Vice President Armida Villela Maria de Lopez Contreras of Honduras visited Tzu Chi headquarters on September 20, accompanied by her husband and Marlene Villela de Talbot, the Honduran ambassador to Taiwan.

Tzu Chi made a connection with Honduras in 1999, when Hurricanes Georges and Mitch rampaged through Central America. After the hurricanes, Tzu Chi donated many needed goods to the six most damaged countries, including Honduras. Vice President Contreras visited Tzu Chi headquarters to indicate her appreciation of Tzu Chi's assistance and also to learn more about the foundation.

Master Cheng Yen accompanied the distinguished guests to the Still Thoughts Hall to view a photo exhibit. When the vice president noticed the uniforms worn by Tzu Chi commissioners, she inquired whether she could also have one to spread Great Love to her people.

Master Cheng Yen explained to her the duties and roles of the commissioners, and that to become a Tzu Chi commissioner, one has to take training courses for two years. The Master agreed to grant Vice President Contreras' request with the expectation that she will be a Tzu Chi commissioner in Honduras.

On September 22 before the vice president and accompanying guests left Taiwan, Tzu Chi commissioners delivered two tailor-made uniforms to her. The vice president was touched when she learned that the uniforms had been hand-made in four hours and gave a hug to Lu Wen-ying, the commissioner who had made the uniforms. The vice president also agreed that when she puts on the commissioner uniform in Honduras, she will do her best for the whole country.

Rice to lecture halls

The day after a riot in Jakarta in 1998, Habib Saggaf, a well-known Islamic elder, went to Kec Parung in Bogor, a city near Jakarta, to set up a community called Desa Waru Jaya and establish lecture halls. In August 2003, Tzu Chi volunteers delivered 2,500 bags of rice to this village. In October, they returned and signed an agreement with the village to provide 50 tons of rice per month for one year to 3,000 students in the village.

Habib Saggaf is a highly respected Muslim elder who draws large crowds of people who hope to receive his blessings wherever he goes. Saggaf has been trying to use education to show people that Islam is a gentle and good religion that can bring blessings to the world. Therefore, he set up a Muslim community in Kec Parung that has a prayer hall, a lecture hall for men, and another one for women.

Currently 2,500 students study in the lecture halls, of whom 700 are orphans living in the community. Some students come from outside the community. Saggaf provides all of them with free room and board and looks after them. His education also emphasizes morality, religious ethics, and mutual caring among people. He hopes these young people will receive a good education and learn to have broad views about the world so they will be able to face challenges in the future. They also learn to accept people of other races and to treat them like their own siblings.

Saggaf pointed out that the community depends heavily on donations, so the financial situation is not very good. Thus, he is glad that Tzu Chi will provide rice to the community.

Outside relief arrives after floods recede

On October 3, Tzu Chi volunteers in Thailand had just completed flood relief work in northern Thailand. In the second half of October, they heard that Phetchabur, 180 kilometers south of Bangkok, was under water because of several days of rainstorms. All outside communications had been cut off.

Even though charity groups and the county government had been distributing daily necessities and rice, not all of the victims had received relief goods yet. Tzu Chi members delivered needed items to 1,026 families (4,023 people) in Tha Yang and Banland on November 7.

When volunteers arrived at each distribution site, the villagers were waiting. Each person received a five-kilogram bag of rice, half a case of instant noodle packages, 12 1,000-cc bottles of drinking water, and 10 packages of skin infection ointment.

Volunteers also went to Ban Laem in Phetchabur because of the floods. On November 14 they distributed food and medicine to 445 families (1,680 people).

Forest fires in northern British Columbia

In mid-August, lightning caused a forest fire near Kelowna and Kamloops in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Due to the dryness of the land, the fire spread very rapidly and burned for a month. It scorched approximately 50,000 hectares (123,600 acres) of land and forced thousands of people to flee from their homes. The houses damaged by the fire cost more than 190 million Canadian dollars (US$145 million). Federal, provincial, and city governments pitched in to help the victims through various means.

Tzu Chi people went to investigate the disaster areas and discovered that although homes had been burnt to the ground, some families had no insurance. In addition, they had no money to buy daily necessities. Thus on September 19, volunteers went to Kelowna, a four-hour drive northeast of Vancouver, to deliver food and winter clothing to six families who had no homeowner's insurance. They also handed out a total of CAD$8,780 in emergency cash.

On September 20, the volunteers went out again, this time to Kamloops to present CAD$250,000 (raised among Chinese in Vancouver) as a community reconstruction fund. They also presented a total of CAD$25,000 to firefighters in McLure, Louis Creek, and Barrier to help purchase new fire-fighting equipment.

Chamingo village completed

On January 13, 2001, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale rocked El Salvador and caused great damage, but ended up creating bonds between the people of El Salvador and Tzu Chi. In addition to distributing relief items and providing free clinics, Tzu Chi also helped build two villages, one in Sacacoyo and one in Chamingo, for 1,175 families. Each community has a school for the children and a community center where the adults can hold religious services or other gatherings.

The Tzu Chi No.2 Village in Chamingo, El Salvador, was finally completed on October 31. The school has already started classes. Currently there are 12 teachers and 735 students. The students come mostly from the village, but some come from nearby towns.

Each house has two bedrooms, but in many families, children have to squeeze together in rooms since Salvadoran women normally have five or six children. One family even has nine children; some of the children sleep in hammocks, one sleeps in the living room, and one in a bedroom.

Since many families are still poor, they don't have much furniture; they only have simple tables, chairs, and worn-out beds. Still, many are quite happy to live in No.2 Village because their new homes are much better than the ones they used to live in.

Before the village was built, Tzu Chi had already divided the residents into 55 groups. Every three groups chooses a representative, and 18 representatives form the village administrative council to look after all matters concerning the whole village. For instance, if a resident has financial troubles, is ill or passes away, the council may appeal to the whole village for donations to help those in need.

At 9 a.m. on October 31, President Francisco Flores of El Salvador and government officials arrived by helicopter. Together with President Flores, Tzu Chi volunteers Stephen Huang and Yao Shu-tu, who oversaw the construction of the village, cut the ribbon to indicate the grand opening of the Tzu Chi Village.

The president thanked Master Cheng Yen for her compassion and Tzu Chi people for traveling thousands of miles to lend a helping hand. Since the completion of the villages, Tzu Chi has not asked for anything in return.

Opening of a Tzu Chi Village in China

Guizhou Province, China, is a very hilly place where people live in poverty because the soil is too poor for them to plant many crops. To improve the lives of these people, Tzu Chi started programs in 2000 such as relocating villages to better places. In the past three years, three new Tzu Chi villages have been completed and the residents have started living better lives.

On November 4 this year, 50 families from two different towns were moved to Nawang Tzu Chi Village to start new lives. Each new building in Nawang is a duplex house. Each unit is 889 square feet and consists of three bedrooms, one living room, one bathroom, and two storage rooms. The second floor has a patio, where villagers can dry their produce.

The new village is equipped with electricity, drinking water, paved roads, and bridges. While the village was being built, the county government let residents work on the construction so they could have a chance to earn some money.

Farm animals are important property to these people. At the back of each house is a private animal pen. The government even built a methane gas plant so that human and animal waste could be processed into fuel for the villagers.

On the opening day, Tzu Chi people presented to each family bed frames, cotton jackets, cotton quilts, and pajamas according to the number of people in each family, in the hope that residents would be able to enjoy a warm winter season.

Tzu Chi: the only Chinese award recipient

Tzu Chi members received the "Making A Difference Award" from the Disability Services Commission of Western Australia for the work they have been doing in the past two years. The commission is a government agency which has been referring disabled families that need private help to Tzu Chi for the past two years. Tzu Chi has helped many disabled people fulfill their dreams.

This award is presented to individuals or organizations that make a difference to disabled people. The ceremony was held on September 2 and the award was presented by Sheila M. McHale, Minister for Disability Services. Tzu Chi was the only Chinese organization in the ceremony.

The Tzu Chi Perth office regularly visits the Quadriplegic/Paraplegic Association of Western Australia, the Motor Neuron Disease Association of Western Australia, and other institutions to provide both material and spiritual support.

Free clinics in the Dominican Republic

Tzu Chi people from the Dominican Republic and the United States held joint free clinics in two areas in the Dominican Republic from November 1 to 3.

On November 1, they went to Sajanoa, a small village of only 200 families, in Azua Province. There is a simple health center where one doctor and one nurse look after the health problems of people in the surrounding three villages.

The free clinic was held at the village school. While medical personnel worked in various classrooms, volunteers guided patients and children in various group activities outside to keep them from feeling bored.

Two dentists served 86 patients and pulled out 130 teeth. In the department of internal medicine, doctors gave medicine to patients right away so they wouldn't have to wait and pick it up later. Five internists treated over 500 people, many of whom were affected by illnesses such as colds and malnutrition.

On November 2, the medical team held another free clinic in Juan Pablo Duarte in La Romana. Before dawn, people were already waiting patiently outside the Tzu Chi La Romana School, and students were waiting in their classrooms to receive book bags, notebooks, school supplies, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Volunteers also applied fluoride to children's teeth.

Altogether nineteen Tzu Chi doctors of internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology, and dentistry served patients. A Dominican military hospital also provided 24 doctors and administrative staff. A total of 520 people received treatment.

Eighty volunteers applied fluoride on the teeth of 1,300 students, many of whom appreciated the service. This time, the students had fewer dental problems; most were there to have cavities filled. In addition to applying fluoride on teeth, volunteers gave each student an anti-parasite pill.

Jazz shoes bring out smiles

In Auckland, the Janet Veigh Center helps handicapped children learn various after-school sports such as aerobics, ball sports, and swimming to teach them how to coordinate their muscle and eye movements. Furthermore, they learn how to get along with other people and maintain group discipline.

As a non-profit organization, the center depends heavily on donations from children's parents. One child's family, who came from Taiwan, reported the financial condition of the center to local Tzu Chi people. When Tzu Chi came to visit these children, they discovered that the center didn't have any scoreboards or chairs. Also, the children planned to attend a competition in June, but they had no team T-shirts.

One month later, Tzu Chi presented these items to the children. They were shy when they were approached by Tzu Chi members, but they still expressed their gratitude.

About half a year later, the volunteers received a phone call from Janet Veigh. She hoped that Tzu Chi would be able to provide jazz dancing shoes for 10 children who were learning this art. Volunteers went to many shoe stores and were finally able to purchase ten pairs of jazz shoes. They wrapped the shoes beautifully and even included a Christmas card with each pair.

On November 3, volunteers went to the center to give the presents to the students and their dance teacher, Kerrie. Kerrie noted that children with multiple disabilities have more difficulty learning than normal children, so teaching them requires more patience and attention.