At either side of the entrance to the village was a rectangular stone plaque with "Sri Lanka Hambantota Tzu Chi Great Love Village" inscribed in Chinese, English, Sinhala, and Tamil. The endless red roofs in the village presented a majestic ambiance under the blue sky.

The traffic circle behind the entrance was covered with green grass and plants. To separate the sidewalks from the traffic lanes, seedlings of banyan and frangipani trees had been planted on either side of the road leading into the village. It is not hard to envision their lush growth in a few years. The second phase of construction on the village center, a meeting hall, a secondary school, a day-care center, and more houses has also started.

It is hard to imagine what the area looked like before the village was built. About a year ago, the 105-hectare (259-acre) site was still a wild forest in which elephants and monkeys roamed. Now that the building has been completed and people have moved in, the village pulses with life.

Architect Guo Shu-sheng (郭書勝) designed the homes as independent, detached houses in the Sri Lankan style, with red roofs and beige walls. The lot for each house is 5,444 square feet, but the house only occupies 676 square feet. Each house has spacious front and back yards, where residents can plant fruits and vegetables to support themselves. Each house has a living/dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. The dining and living areas can be used separately if divided with a curtain.

Construction started in June 2005 and was completed in February 2006. A total of 350 houses were turned over to their owners on April 10. Over 180 Tzu Chi volunteers and members of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association from Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore attended the opening ceremony and held a free clinic to provide free medical care for local residents. Tzu Chi people also prepared practical gifts for each villager--20 kilograms (44 pounds) of white rice, two bags of sugar, and two bottles of cooking oil, which can support the villagers for two months.

The traditional Hindu New Year celebrated in Sri Lanka fell on April 14, so residents were delighted to be able to move into their new homes before their New Year. Coming away from the disaster and being able to start new lives, the villagers can finally feel peace in their bodies and souls.

The village gathered endless love and blessings from Tzu Chi people from around the world. Although the tsunami crushed many people's families and hopes, the villagers' dreams of having new homes has finally come true. Being able to live in the new houses delights them and also gives them hopes and expectations for their future.

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Decorating the New House
Fathima's Sewing Workshop

By Qiu Shu-juan
Translated by Lin Sen-shou
Photograph by Lin Yan-huang
　

In the house numbered K02, the floor was covered with beautiful paper, making the whole house as clean and elegant as if the floor were covered with tiles.

At every door and window, white floor-length curtains with orange-colored patterns were hung, producing a romantic ambiance. The stylish, elegant lamp on the ceiling in the living room reflected the warmth of the room.

Fathima Rizna and her husband live here. The tsunami destroyed everything they had, including the lives of their two daughters. As soon as they moved in on April 2, they hung a new pendant light in the living room, because Fathima's husband works in an electrical appliances shop. The light helps sweep away the shadow of the disaster for themselves and their visitors.

Fathima turned a room into a workshop and put in a sewing machine donated by the United States Agency for International Development, so she could tailor customers' clothes. Fathima has excellent tailoring skills, so she was able to create the curtains and the valances separating the rooms. Fathima said, "We lived in a good place before the tidal waves. Now we have a new house, so we should decorate it more beautifully. We will live happier lives."

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Offering Flowers to the Buddha
Premachanda Plants Trees

By Qiu Shu-juan and Lin Cui-lian
　

Premachanda Sudusinghe, 45, was planting seedlings in his front yard. Around 180 seedlings surrounded his house. For the past six months, they have been nurtured by Tzu Chi volunteers and now the seedlings are producing results.

The second phase of construction in the Great Love Village is underway. Tzu Chi has created a plan to make the village green with trees and plants, and there are 300,000 seedlings in a nursery garden. In the future, every house will receive 100 of them to be planted around their houses as a green fence.

Premachanda originally worked for a power company, but is now unemployed. He lost his only daughter and his house in the tsunami. He and his wife have moved into their new house. They use one bedroom and set up the other as a guestroom.

Premachanda was working industriously in the yard. He had bought papaya, coconut and mango seedlings, so he could create a beautiful garden.

"The papayas can be the hedge; mangos will be planted in the front yard to shield the house from the scorching sun...," he murmured while pointing to the empty yard. Some little white flowers were growing behind a black net, and he said that he would use the flowers as an offering to the Buddha.

We look forward to seeing his thriving garden with lots of green trees.

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Selling Food in a Tent
Illias Can Pay His Bills

By Qiu Shu-juan
　

M.H.M. Illias lived with his family in the Great Love house numbered J02. He said that when the tidal waves came, he was in the Sunday Market and climbed a tree to avoid the floods. His wife and children also escaped from their house and hid in a police station on higher ground. His family was safe, but his house and property were all destroyed by the floods.

Illias moved into the new house on February 5. His aunt, Sara S.H., came with her child to see him and to share his happiness at moving into a new house. She said that Illias' new house had a spacious yard, which could be turned into a garden, the children could play anywhere in the village, and the living environment here was excellent. She envied him because she lived in a small apartment in Colombo.

Illias set up a small tent behind his house and sold pancake-like delicacies for a living. His main customers were other residents and laborers working in the village.

His new stand had only been open for three days, but he had earned an average of a thousand rupees (US$9) a day. This was an enormous sum compared to white-collar workers who averaged $7,000 a month (US$21).

Illias was very satisfied to be able to work and to live with his family. He said, "I like the independent and spacious living environment, so I'm very happy now."

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Treasuring Number 162 and the Bodhi Leaf
Mulasdeen Opens the First Grocery Store

By Lin Cui-lian and Chen Wei-hao
　

S.M. Mulasdeen, his wife Farina, and their four-year-old son Mafaz moved into their Great Love house, numbered K4, on February 16.

Mulasdeen took out a bank loan to set up a grocery store in his house. Goods such as cookies, drinks, coconuts, dry food, milk powder, and matches were placed on a table and on shelves. The store has all the daily necessities and food supplies the villagers need. Mulasdeen can simply open the window and start business every day. He earns around a thousand rupees a day (US$9), and he is very happy about that.

He took out two stickers from a drawer, one bearing the number 162, and the other a bodhi leaf logo. He said that 162 was the Tzu Chi tent number where he lived after the disaster, and the bodhi leaf logo was from the relief goods donated by Tzu Chi. Mulasdeen, a Muslim, said he would laminate them because they represented warm help after the tsunami.

He said that the new house is strong and beautiful, and the bathroom is inside the house. Tzu Chi people also gave each family a double bed, a mattress, a dining table, and six plastic chairs, which were very handy for them. His friends and relatives had seen his new house and were envious of him.

With a smile, Mulasdeen said that he would continue donating money for the second phase of the construction of the village, and he would treat warmly any customer in the village who had difficulty paying him; he would even allow them to run up outstanding bills.

Seeing him working busily with a sense of satisfaction on his smiling face, we believe the spirit of Great Love has taken root inside him.

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Enjoying the Scenery
Fathima Gets Company

By Qiu Shu-juan
　

When the Great Love Village was completed, Tzu Chi volunteers formed a moving team to help people who were unable to move in by themselves.

Fathima Shahera, 43, lost her husband, daughter, and everything else in the tsunami. She lived alone in a hut after the disaster. She suffered from hypertension, and her feet were so swollen that she was unable to move around freely. The doctor said that she needed an operation, but she was poor and no one could care for her after the surgery, so she did not dare to have one. Tzu Chi volunteers therefore helped her move and also took her to a Tzu Chi free clinic.

Her new house is number 5. She likes the design of being able to see from her kitchen out to the backyard, because she can see the vast outdoor space and other people in the community.

Volunteers Zhang Rong-fu (張榮富) from Singapore and Chen Gui-zhou (陳貴洲) from Malaysia helped her move. Zhang had to stand at the back of the truck and keep an eye on Fathima’s belongings, so they would not be blown away by the wind, but it was hot and uncomfortable standing under the sun. However, he felt pleased to be able to contribute a little and in return win Fathima's trust.

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See What You Have, Not What You Don't
Tuan's Family Makes Beautiful Music

By Lin Cui-lian and Chen Wei-hao
　

Tuan Rashid Kasaar, 46, lived in the house numbered G19. He had planted two neat rows of flowers and plants. When he heard our voices, he came out of the house and saw volunteer Lin Cui-lian (林翠蓮) from Singapore. Kasaar greeted her happily, saying, "I know you--I saw you in the free clinic last year!"

Kasaar's family moved into the new house on March 6. He hung a green flowered curtain, and in the living room he put a small table on which was a vase with some red plastic flowers.

Kasaar worked at odd jobs. He used to have four boys and a girl. The tsunami killed his wife, a son and his daughter, but his three other sons survived. He thanked the volunteers for giving him a new house, but he felt sad that his wife, daughter and son could not share the joy with him.

He took out some very valuable photographs; they were a little blurry because they had been soaked in sea water, but they still carried good memories. A year had passed since the disaster, but the grief of losing his loved ones was still there and tears filled his eyes.

The volunteers comforted him by saying, "You have to pay attention to what you still have, not to what you have lost." They even suggested he paste the photos on the wall, as though his deceased family members were still here. He seemed relieved by such a positive thought.

He rolled up a cuff of his son's pants and pointed to a faint scar on his foot; he said that the wound had been treated by a Tzu Chi doctor after the tsunami. He cautiously displayed a case history dated January 11, 2005. His son's sole had been injured in the tsunami and treated at a Tzu Chi free clinic.

Kasaar cheerfully brought all his musical instruments into the living room and performed a Sri Lankan folk song. His singing was filled with joy.

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No More Pain; Only a Smile

By Qiu Shu-juan
　

Thilakarathe, 56, was operated on by Dr. Zhang Yu-lin (張玉麟), superintendent of Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital, to remove a small sarcoma below his eye. Lying on the surgical table, he wept tears of joy. "I am very happy. The sarcoma bothered me for over a decade, especially whenever I wore my glasses."

Over a period of 35 days after the tsunami, Tzu Chi medical teams took turns providing emergency medical treatment and psychological counseling for 27,000 local people. After that initial period was over, volunteers took over to build new houses and provide psychological counseling.

Most survivors have stepped out of the shadow of the disaster, but some people still suffer from chronic illnesses and psychological traumas that require continuous assistance. Before the new Great Love Village was turned over to the residents, medical professionals from Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore came again to hold free clinics in Hambantota on April 8 and 9. They used a school next to the Tzu Chi office to provide services in dentistry, pediatrics, internal medicine, external medicine, and psychiatry for over 1,000 people. To assist those who were unable to come to the free clinics, medical personnel, assisted by local volunteers, made home calls.

One team visited Nadun, a Tzu Chi aid recipient who lived about 45 minutes from Hambantota. Nadun suffered from epilepsy, and his father took out his case history for the doctor to examine. The volunteers noticed that the family was poor and could not continue building their new house because of the lack of building materials. The volunteers decided to give them the materials to finish their new house.

Afterwards, the group went to Damayanthi's house, which was only a five-minute drive away. Damayanthi was taking a nap, but she heard the volunteers calling her, so she got up to greet them. Her house had no doors or windows, and her two children were sleeping in the living room.

She pointed to a slight protrusion on her baby's neck. Dr. Zhang Yu-lin determined that a lymph node was slightly enlarged, but it was nothing to worry about. Damayanthi smiled with relief.

Dr. Guo Ke-lin (郭克林), a kidney doctor from Xindian Tzu Chi Hospital, knew that there was a kidney patient in Hambantota, so he went to see him. M.N.J. Munawaar, a 45-year-old Muslim, once suffered from kidney failure brought on by diabetes. He used to go to Colombo for dialysis twice a week, but then his brother donated a kidney to him.

Two years after the transplant, Munawaar's new kidney started failing, and he also suffered from problems with his lungs and heart. He had to take the midnight bus to Colombo for a checkup. The bus arrived there in the morning and then he had his checkup; afterwards, he took the bus home on the same day, so the trip was very hard on him. The doctor diagnosed that his immune system was not working properly because he had to take anti-rejection pills for his new kidney, and as a result he was susceptible to infection. Dr. Guo observed that the living standard here was much lower, so he was concerned that Munawaar had a higher chance of getting infection.

Munawaar had sold his rice field to pay for the kidney transplant. Afterwards, he helped out at his sister's shop while his wife made noodles to support the family. The family also received aid from Tzu Chi.

A.M. Nazaar, 47, lived not far from Munawaar. Nazaar's belly, feet and hands had swollen up because of kidney failure. After he became sick, the family depended on his wife, who sewed mats to earn a meager income. Their only son was studying in an Islamic school. At a friend's referral, Nazaar received financial aid from Tzu Chi.

Dr. Guo looked at Nazaar's case history and confirmed that his kidneys were not working well, but it was fortunate that he still did not need dialysis. After examining the medicine he took, Dr. Guo prescribed new medicine and instructed Nazaar's wife to get it from the Tzu Chi free clinic to save the cost.

Dr. Guo said with a sigh that cases like Munawaar selling his land for medical treatment were very common in Taiwan many years ago, but Taiwan now has a very good medical system and national health insurance, so the Taiwanese are very fortunate!