ENVELOPING THE WORLD WITH GREAT LOVE

In September and October of 1998, Hurricanes Georges and Mitch swept across the Caribbean Sea, ravaging such countries as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Floods and mudflows inundated roads, wiped out bridges and took a heavy toll in human lives.

After careful investigation, a Tzu Chi inspection team decided to give priority to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and Polo and La Romana in the Dominican Republic, where help was scarce or late in arriving. The relief team distributed food and first aid kits and provided free clinic services.

In Honduras, malaria and dengue fever were rampant even before the hurricanes hurtled through. After the hurricanes, the contagious disease index rose to a staggering ninety percent. When the inspection team reached Tegucigalpa, they discovered that efforts to stop transmission of the diseases had been delayed due to lack of the necessary equipment and chemicals, so they immediately purchased water purification chemicals. At the same time, the Buddhist Tzu Chi Free Clinic in Los Angeles acquired sterilizers, spray guns, helmets, goggles and masks, which were promptly shipped to Honduras.

Aside from providing medical care, sterilization equipment and daily necessities, Tzu Chi also launched a clothing drive in Taiwan. People responded with enthusiasm. Within nine days, three million items of clothing were collected. Fifty thousand volunteers pitched in to help sort, fold, sew and mend, iron and package the clothes. The clothes were to be donated in the most thoughtful and respectful manner.

In January 1999, sixty containers full of clothes and living supplies were shipped to Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Tzu Chi members from the United States took over from there to carry out the distribution.

The Tzu Chi American branch office mobilized more than eighty volunteers to distribute relief goods in Honduras. Working with a local Catholic charity organization, volunteers distributed clothes to refugees in eleven shelters around Tegucigalpa and the remote village of Choluteca. Meanwhile, the Tzu Chi International Medical Association formed a medical team comprised of fourteen doctors from California, Texas, New York and the Dominican Republic. Before they set out on their mission, the team prepared necessary medicine and equipment based on information they had received about local needs. At the distribution sites and also in the poor Mogote mountains, the medical team provided free medical services for refugees.

In Nicaragua, twelve containers of clothes were distributed to victims. In addition, food, shoes, sewing machines and fabrics were provided for a women's and children's hospital, a shelter, and a local charity organization to help put the lives of the victims back on track.

The disaster did great damage, but it also brought out much love. The relief operation connected Taiwan, the United States and Central America with love, and it created a cycle of love in the countries that received aid. In the Dominican Republic, Tzu Chi twice held distributions and free clinics that received much help from the local overseas Chinese community and Taiwanese businessmen. From conducting a general survey of the households affected by the disasters to purchasing and delivering rice, from organizing and packaging relief items to recruiting local doctors to participate in the free clinics, everyone pitched in to help and show their love.

To continue Tzu Chi's enterprise of love and carry out long-term charity in the country, local Taiwanese businessmen and the Chinese community established a Tzu Chi liaison office in the Dominican Republic. The Tzu Chi La Romana Elementary School, inaugurated in February 2000, is a visible achievement of local Tzu Chi members.

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