At the beginning of this year, Peru, which is thirty-six times the size of Taiwan, was suddenly attacked by severe rainstorms. Three hundred people died and close to 330,000 people were affected.

In mid-May, with help from the Peruvian chapter of the Red Cross, the Tzu Chi US Free Clinic, the Tzu Chi Chicago office and the Tzu Chi Texas office formed a seven-member inspection team to travel to Lambayeque.

On August 17, Tzu Chi started its first relief distribution program in South America. Led by Huang Szu-hsien, director of the Tzu Chi department of religious affairs and CEO of the Tzu Chi US branch, a team of nine people flew from Taiwan to Los Angeles, and about thirty hours later they finally reached Lima, the capital of Peru. Eighteen Tzu Chi members from the United States and Argentina had arrived two days earlier and were preparing relief goods with Red Cross volunteers.

The four-day relief effort and free medical services benefited 2,000 households, and more than 1,000 people received medical care.

The morning air in Lima was filled with the noise and exhaust fumes of passing vehicles, and the sky was smoky with dust. Peru gets hardly any rain at all, so architects never consider building a decent sewer system or a flood prevention system. That explains why there are always floods whenever a rainstorm does occur in Peru.

On the morning of August 18, Tzu Chi dispatched a relief team to Chiclayo, the third largest city in Peru. The team met with Tzu Chi members from the United States and Argentina. With the help of Huang Jen-yu, an official from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Peru, the members were divided into three teams to deliver goods and free medical examinations to flood victims.

What we saw as we drove through the country was a vast, arid land of yellow desert. Houses are typically built with earthen bricks. People living there are practical and only ask that their houses shelter them from the unpredictable weather. But if a heavy rainstorm comes, the houses fall apart.

The harder-hit areas in Peru were three counties in the sugar-producing area of Lambayeque province: Lambayeque, Ferrenafe, and Chiclayo. Our four-day distribution operation centered on seventeen towns in these three counties.

Covered with yellow dust, we first came to a refugee center in Puerto Eten. Here stood 150 huts built of woven sugarcane bark. The homes of the residents had all been flattened by the storms. When I asked one owner when he could rebuild his home, he simply replied, "I don't know, this is just the way it is."

It was not that the government did not want to help, but that its resources were severely stretched. This place had neither water nor electricity. The government shipped in drinking water every two or three days. As for food, there was a public center where food was prepared, but only enough for one meal every day.

When I went into one hut, there was not even a bed. At least the goods we were delivering this time included blankets and waterproof plastic sheets, so that the refugees could feel warm at night.

A temporary school had been set up in the refugee center. Two bedsheets on the hard yellow earth were the only place for thirty-six children to take a nap. There were a few empty coke bottles and plastic cans lying around. The teacher said, "These are the kids' toys."

When we handed out the relief items, some people who were not on the refugee list [provided by local authorities] still lined up to receive supplies, even though they had been asked to leave. They simply thought they could receive goods this way. A pregnant mother also waited in line, embracing a baby on her chest and clinging to another child standing beside her. Expectation was mixed with helplessness in the poor mother's eyes.

This was the first time the Tzu Chi US branch was fully in charge of a relief effort, so the members ran into all sorts of problems due to their limited experience. On the first day, we handed out relief goods in Olmos. On one side stood a group of refugees waiting to receive goods, and on the other side a group of eight hundred bystanders. All eyes were fixed on the rice in our truck. As the rice began to run low, even the refugees who were not listed started to become agitated. As Chang Chin-chin, head of the Tzu Chi Chicago office, described the situation, "You can say that we ended up making a desperate escape from that place."

The last distribution was done in Flor de Maria in Ferrenafe County, the main area for rice production in Peru. This county, with a population of 42,000, was the hardest hit: 86% of the houses were leveled by the floods.

Sister Tzu Sheng from Atlanta said, "I wanted so badly to carry a 25-kilogram [55 lb] bag of rice, because I knew that while I would only shoulder it for a couple of seconds, these refugees would live the rest of their lives in this village." She later said that she couldn't face the looks of eager anticipation on the faces of those refugees.

The relief team also chose seven towns in which to provide free medical examinations. Dr. Jason Tsing, a traditional Chinese doctor from Texas, provided acupuncture treatments. Since no Peruvians had ever had any experience with acupuncture, Dr. Tsing's "business" started off slowly, but then became very good as more and more patients felt better. He even broke his record from some twenty-odd years of practice by treating more than seventy patients in one day. There were also some Peruvian doctors at the site, but no one went to them for treatment. They all wanted to see Dr. Tsing.

Huang Jen-yu of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office said, "Although my government sent me here, I still hoped that I could create a chance for Tzu Chi no matter where I went. This relief distribution in Peru has planted Tzu Chi's great love."

"The end of this distribution is not the end of everything, but the beginning of another relief program," said Tang Hsueh-wu, chairperson of a Taiwanese business association in Peru. "In the future, Tzu Chi will carry out a three-year relief plan in Peru, and we will continue to lend our support."

Li Hui-yu, a Taiwanese businesswoman in Peru, remarked that at first she didn't really want to help at the distribution center. However, after participating in the distribution and the free medical examinations, she had a very different perspective. "Tzu Chi allows us to learn how to humble ourselvesspecially to learn how to regard people who are poorer than us."

The Peruvian refugees are friendly, yet very needy. When one distribution was over, a crowd of refugees still waited outside the stadium where the distribution had been held. The relief team didn't dare to leave because they feared that if they stepped outside, things would become ugly.

Suddenly a voice called out, "They're just greedyhey mean no harm!" Then there came another voice: "They aren't greedyhey just want to meet their basic needs." Indeed, basic needs and greed are entirely different. Since the refugees didn't have enough to eat or to wear, how could they be "greedy?"

"What's rewarding is that when we first came here a few months ago to inspect the situation, nothing grew here, but at least now there are some crops growing here and there," said Tung Tzu-yueh.

When refugees received the goods, they also learned to say, "Amitabha!" Tzu Chi members told them through a translator that it meant "unlimited blessing." We hope that blessings can be extended to more Peruvian refugees.

Six Days of Sweat and Tears
A Doctor's Experience
in the International Relief Project to Peru

By Jason Tsing

In August, the temperature in Peru differs greatly between day and night, and the ground is parched in the arid desert climate. Riding in a 60s-vintage bus and staring at the brown dust rising from the desolate land, I wondered how much pain and suffering were lurking there.

The usually arid land had been drenched by torrential rains as a result of this year's El Ni disturbances. Floods destroyed homes, washed away bridges and roads, and inflicted considerable damage to local hospitals and schools. After the floodwaters receded, infectious diseases such as malaria and cholera became rampant. The death toll exceeded 300 and a total of 330,000 people were affected.

The Tzu Chi disaster relief team to Peru, consisting of over thirty volunteers from the United States, Taiwan and Argentina, worked in coordination with the Peruvian chapter of the Red Cross to bring badly needed supplies and medical care to seventeen of the most affected localities. The supplies, with a total weight of more than seventy tons, included blankets, mosquito nets, tarps, rice, sugar and beans, as well as medical supplies and first aid kits. The team also hired local workers to build 450 huts as emergency shelters. Each 200-square-foot hut could house six to eight people. The Tzu Chi Foundation is now raising funds to construct mud-brick homes as permanent shelters for these families. The estimated cost to build one such home is US$150.

Fifteen minutes prior to landing at the airport, the pilot informed us that due to a landing gear malfunction, we were to follow the cabin crew in an emergency evacuation drill. To many of us, the recent China Airlines crash in Taiwan was still fresh in our memories. Amidst the anxious commotion and hubbub in the cabin, one of our team members led us in prayers. At that moment, I felt peace and clarity of purpose. My mission for this trip was to help suffering people in Peru. Should anything happen to me now, I would have no regrets at all. As a strong believer in reincarnation, I vowed to continue my mission for the rest of my life and for all my future lives to come. The words of Master Cheng Yen came to my mind: "A calm mind breeds no fear and keeps one from worldly illusions." Fortunately, after we finished our emergency evacuation preparation drill, the aircraft landed without any problem.

When our bus passed the village of Jiloritz, we saw an open sewer, six or seven feet in width, filled with murky water and various animal carcasses. Their stench permeated the air. Bordering the sewer, about six hundred feet away, was a line of almost a hundred dilapidated huts. Next to the huts, a number of mud-brick houses teetered on the verge of collapse. Two children, four or five years old, were searching for anything edible in nearby garbage piles. Several vultures lurked nearby. I was not sure what the vultures were waiting for: something to come out of the trash heap, or the hungry kids. A deep sense of sorrow came over me. I threw the few snacks I had with me out of the bus window and prayed that the children would find them.

There seemed to be patients everywhere. Rheumatism was common among the local people since most of them sleep on the ground. I looked at the long line of people seeking acupuncture treatment, and wished I could take care of every one of them right away. Seeing the anxious eyes of the patients waiting in line, I took out a bag of lollipops and passed them out. To the needy, a lollipop and the soothing voice of a doctor brought temporary relief and contentment. Tears came to my eyes. No matter how insignificant our efforts might be, no matter how little we actually helped, it would go a long way in the lives of these people.

On the last day of our free medical service, we were scheduled to depart at noon. Many of our patients and relief recipients lined up to see us off. There were also many that still wanted to see a doctor. Given the time constraints, we had to disappoint them. I started to cry. To my surprise, these poor, sick people came and comforted me saying, "Doctor, we will wait for you until next time." I hugged several of them and promised to return. My vision was blurred by a mixture of sweat from days of exhausting work and tears of sympathy. The words "All men are brothers" kept coming to my mind as the locals started to chant, "Taiwan, Taiwan, Tzu Chi, Tzu Chi, Amitabha, Hallelujah!" An ideal world seemed to manifest itself at that moment, in which, as Master Cheng Yen says, "There is no one that I cannot love, no one that I cannot trust, and no one that I cannot forgive."