ENVELOPING THE WORLD WITH GREAT LOVE

In late September 1997, forest fires in Indonesia produced heavy smoke and ash, giving rise to smog that affected many Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines and Thailand. In Malaysia alone, at least fifty thousand people were hospitalized with respiratory illnesses.

The Malaysian prime minister declared a state of emergency in Sarawak State and urged locals to wear surgical masks to screen out polluted air. When Tzu Chi volunteers in Kuching, the state capital, discovered that masks were in short supply, they contacted volunteers in Kampung Lembaga Padi to immediately send five thousand masks by air freight. The masks were handed out at places with heavy human traffic, such as train stations and vendor centers. Altogether six thousand masks were distributed.

In addition, volunteers in Kampung Lembaga Padi provided five thousand masks to students in ten local elementary schools.

Viral disease attacking humans and animals

Project time: March 1999
Aid provided: Hospital care and cash relief



In March 1999, Malaysia experienced its worst-ever epidemic of a viral disease that affected both humans and animals. Close to a hundred pig farmers contracted and died from the disease, and 231 were hospitalized. To contain the disease, the Malaysian government quarantined the disease areas and destroyed pigs. Two states were declared highly dangerous and pig farmers had to be evacuated.

Tzu Chi volunteers established care centers for the families of those infected with the disease at the Fujung Central Hospital and the Malaysia University Hospital in Kuala Lumpur. Volunteers comforted anxious families and provided food and water.

Outside the hospital, Tzu Chi volunteers went to rural areas to investigate the living conditions of pig farmers. They discovered that more than one hundred pig farmers had been evacuated to Taman Wawasan village. In Sepang village, there were also more than one hundred pig farmers who had been forced to move there. These farmers had lost family members to the contagious disease, their pigs had been destroyed, and they were prevented from returning to their homes. They were in poor shape both psychologically and financially.

On April 11, Tzu Chi volunteers distributed cash relief to pig farmers in Sepang and Taman Wawasan villages. Approximately 190,000 Malaysian ringgit (US$ 4,940) were handed out to more than 2,200 pig farmers.

Tzu Chi has liaison offices in more than ten areas in Malaysia and has for a long time been helping the poor and getting involved in community services. Therefore when the disease broke out, Tzu Chi was swift in going to the hospitals to care for the pig farmers, and it was also the first non-governmental charity organization to distribute cash relief to pig farmers in the disaster areas.

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