Eleven Tzu Chi members from Taiwan, Australia and Hawaii arrived in Papua New Guinea on August 30 to distribute relief items. They presented basic medical equipment to Boram Hospital in Wewak, a town in northern Papua New Guinea.

One member of the group that went to help at Boram Hospital was Dr. Torrey Goodman from Kaiser Hospital in Hawaii. Dr. Goodman had first heard of Tzu Chi when Tzu Chi members from Hawaii held free medical clinics in Western Samoa. When she heard that physicians were needed to help in Papua New Guinea, she immediately joined the effort.

When the team returned with the information that the disaster victims urgently needed tools to rebuild their homes, a second relief mission was organized. From September 16 to 20, team members distributed axes, saws, hammers, shovels and other tools, a total of about 1990 items.

Expulsion of foreigners from Lesotho

In late September, an outbreak of rioting in Lesotho caused many Taiwanese and mainland Chinese people to seek safety in neighboring South Africa.

When the opposition party in Lesotho failed to win any parliament seats in a general election held about two months ago, the ruling party was suspected of having manipulated the election. Violence erupted in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, on September 22. People looted foreign businesses and foreigners were expelled from Lesotho. Troops from neighboring South Africa and Botswana were sent in to crack down on the looting and violence.

Most Taiwanese had already moved their homes across the border into South Africa after the riots of 1991. Therefore, even though their businesses were ransacked or destroyed during the violence this time, they still had homes to return to. By the afternoon of September 22, Tzu Chi members within Lesotho had formed a rescue team to help Taiwanese, mainland Chinese and some Lesotho citizens to find emergency shelters.

Tzu Chi Canada provides food to AIDS Patients

Tzu Chi Canada again donated CDN$51,000 (US$33,000) to AIDS Vancouver, a center that provides care for AIDS patients in Vancouver, Canada. The donation will pay for a year's worth of special dietary foods for the center's resident patients.

Gary Ho, CEO of Tzu Chi Canada, has encouraged people to try to understand how AIDS is treated, how it is prevented and how we can best work with AIDS patients. Therefore, many Tzu Chi members from the Canadian branch volunteer at AIDS Vancouver once a week in order to gain a better understanding of the disease.

At this time, the center has about six hundred patients receiving free food. Medical expenses for AIDS patients are high, and some drugs must be taken with milk or fruit juice. Because they need to have a highly nutritious diet in order to maintain their health, the services provided by Tzu Chi Canada help ease their financial burden.

Tzu Chi Canada has already been regularly serving meals to over seven hundred homeless people at the local Salvation Army. Thus, it has established good relationships with many farmers and receives discounts on many farm products. The benefits from this arrangement also extend to the residents of AIDS Vancouver.

Tzu Chi distribution in Indonesia

During recent riots in Indonesia, many people focused on the violence against local Chinese. However, Tzu Chi members in Indonesia have been primarily concerned about continuing their assistance to poor Indonesians.

Recently, when distributing medicine for tuberculosis in Serang county, Tzu Chi members learned from the local social services department that residents of Pulau Tunda, a small island in the Indian Ocean, were in dire need of daily necessities and medicine.

Even though Pulau Tunda is under the jurisdiction of Serang County, it takes two hours by boat to reach the island. On August 23, Tzu Chi members made that trip to deliver rice, oil, sugar and milk powder and to provide free medical services to the islanders.

Tzu Chi Hawaii raises funds for free medical clinic

In order to raise funds for the Tzu Chi Hawaii Free Medical Clinic, the Tzu Chi Hawaii office held a Moon Festival celebration on October 3 at the Chinese Cultural Plaza. The festival included various performances and about thirty stalls selling food and other items.

Besides offering traditional Taiwanese foods, many of the stalls organized games, and chefs from three restaurants gave demonstrations on how to cook vegetarian meals. Visitors also enjoyed choir performances, lion dances and other forms of entertainment.

The money generated during the festival will be used to operate a free medical clinic.

Two local hospitals, Kaiser Hospital and Straub Hospital, also set up booths at the festival and provided free medical checkups to some two hundred senior citizens.

Clothes for Central America

On November 29, Tzu Chi started a collection drive throughout the island of Taiwan for used clothing, which were to be sent to the victims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America. Many schools and local communities responded wholeheartedly, and the amount collected far exceeded original estimates. The clothes were loaded into containers and shipped to various Central American countries.

The ambassadors of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and the representative of the ambassador of Honduras visited a collection site in Taipei on December 4. They were surprised to find over fifty Tzu Chi members working together to sort, repair, iron, fold and package the clothes. Touched by what they saw, they expressed their deep gratitude to the volunteers.

As soon as Tzu Chi members and the general public learned about the drive, donations of clothes started pouring in. Many people also came to help with the sorting. Thinking that this activity could help young people activate their love for others, Sister Wei, a Catholic nun from Fujen Catholic University in Taipei, brought along several of her students.

Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In a letter written on October 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commended the Tzu Chi Foundation for its good work, which contributed to the decision by the US Congress to support Taiwan membership in the World Health Organization (WHO).

The letter states that US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), asked his colleagues in Congress to support Taiwan's bid to join WHO. Rohrabacher remarked that the people of Taiwan have assisted people in other parts of the world through private organizations and official channels and that the Tzu Chi Foundation had sent huge amounts of medicine to crisis areas throughout Asia. Congress voted 418 to 0 in favor of passing Bill 334 which supports Taiwan membership in WHO.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs praised Tzu Chi for its humanitarian efforts on both domestic and global levels and for the positive effects these efforts have had on both personal and international relationships.

Master Cheng Yen and Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall, the internationally renowned chimpanzee researcher, visited Master Cheng Yen on November 5 in Hualien. They discussed issues related to environmental protection and to respect for life. Calling her a "good partner," the Master praised Dr. Goodall for promoting her educational program, "Roots and Shoots." The Master and Dr. Goodall also encouraged each other to continue their efforts for a better future.

The Master remarked that the "Roots and Shoots" program pursues the same goal as the Tzu Chi concept of "purifying people's hearts." Dr. Goodall's program targets young people in over fifty countries and teaches them to care about the environment, animals and local communities.

Many of the natural calamities that have occurred around the world over the past year have actually been man-made disasters. Dr. Goodall commented that the world seems helpless in the face of these disasters, but that we can still apply our intelligence and will toward protecting the environment and helping to restore nature to its original condition. Master Cheng Yen and Dr. Goodall agreed that if human beings have the power to destroy nature, they also have the power to restore it.

Free clinics in Mexico

On October 17 and 18, the Tzu Chi US Free Clinic provided medical services in Calexico, near the US border, and in the nearby village of Sanfernando Colonial. The services helped a total of 240 patients.

On October 17, forty medical personnel and volunteers held a tea party and gave free medical examinations in Calexico. Every Chinese resident living near the US-Mexico border prepared at least one vegetarian dish for patients and guests at the tea party. One Mexican-American doctor, Dr. Gabriel Nunez Huerta, signed up to offer his services at the clinic.

The next day, the team went to the village of Sanfernando. Due to recent inclement weather, many people there had colds, and many others had digestive problems.

About fifty patients with headaches or arthritis visited the traditional Chinese medicine doctors for acupuncture.

Dental care was also provided to some eighty patients. Because local children had no knowledge of proper dental care, many of them had seriously decayed teeth.