but lacks many daily necessities.

The volunteers also visited the health bureau in Al Falluja. The office has been giving vaccinations to people, but now its storage room is bare without any vaccines or medical supplies left.

Al Falluja is outside of Baghdad, where most international aid is concentrated. Al Falluja is thus in great need of many goods. Tzu Chi plans to continue delivering relief goods to this place in the future.

Four tornadoes bring out Tzu Chi's assistance

On May 4, four tornadoes swept through Kansas City, Missouri, killing 25 people and destroying 1,600 houses. Tzu Chi and the Salvation Army went to the disaster areas to provide assistance to survivors.

On May 7, the Salvation Army invited Tzu Chi, the Red Cross, local churches, local fire departments, and some other charity groups, 40 altogether, to work out a plan to help the survivors. Tzu Chi volunteers provided input at a meeting by reporting how Tzu Chi had helped the survivors of the 9-11 attacks by handing out emergency cash and giving spiritual counseling. The foundation hoped to carry out similar work for tornado survivors.

On May 9, Tzu Chi was permitted to set up a booth at the Salvation Army service center. The Salvation Army and other charity groups referred people who needed help to Tzu Chi volunteers, who offered emergency cash to qualified recipients. Strangely enough, only seven families came to apply for emergency cash from May 9 to 10. Puzzled by such a small number of applicants, Tzu Chi volunteers decided to go to the disaster areas to see for themselves.

The majority of survivors were so busy cleaning up their broken homes that they didn't have time to apply for emergency funds and other relief goods. Thus, Tzu Chi volunteers changed their plans and announced that they would hand out emergency cash on site on May 11 and 12--$500 for completely destroyed houses, $300 for half-destroyed homes, and $200 for people who rented their houses.

On those two days, many survivors approached the Tzu Chi volunteers to apply for cash; many of them appreciated the gesture because they were grateful to receive help at such a critical time. Altogether, Tzu Chi handed out money to 101 families.

Free medical treatment in Constanza, Dominican Republic

"My dear friends, the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation from Taiwan will be holding a free clinic from April 5 to 7 in Constanza to help people with incontinence, hernia, and tumors. People who need treatments, please contact this station to sign up."

This announcement was broadcast by a radio station in Constanza, a mountainous region about 1,000 meters above sea level in the Dominican Republic. Constanza is 175 kilometers from Santa Domingo, the capital. The news spread fast and people living in the area all looked forward to the free clinic.

As with previous free clinics, Hospital Central, a military hospital, provided the medical staff, while Tzu Chi provided the money needed for expenses and supporting staff. This time, the free clinic was held at Hospital Municipal Pedro A. Gespedes.

Doctors from Hospital Central picked out 82 patients from a name list of 150 and had them go through blood tests, HIV and hepatitis tests, and cardiograms. Then the patients were admitted into Hospital Municipal Pedro A. Gespedes one day before the final examinations for their surgeries. Volunteers also showed up at the hospital to chat with the patients, hoping to reduce their fears.

The free clinic mobilized 21 doctors and anesthetists, 10 nurses, and 27 volunteers and administrative staff members. They offered treatments in general surgery, surgical pediatrics, gynecology, and simple surgery. On April 5, 56 surgeries were performed. In the department of general surgery, most people were treated for hernia. There were also quite a few cases of hemorrhoids, gallstones, and thyroid tumors. In the department of surgical pediatrics, operations were performed on children to treat problems such as hernia, scrotum edema, and tumors. The gynecology department treated women with incontinence, endometriosis, and fibroids. Simple surgeries were also carried out for people with skin tumors.

Free clinic in Thailand

April 12 to 15 is the New Year in Thailand. Tzu Chi members there spent that time in Tak, 700 kilometers north of Bangkok, giving free medical treatments to aboriginals and helping students build a dormitory.

Volunteers from Bangkok and Chiang Mai arrived at the Tak community center, also a Buddhist temple, on April 13 to prepare for the free clinic. Many aboriginals didn't speak Thai, so the abbot of the temple was asked to help translate for the volunteers.

Two doctors, three nurses, and the volunteers got busy by 9 a.m., at which time 132 people were already waiting to see the doctors. Some people left home early in the morning but didn't arrive at the clinic site until evening. Many patients, who often carried heavy loads, suffered from back pain and arthritis. Their poverty forced them to eat salt and red pepper with rice, so many of them were not in good health. The doctors later showed them how to do exercises to improve their health and to reduce their pains.

Many villagers said that they had health insurance cards, but that they lived quite far away from the hospitals in the cities. The hospitals would give them only two to three days worth of medicine, so if they became sick, they would end up enduring their sicknesses.

The medicine allotted for the two-day free clinic was used up in just one day. When the doctors heard that more patients would be coming the following day, the volunteers immediately drove down the mountain to purchase more medicine.

The temple where the free clinic was held also provided room and board for 29 boys and 47 girls attending school. While the free clinic was being held, Tzu Chi volunteers also helped build a new boys' dormitory with assistance from villagers, who helped carry water, mix cement, lay bricks, and paint the dormitory.　

Farm products as presents

The Tzu Chi Philippines branch held its 41st free clinic in San Fabian, Pangasinan Province, from April 7 to 9. This free clinic treated eye problems for 152 patients.

The free clinic was held at an eye clinic owned by a 72-year-old German, Guillermo De Venecia. He has been conducting free eye treatments for the poor in the area for more than 20 years. Since he felt he was getting old, he decided to donate his clinic to Tzu Chi to use for free clinics. He even went to Taiwan to visit Master Cheng Yen, who encouraged him to continue helping the poor with eye problems. Tzu Chi thus joined hands with the doctor to perform free medical treatments for the poor in the area.

Grandma Dulay came to the clinic for her eye problem, but she also brought along a bag of corn she had grown in her garden to give to the medical personnel at the free clinic. Other farmers brought watermelons, mangoes, papayas, bananas, and many other farm products to show their appreciation to the doctors and nurses.

Free medical treatment for Indian workers

Masjid Tanah is a 45-minute drive away from Malacca, Malaysia. Close to 100 percent of the residents are Indians who work on rubber plantations. Since most young people work out of town, only old people and women work on the plantations. They don't make much money and their lives are difficult. A doctor comes to see them once every two weeks, and on a daily basis these workers depend on a medical assistant for minor medical problems. If they have an accident or suffer from major illnesses, an ambulance will take them to a hospital in Malacca. Since it is inconvenient for these rubber workers to see doctors, Tzu Chi decided to bring doctors to them.

On May 1, 54 Tzu Chi volunteers and 15 medical professionals held a free clinic and treated around 200 workers.

Dr. Chang Kuang-ta of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association discovered that many workers drank too much alcohol and had improper diets. They suffered from problems such as abdominal distention and high blood sugar, which may eventually lead to heart and liver problems in the future. Therefore, the workers needed to learn more about proper health care.

Besides the free clinic, the volunteers also handed out rice, cooking oil, biscuits, drinks, and used clothes. Volunteers also gave free haircuts to the workers.

Books and tea in the Chinatown Tzu Chi office

Chinatown in New York is full of shops and noise. Tzu Chi set up an office here, displaying Tzu Chi publications and other items such as books by Master Cheng Yen, CDs, cassette tapes, and bags. There is a red table with a statue of the Buddha and a few other tables and chairs. People can sit down to read, write, have tea, or chat with friends at the office.

Wang Sung-ning, who is in charge of the Tzu Chi Chinatown office, said that the liaison office was established after the 9-11 attacks, when Tzu Chi set up a service center in Chinatown to hand out emergency cash to people affected by the attacks. Many people and shops in Chinatown pitched in to help at the service center. In May last year, Tzu Chi US headquarters decided to set up a permanent office in Chinatown to carry out the Tzu Chi missions. At the end of 2002, Wang found an empty factory and turned it into a nice office.

Currently, Tzu Chi members clean up the streets in Chinatown every Saturday, and they started holding small tea parties in April this year.

The phone number and address of the office are:

Tel: 212-965-1151
Address: 34 Howard Street, New York.　

Schools receive books

The Tzu Chi US headquarters continued with its book-giving program this year. After five months of preparation, volunteers chose 72 schools from a list of more than 1,000 as this year's recipients.

Due to lack of funds, many schools have been unable to stock their libraries with new books, and many families are even unable to buy books for their children. The Tzu Chi book-giving program has received a good response, as more and more schools have been asking to have books sent to them every year. This year, Tzu Chi also implemented a program called "Everybody Reads," where volunteers go to different schools on Saturdays to read books with students.

On April 16, Nueva Vista Elementary School welcomed Tzu Chi volunteers to their school. At a student assembly in the auditorium, volunteer Helen Hsu talked about Tzu Chi, and volunteers then gave new books to the 1,535 students.

Later, volunteers went to Park Avenue Elementary School with 12 boxes containing 1,125 new books. The administrative staff, teachers, and students were already waiting at the library. The students promised to write and tell the volunteers what they had learned from the book.