Winter Clothes to North Korea

Choi Song Ho, director of the Asia Office of the North Korean Committee for the Promotion of International Trade, and a group of delegates came to the Tzu Chi Taipei branch office on December 22, 1997, to express their appreciation for Tzu Chi's donation of eleven containers, or 4,400 boxes, of winter clothes to North Korea.

The delegation met with Wang Tuan-cheng, deputy CEO of the Tzu Chi Foundation. They hoped that in the future, they could have further contacts with Tzu Chi. Wang remarked that it was Tzu Chi's belief and ideology that human beings had to regard each other equally and sincerely and help each other.

At a donation ceremony held at the Taipei Import-Export Association, Tzu Chi

representative Liu King-pong, editor-in-chief of the Foreign Language Publications Department, observed that Tzu Chi was a non-partisan, non-racial religious organization without any political or geographical boundaries. The foundation simply followed Master Cheng Yen's ideology of "Great mercy even to strangers and great compassion to all" and did its best to help anyone in need.

Chinese Provinces Receive Help

Zhejiang Province has long been a rich agricultural center. However, in the middle of August last year, the province was assaulted by Typhoon Winnie. Cities and towns along the coastline were heavily damaged by high winds, heavy rain and unusually high tides. More than 140 km. (87 mi.) of dikes fell apart, and the situation was compounded by sudden flooding from the mountains. Tzu Chi distributed three months of pearl rice, one down coat, and one winter comforter for each person for the winter.

In Anhwei Province last summer, floods destroyed houses and acres of land. The same area had also been hit with floods, drought and insects several years earlier. Tzu Chi members went to Wuhe and Kuchen in Anhwei and distributed comforters, flour, down jackets, and other relief supplies. In all, more than 50,000 victims received assistance.

Guizhou is an inland province with the lowest annual income in mainland China. Last summer, Hsinyi and Pan counties were attacked by all sorts of natural disasters. Tzu Chi handed out rice and down jackets to more than 61,000 victims.

Community Service in Canada

More and more Chinese immigrants are moving into Surrey, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver, and the city government has requested local residents to become more involved in their local communities. On January 9, the Tzu Chi Canada branch donated funds to the Surrey city government for its "Clean City" plan and to Surrey Memorial Hospital to help construct a children's health center.

According to branch secretary Brother Lin Yung-yuan, the city has developed rapidly, but available resources are rather limited and streets in Surrey have become very dirty. City mayor D. W. McCallum put together a "Clean City" plan and called on all residents and organizations to help clean up streets and parks.

The Tzu Chi Canada branch quickly contacted the city government and signed a volunteer agreement to clean designated streets at least four times a year for the next two years. Tzu Chi members swept streets last year, and have already scheduled more street-sweeping this year to improve the look of the city.

In addition, Sister Lai Ming-hsiao, in charge of public relations, led a group of Tzu Chi members to city hall on January 9 to donate CDN$5,000 [US$3,513] to support the city in another promotion for the "Clean City" plan. The Mayor applauded this good deed and hoped that it would attract more organizations to get involved.

Surrey is the fastest growing city in Canada. It is estimated that it will have a larger population than Vancouver in the next few years. However, the only major hospital, Surrey Memorial, is always packed with patients. Especially with so many young families moving into the city, 4 ,000 babies are born in the hospital and 25,000 children receive emergency treatment each year.

In order to improve medical services for the children in the area, the hospital is now planning to build a children's health center. The Tzu Chi Canada branch donated CDN$21,000 [US$14,757] to the hospital to purchase six beds.

Thanksgiving Presents to Homeless in the US

With winter approaching, staying warm is a major concern for homeless people in the United States.

The Tzu Chi Los Angeles branch office held a winter relief program for the homeless on November 24 last year. Branch members distributed sleeping bags, sweatshirts, winter socks , soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other daily necessities to more than 100 people. The branch also donated more than US$1,300 to a Catholic halfway house for women.

In the morning, the park was clean and quiet, but lines of homeless people were already waiting on the sidewalks. When Tzu Chi members arrived, several of the homeless people helped to unload the cars and put the relief supplies in an open space by the lake.

Each person received a sleeping bag, two sweatshirts, three pairs of socks and a box of daily necessities. Some people excitedly opened their boxes as soon as they got them. A man named Barry said to us, "I thank you very much for caring about homeless people like us, who are ignored by society. Sometimes when we are hungry or cold, we have no idea what to do. I again want to thank you very much!"

Barry has been homeless for five years and has applied for all sorts of government assistance, but he has not received any reply yet. Without a permanent address, he cannot get a job, and so he sees no future for himself. He quietly told us about his life and the helplessness and sadness of a wanderer.

Some of these homeless people had all of their goods in their hands, while some were empty-handed. There was a family of six: father, mother, and four children. They pushed a shopping cart that contained all their goods. The volunteers wondered, "Don't they have a place to stay?" They handed out two extra sleeping bags for the little ones to stay warm. The parents were delighted and kept saying, "God bless you!"

Two Tzu Chi volunteers, Katie and Estefani, spent five evenings and two afternoons looking for these people in parks and at bus stops to ask them what they needed. At first, no one paid any attention to them, and no one believed that Tzu Chi would help them. The homeless have been lied to many times. Finally, Katie and Estefani simply sat down with them and chatted with them. Days later , they gave them registration forms to pick up relief goods on that day.

The sincerity of the Tzu Chi members won admiration from Ray, the manager of a nearby YWCA who also came to help. Many passers-by were curious about Tzu Chi and admired what the members were doing.

After the distribution, the same Tzu Chi members also went to a Catholic shelter for girls. For two years, the home has been taking in young girls who are addicted to drugs, pregnant or abandoned. The home takes care of them until they finish their education or their babies are born and they can be independent. Tzu Chi members purchased a new carpet, a new washing machine, a dryer, and a vacuum cleaner to improve their lives.

The priest in charge of the shelter said, "With our limited resources, we want to help those needy women and to purify their hearts. I hope they can treat this place as their home , and not just a temporary shelter."

US Free Clinic Center Receives Award

On January 24, the lights at the Ritz Carlton Hotel sparkled, the band played sweet melodies, and the roses bloomed fragrantly to welcome the coming of spring. At its annual recognition banquet, the San Gabriel Valley Medical Center Foundation presented its Sterling Award to the Tzu Chi US Free Clinic Center. For the first time, the award was presented to an Asian, and also a Buddhist, organization. It was also an honor for all overseas Chinese.

The Tzu Chi brothers and sisters were the center of attention that evening, not only because they were elegantly dressed, but also because they represented the love of American Chinese in Los Angeles. The MC, foundation secretary Kay O'Brien, came several times to their table and embraced them, making many people cast envious glances at them.

When Drs. Hsu Shih-hsiung and Hsu Ming-chang received the award from Tom Morne, executive chairman of the foundation, the whole room was filled with loud applause. Dr. Hsu Shih-hsiung then thanked the foundation and introduced Tzu Chi's ideology and the work at the clinic center to the audience.

Center activities of the last five years were also described in a pamphlet distributed by the ceremony organizer. The beautiful photographs and text attracted the eyes of every reader.

Chairman Morne said that besides the award, his foundation would also provide free medicine, technology and staff training, so that clinical center staff members could carry out their jobs better.

The San Gabrielle Valley Medical Center Foundation is a non-profit charity organization. Each year since 1994, it has presented the Sterling Award to organizations and individuals to encourage local charity groups to be more involved in helping the needy.

The foundation's board of directors learned about the Tzu Chi free clinic last September. Besides the clinic, the Red Cross, Salvation Army and World Vision were also nominated for this award.

Emergency Medical Help to Afghanistan

At 7 p.m. on February 4, the Afghan city of Rustaq in the northeast province of Takhar was struck by an earthquake of 6.1 on the Richter scale. The quake left 5,000 people dead, thousands of people missing and 30,000 people homeless. Unfortunately, the disaster area is at an altitude of 5,000 meters (16,500 ft.) and was covered with snow at that time. Even temporary shelters could not protect refugees from the cold weather, and many people succumbed every day to illnesses caused by the freezing weather.

Roads to the disaster area were cut off by the quake and civil war. The airport was also closed off, so transportation to and from the outside world was almost totally severed. Snowstorms and thick fog prevented air drops. Hence, aid from the International Red Cross and other relief organizations could not be maintained.

Through the help of US congressperson Dana Rohrbacher, the Tzu Chi Foundation and Knightsbridge, an international relief group based in Los Angeles, joined hands to provide necessary assistance. Tzu Chi provided 1,500 pounds of medicines, including twelve types of antibiotics and 500 bottles of IV solution. Dr. Edward Artis, Knightsbridge chairperson, led a five-member team of doctors and reporters to investigate the disaster area and to distribute the relief supplies.

The group left on February 16 and entered Afghanistan from its northern neighbor, Tajikistan. Depending on the weather, they either used donkeys or horses to carry the supplies or airlifted the materials by helicopter . They returned to Los Angeles on February 25.