"The most difficult part of marrow donation is that the donor's HLA (human leukocyte antigen) tissue type has to match the patient's. If not, a person cannot donate his marrow even if he wants to. Therefore, we have to establish a marrow donor registry data bank to computerize necessary data for future use." - Master Cheng Yen, founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation

In accordance with the tenet of "Respect Life" and hoping to save the lives of blood disease victims, the Tzu Chi Foundation established the Tzu Chi Taiwan Marrow Donor Registry in October 1993. Presently the most effective cure for blood disease is marrow transplant. However, many patients have waited a long time for marrow donors, but have died because they failed to find any. Master Cheng Yen, founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation, ascertained that bone marrow, after being extracted from a donor, is replenished in the donor's body in about the days, and that a marrow transplant operation will not affect the donor's health. These facts stimulated the Master to set up a bone marrow donor registry data bank in Taiwan and call for the general public to join the marrow donation campaign.

By the year 1995, TCTMDR had successfully publicized the concept of bone marrow donation, held over 10,000 island-wide promotion meetings and 48 blood test drives, arranged get-togethers for patients and donors, and, more importantly, developed international cooperation. The promotion teams had braved all kinds of weather, gone through every alley and byway, stood wherever people gathered together, used every minute of time, and finally succeeded in making TCTMDR the largest Chinese bone marrow registry in the world. On July 9, 1995, less than two years after the founding of the registry, the initial target of 100,000 marrow donor volunteers was reached, an achievement that attracted world attention.

Life Is Invaluable

"Bone marrow donation not only prolongs the patient's life, but is also a concrete act of the Buddhist spirit, 'Great mercy even to strangers and great compassion for all.'" - Bone Marrow Donation Promotion Group

Life is invaluable and every life has to be equally respected. If we can give any blood disease sufferer the chance for life, it is worth the effort. Since the chance of matching the HLA between a patient and a donor is only one out of ten thousand, this work requires the efforts of the entire population.

With the increasing numbers of volunteer donors, there is also an increasing need for funds. In the United States, marrow donors have to pay the blood test fees, whereas in Taiwan the service is paid for by Tzu Chi at a cost of about NT$1,000 [US$40] per test. Thus the promotion team hopes that the public will understand that it is urgent indeed to raise funds as well as sign up volunteers.

Marrow Donation: A Life-Saving Path of the Bodhisattvas

"If we regard every donor as a buddha, the marrow donor registry leads to the Path of the Bodhisattvas." - Marrow Donation Care Team

By the end of 1995, TCTMDR had performed 25 cases of non-relative marrow transplants. The care team, accompanying the donors in the process of marrow extraction, often felt like they were taking care of living bodhisattvas. A Buddhist donor said that every morning she prayed for peace and health for the little girl who had received her marrow. Another donor even asked if he could go through the marrow extraction operation without being anesthetized so that he could feel the same pain as the recipient. Doctors refused his request, but his compassion was remarkably touching.

A marrow transplant is a trial of courage for both donor and recipient. For the donor, the donation is a great meritorious act which takes great courage and love. For the recipient, the choice of undergoing the transplant expresses his thirst and love for life. However, the patient who has to risk the transplant needs even more than just courage. Mr. Chen, who was the fourth successful case of non-relative marrow transplant, recalled how he pulled through: "For almost three days, I could barely sleep. What if the transplant failed? If the operation wasn't successful. I would die. Without the operation, I might live a bit longer." Doctors told him that the success of the transplant depended on his having confidence. "Now I live healthily and happily," continued Mr. Chen. "My life was given me by everyone involved in the operation. Without the transplant, my life would be nothing but waiting for the end." TCTMDR indeed offers a path for courageous blood cancer patients to walk on.

Going International

"If it saves even one life, today's signing of this cooperation agreement will be meaningful. Saving lives has no national boundaries. International marrow donation is the development of a spirit of world brotherhood."- Dr. Howskins, secretary general of the Hong Kong Marrow Match Foundation

On December 16, 1995, TCTMDR signed a cooperation agreement with the Hong Kong Marrow Match Foundation. To the TCTMDR, the contract was the first step in going international. The HKMMF lists 20,000 donors and has completed 40 non-relative transplants. In the future, match searches will be conducted simultaneously by both registries, helping blood disease victims to find matches more quickly and efficiently, and thus saving more lives.

TCTMDR is the world's largest marrow donor registry for patients of Chinese descent. There are 110,000 volunteer marrow donors registered, and the successful match rate for searches within Taiwan is 46%. However, if TCTMDR is connected with the other Chinese marrow donor registry data banks in the world, the rate of successful matches could reach 50%.

Currently, more and more HLA match-seekers are approaching the Tzu Chi Registry from Taiwan and foreign countries. Statistics for January, 1996, show that a total of 902 applications were registered, triple the number for the same month in 1995. Out of the 902 applications, 353 were from Taiwan. The remainder came from 16 other countries and territories.

Therefore, the most important project for TCTMDR is to connect with other Chinese marrow registries worldwide, so that more patients of Asian descent will be benefited.

Future Goals for TCTMDR

"Chinese culture highly values the virtue of giving, whereas the Buddhist spirit is one of kindness, compassion, joy and unselfish giving. Marrow donation is a good example of the spirit of unselfish giving."- Sister Bi-yu Lin, director of the Tzu Chi Marrow Donor Registry

TCTMDR naturally loses donors year after year: prospective donors go over the age limit as time goes by, or they move or lose contact. Therefore, before a better way is found to save blood disease patients, TCTMDR aims to enlist not only a quota of ten or twenty thousand volunteer donors, but to have a permanent, unlimited registry in order to provide an eternal source of hope for blood disease victims. In the years to come, in addition to actively seeking more connections with international marrow registry data banks and establishing an HLA research lab, the greatest hope of the TCTMDR is that everyone will sign up as volunteer marrow donors!

More Amiable Care:
The Marrow Donation Care Team

Master Cheng Yen once said, "If anyone has the seeds of compassion in his heart, we should help nurture those seeds." Some people are willing to donate bone marrow to those in need, but themselves need comfort and encouragement during the transplant process. The Marrow Donor Care Team was established for this purpose.

Helping the Helpers

When a volunteer donor is successfully matched in the preliminary search and the donor again confirms his willingness to make the donation, the TCTMDR will arrange further confirmatory matching tests and a complete medical examination. Apart from the TCTMDR staff members, the Marrow Donor Care Team, organized by the commissioners of Tzu Chi and the members of the Tzu Cheng Faith Corps in every city and county of Taiwan, also stands by to help.

If the donor's resolve is firm, the care team gives confirmation and assistance. If the donor is undecided, the care team offers psychological counseling and moral support. The care process goes through three periods. In the first period, team members accompany the donor when he goes to the hospital to do detailed check-up and blood extraction; in the second period, the team stays with the donor in the hospital for the three days of the marrow extraction process; in the third period, members give more follow-up care after the donor leaaves the hospital. The brothers and sisters of the care team, following the tenet of "Respect Life," hope to help more people accomplish the virtue of saving lives. Donors have been deeply moved by the kindness of the care team, sighing, "They treat me better than my own family!"

A Letter From a Donor's Family

One day in early October 1994, my wife quite unexpectedly told me that her notice to donate marrow had arrived. Being a devout Buddhist, she was very grateful to Buddha for the chance to help someone. As for me, my mother died when I was four years old, and I didn't want the same kind of bitter misfortune to happen in any other family again. Therefore, I supported my wife without any hesitation. We had to help this little child in far-off America. Otherwise, not only would he not survive, but his family would suffer the agony of losing loved one. If this happened in my family, how I would hope that someone would give a helping hand and donate marrow!

The extraction operation was quite successful. Actually, it can hardly be called an "operation": my wife just had a few needle holes afterwards and no wounds at all. Tzu Chi members accompanied my wife again and again through all the tests and procedures before and after the operation. Even now, a year later, we still get greeting cards from Tzu Chi.

It is so strange: my wife used to be very susceptible to colds, but now she seldom catches any colds and, as a matter of fact, looks much healthier since the transplant. Maybe it's because of something in her metabolism, or maybe it's the joy of being able to donate. My wife used to be afraid of seeing doctors. When she had a tooth cavity, she wouldn't even go to the dentist. Her courage this time must have come from Master Cheng Yen's teachings. I am thankful to Tzu Chi for giving us the chance to learn and grow.