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GREAT LOVE ACROSS THE TAIWAN STRAITS |
| Tzu Chi's Relief Efforts and Exchanges
to China
The greatest floods of the century in China occurred in May and June of 1991 and rampaged throughout nineteen provinces in central and eastern China, affecting more than 220 million people and submerging millions of acres of farmlands. Property losses were beyond calculation. July *After great floods in China, Tzu Chi set up a special postal account to accept donations to help the victims. August *Master Cheng Yen donated half of her US$30,000 Magsaysay Award for flood victims in China and the other half for emergency relief in the Philippines. *Tzu Chi inspected conditions in two towns in Quanjiao County, Anhui Province. *At the fourteenth Honorary Board member meeting in Taipei, the Master called on all to gather their strength and help the victims in China. October *A fund-raising event conducted with the help of 7-11 stores and the nationwide President Bakery stores continued until the end of December. *43 Tzu Chi members went to 22 counties and towns in Anhui Province and delivered 19,687 cotton coats and pants as well as emergency cash to refugees. December *1,635 cotton coats and pants and 984 comforters were delivered to Xinghua, Jiangsu Province.
<1992> The disasters of 1991 continued. January *11,451 cotton coats and pants, 5,776 comforters, 858,825 kilograms of rice and emergency cash were distributed in Xi County, Henan Province; 23,988 cotton coats and pants, 16,425 comforters, 374,100 kilograms of rice and cash were distributed in eight towns in Gushi County, also in Henan Province; the relief helped more than 40,000 refugees. *At a second relief effort in Quanjiao County, Anhui Province, 19,131 cotton coats and pants, 1,059 comforters, 72,000 kilograms of seeds, 900 tonnes of fertilizer, and money were delivered to 1,955 lonely, poor old people. *The houses Tzu Chi helped build for 945 refugee families in 14 communities in Quanjiao County, Anhui Province, were completed. June *Homes for 568 households and 148 nursing homes in 15 communities in Jiangsu Province were completed. September *Opening ceremonies were held for 10 nursing homes in Anhui Province, and Tzu Chi donated comforters, mattresses, thermos bottles, noodles and other items to the old people. The nursing homes accommodated 464 residents. *Opening ceremonies were held for three schools, which covered a total area of 7,000 square meters. October *10,150 copies of Master Cheng Yen's Still Thoughts in simplified Chinese were distributed to government offices and school libraries. November *1,594 homes in Xi County and Gushi County in Henan Province were completed.
<1993> With a severe rainstorm in the central region of the Yangtze River in July, Hunan Province suffered the most serious floods in the past forty years, with the Tujia Autonomous Region in western Hunan being the worst affected. July *Medical teams from Jianchen Hospital in Yanzhou, Jiangsu Province, held a free clinic in a Tzu Chi village in Jiangsu Province. September *Jianchen Hospital and Tzu Chi Hospital, Taiwan, cooperated in holding free clinics in four towns in Jiangsu Province. *Opening ceremonies were held for several Tzu Chi schools in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province. October *Tzu Chi assisted a woman with a congenital heart problem to receive an operation in a military hospital in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. December *150 kilograms of rice (enough for one person for 5 months), winter coats and comforters for each of 83,192 people in Yongshun and Sangzhi County, Hunan Province.
<1994> Drought in northern China and rainstorms in southern China caused floods that submerged many farms and drove thousands of people from their homes. March *A third relief team distributed rice in Hunan Province. Drs. Tsai Po-wen and Wang Yin-wei from Tzu Chi Hospital and Chang Fu-mei, principal of the Tzu Chi College of Nursing, provided free clinics. September *60 kilograms of rice were distributed to each of 41,655 flood victims in four towns in Guangdong Province. October *90 kilograms of rice (enough for 3 months) were distributed to each of 5,696 flood victims in Jiangxi Farm and 52,169 flood victims in 17 towns in Rongshui County in Guangxi Province. December *28,498 comforters were given to more than 50,000 flood victims in Rongshui County, Guangxi Province, and a comforter was provided for each of 2,213 poor students in 6 secondary schools.
<1995> At the end of May, severe rainstorms in the central and lower regions of the Yangtze River caused a rise in the water level at Boyang Lake and Dongting Lake. More rainstorms at the end of July in northeastern China caused major floods in that area. March *The Tzu Chi Canada branch office donated money to build 13 Tzu Chi nursing homes in 9 provinces. May *Scholarships were provided for students in Zhangjiako, Hebei Province, to keep them in school until 1997. June *An agreement was made with Nanjing Medical University to provide scholarships to outstanding students every October. *Opening ceremonies were held for three Tzu Chi villages, including 97 homes, in Guangxi Province. July *Tzu Chi sponsored research on Buddhist music by the Beijing Central College of Music. Researcher Dr. Yuan Jingfang’s book, Research on Chinese Buddhist Music, won second prize in the first annual Outstanding Culture, Arts and Science Result of the Department of Culture. The funding continued until December 1998. September *The opening ceremony was held for Xibao Tzu Chi Secondary School in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province. October *150 kilograms of rice, one cotton coat, and one comforter for two people were distributed for each of 34,803 flood victims in Hanshou County, Hunan Province. *Three months, worth of rice, cotton coats and comforters were provided for 48,962 flood victims in Jiangxi Province; one to two months of rice, cotton coats and comforters for 17,612 flood victims in Anhui Province; in Guangdong Province, two months of rice was distributed for 7,547 seriously affected victims and one month of rice for 5,908 survivors who were less seriously affected. November *More than 700 kilograms of rice or corn (enough to last six months), close to 10,000 tons of coal, and more than 14,000 cotton coats were distributed to 39,801 victims in 17 towns in Liaoning Province, northeastern China. December *One coat and one comforter for two persons were distributed to each of 154,924 victims in Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Guangdong, and Liaoning Provinces. The comforters were made heavier (from 3 kilograms to 4 kilograms) to shield the people from the cold weather.
<1996> In November 1995, it snowed so much that Yushu Autonomous Region in Qinhai Province was blocked off for months, with more than 60,000 households suffering from food shortage and more than 20,000 people affected with serious frostbite and snow blindness. Typhoon Herb devastated Fujian Province and regions west of Taihang Mountain in Hebei Province. Thousands of farms became riverbeds full of rocks, and all the crops were ruined. February *3,000 comforters and 7,000 cotton coats were distributed to earthquake victims in Yunnan Province. April *25 kilograms (enough for two months) of a local variety of wheat were distributed to each of 15,924 people suffering from food shortage, and cash was given to 1,266 households without any livestock and 2,450 households with minimal livestock in Qinghai Province. August *A new Tzu Chi village in Zhangjiako, Hebei Province, was opened. September *A music-culture exchange program was held between Beijing University and a Tzu Chi team formed of members of the Tzu Chi Honorary Board and the Tzu Chi Collegiate Youth Association. *A Tzu Chi elementary school in Liaoning Province was completed. October *The Tzu Chi Hong Kong liaison office held a two-day bazaar at the Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Center. The proceeds were donated to 30,000 typhoon victims in Fujian Province, China. *90 kilograms of rice, one cotton coat, and one comforter for two people were distributed to each of 38,577 victims in 6 heavily flooded cities in Fujian Province. *90 kilograms of flour, one cotton coat and one comforter were distributed to each of more than 119,000 flood victims in 5 heavily flooded cities in Hebei Province. December *Opening ceremonies were held for two Tzu Chi villages in Jiangxi Province. Team members gave gifts and a home-ownership certificate to each family. *A Tzu Chi school was opened in Jiangxi Province. It was the first ever "complete school," including elementary school, junior high and senior high. It occupied 203 acres of land and accepted 3,000 students.
<1997> When Typhoon Winnie landed in Zhejiang Province, huge tidal waves washed out houses and buildings and destroyed all the crops in the coastal regions. There was also serious flooding in mountain areas. The nearby province of Fujian was not immune to the attacks either. Continuous floods in Anhui Province caused bad harvests for farmers. Farmers in remote mountain areas in Guizhou Province had bad harvests because of rainstorms, hail and drought. April *The first-ever successful non-relative bone marrow transplant from a donor in Taiwan to a recipient in Beijing, China, was performed. August *A Tibetan monk from Qinghai Province, China, came to preach in Taiwan. He also visited Master Cheng Yen to express the gratitude of the local people in Chengduo, Qinghai, for Tzu Chi’s assistance last year. September *A Tzu Chi elementary school was opened in Jiangxi Province. This school was jointly funded by Tzu Chi members in Shanghai and Taiwanese businesspeople in China. October *The Wuhan Tzu Chi Children's Welfare Institute was opened. The multifunctional building included facilities for medical care, rehabilitation, instruction, recreation, adoption, and research for children. It occupied 17.4 acres of land and accepted around 400 orphans. November *One bone marrow donation was performed in Guangdong Province. December *Three months of rice, one cotton coat and a comforter for two people were distributed to each of 114,848 flood refugees in Zhejiang Province. *One month of rice, one cotton coat and one comforter for two people were provided for each of 15,712 victims in Fujian. Each of 2,202 victims who received help from Tzu Chi last year received one month of rice.
<1998> Flooding ravaged various areas in the Ming and Yangtze valleys. Every social sector in China donated money and clothes to survivors. Many government employees also donated one month of their salaries, but even this was not enough for so many disaster victims. January *40 Tzu Chi members went to Xiamen, Fujian Province, on a five-day education and culture exchange program. *90 kilograms of rice, one cotton coat and one comforter for two people were distributed to each of 78,202 victims in remote mountain areas in Guizhou Province. *90 kilograms of flour, one cotton coat, and one comforter for two people were given to each of more than 50,000 victims in Anhui Province. *In Anhui Province, the opening ceremony was held for the Tzu Chi Pingan Secondary School, which was built by the foundation for students whose previous school was destroyed by a flood in 1991. Tzu Chi members gave gifts to more than 1,000 students. *Group activities were held at Dinggui Tzu Chi Secondary School in Anhui Province, and Chinese New Year parties were celebrated with residents of the ten nursing homes rebuilt by Tzu Chi in Anhui Province. *Construction of Wuwan Tzu Chi Elementary School in Guizhou Province was begun and scholarships were given to 2,945 students. August *Fund-raising was conducted by Tzu Chi members around the world for flood victims in China until November 1. *Model water reservoirs were built in Gansu Province. *Members of the Tzu Chi Collegiate Youth Association conducted a ten-day Chinese-culture visit to Beijing University and Qinghua University, both in Beijing. *The Tzu Chi Teachers, Liaison Association held the opening ceremony for the Quanjiao Tzu Chi Secondary School and conducted an exchange with local teachers on teaching methods. September *Two months of rice, one cotton coat and one winter comforter for two people were distributed to each of 41,938 victims in Fujian Province. *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Hainan Province, and one in Beijing. November *Three months of rice was distributed to each of 34,784 refugees in Hunan Province. *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Zhejiang Province. December *Two months of rice was distributed to refugees in Duchang and Yugan. Refugees in Poyang County, Jiangxi Province, each received three months of rice, one cotton coat and one comforter. A total of 54,820 refugees received help. *Two to three months of rice, cotton coats and comforters were distributed to 49,058 refugees in Hubei Province.
<1999> Major flood disasters along some of the Yangtze River basins. January *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Zhejiang Province. *Wuwan Tzu Chi Elementary School in Guizhou Province was opened. This was the second school, after Baizhu Tzu Chi Elementary School in Jiangxi Province, to be jointly funded by Tzu Chi members in Shanghai and Taiwanese businesspeople in China. *Scholarships were provided for students at Shanghai University. *Financial aid was provided for a total of 3,040 poor students and 100 poor families in eight towns in Guizhou Province. March *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Shanghai and one in Guangdong Province. April *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Shanghai and one in Zhejiang Province. *An exchange program was held between the Tzu Chi International Medical Association and a Xiamen medical association. There was also a free clinic for 2,151 people and a blood donation drive. Financial aid was provided for eighty poor families in Xiamen. May *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Shanghai. June *Two bone marrow transplants were performed in Zhejiang Province and one in Sichuan Province. July *Three bone marrow transplants were performed in Shanghai and one in Zhejiang Province. August *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Zhejiang Province. *Water reservoirs for 567 families were built in Gansu Province. September *Two bone marrow transplants were performed in Beijing and one in Zhejiang Province. October *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Beijing. November *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Zhejiang, one in Beijing and one in Shanghai. *The opening ceremony was held for a Tzu Chi secondary school in Hebei Province. December *Two bone marrow transplants were performed in Zhejiang Province. *Three months of rice, cotton coats and comforters were distributed to 48,435 disaster victims in Hunan Province. *Two months of rice, cotton coats and comforters were distributed to 30,390 victims in Hubei Province, and financial aid was provided for 511 elementary school students and 245 secondary school students. *Two to three months of rice, comforters and cotton coats were distributed to 43,486 refugees, free clinics were held, and financial aid was given to students in Anhui Province. Money was given to residents of a Tzu Chi nursing home in Anhui Province. *Thirty people from the Wuhan Tzu Chi Children's Welfare Institute visited Taiwan for ten days.
<2000> February *One bone marrow transplant was performed in Sichuan Province. March *Two bone marrow transplants were performed in Zhejiang Province. *Relief and free clinics were provided for 450 people in Anhui Province. *The opening ceremony of a Tzu Chi village of 63 families in Hunan Province was celebrated. June *A new hospital building at the Shanghai First Military Medical University is expected to open. September *A Tzu Chi secondary school and a Tzu Chi elementary school will be opened in Fujian Province. (Date of calculations: April 15, 2000) |
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