| Humanitarian Aid Can’t Wait | ||||
| Compiled by Tzu Chi Monthly editorial staff Translated by Tang Yau-yang Photos by Hsiao Yiu-hwa | ||||
Since the civil war in Syria erupted in 2011, 6.5 million Syrians have fled to other countries, including 3.5 million to Turkey and 800,000 to Jordan. Though there is still no end in sight for the war, international humanitarian organizations in the last couple of years have scaled back their aid to refugee camps. The reduction of medical assistance has hit refugees the hardest. There are currently only a few certified Tzu Chi volunteers in Jordan and Turkey. In fact, volunteers on the ground in those two countries number exactly ten—a far cry from the large populations of refugees, which number from the hundreds of thousands to the millions. Despite their low numbers, the volunteers plug on, doing the best they can to ease the suffering of people whose lives have been torn apart by the tragedy of war.
Jordan Chen Chiou Hwa (陳秋華), the head of Tzu Chi Jordan, said that he and the other volunteers in the country began caring for refugees in 2011. At one point, they were spread so thin they contemplated ending the aid to refugees on the border and in Amman, the national capital, so that they could redeploy their resources to focus on helping refugee children obtain medical care. But they persisted. In the end, they could not bear the thought of abandoning the refugees whom they had been helping. Tzu Chi Jordan now provides regular, long-term aid to 82 refugee families. At the same time, they have sponsored 480 pediatric surgeries since 2016, mostly for children living in refugee camps. Since they started, they have financed operations for children suffering from physical disabilities, gastrointestinal disorders, imperforate anuses (a condition in which there is no opening where the anus should be), etc. In fact, they did more than just pay for the surgeries. In each case, volunteers made sure that the patient was well nourished before surgery, and they accompanied the family all the way to post-operative care. In some cases, they even followed up with the patients for two or three years after surgery. Volunteers have also helped with the education of refugee children. In 2016, they started providing scholarships of 400 dinar (US$565) per year per person to 29 refugee students. The program has expanded since then. In 2018, 42 more students were awarded scholarships; most of those students are from single-parent families living in a shelter for refugees. That made 71 the total number of students in this scholarship program. All this work is organized by only seven Tzu Chi volunteers in Jordan. Chen is the key figure among them. He has been there almost every step of the way as they extend help to the needy. Chen once competed in and taught Taekwondo. He is a 9th-degree black belt. An old injury has somewhat restricted his mobility, and being in his late 60s, he is no longer young. Still, he is immensely dedicated to carrying out Tzu Chi work in Jordan. “In Jordan, we have so few volunteers, but there is so much to do,” he said. “I want to be Master Cheng Yen’s eyes, hands, and legs, so even though it hasn’t been easy, I take on as much work as I can. The refugees really need help.”
Turkey Tzu Chi volunteers in Turkey distribute aid to 6,000 refugee families every month. They have also, in collaboration with the government of the Sultangazi district of Istanbul, established a school, El Menahil, for 3,000 refugee students. In addition, they have established a free clinic for refugees. Given that there are only three certified Tzu Chi volunteers in Turkey—Faisal Hu (胡光中), who heads Tzu Chi Turkey, his wife, Zhou Ru-yi (周如意), and Yu Zi-cheng (余自成)—they couldn’t possibly have done all the work there was to do. They have over the years been helped by many Syrian refugee volunteers. Looking back, Hu said, “We’ve come from nothing to caring for 40,000 to 50,000 refugees every month now.” To advance the well-being of Syrian refugees in Turkey, Hu and his fellow volunteers have had to overcome many difficulties along the way. Sometimes, when they felt that they had come to a dead end, they turned the corner and were miraculously able to move forward. Hu pointed out that being able to go to school has transformed the lives of many students at El Menahil. Before, they had all but given up hope in life, but after they entered El Menahil, a government-sanctioned school, they found reason to dream again. For example, some of them want to become teachers when they grow up so that they may return to Syria to teach children who have been forced out of school by the war; some want to become architects to rebuild their country; still others want to be medical workers to help their countrymen injured in the war. Having received help from others, the students in the school have learned to pay it forward. “Our school is full of love,” Hu said. He pointed out that after the February 6, 2018, earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan, teachers and students at the school and families that receive aid from Tzu Chi solicited donations amongst themselves to help victims of the quake. “They collected the equivalent of 12,800 American dollars—a figure that we could hardly have imagined, considering their own financial situation. One student said, ‘I’m deeply grateful to you for having always stood by us. Now that there has been a disaster in Taiwan, we’ll stand by you, too.’” [Tzu Chi is based in Taiwan.] In a letter to Tzu Chi volunteers, one student wrote: “I thank all the Tzu Chi volunteers who have helped us. You’ve never met us, but you love us and help us without asking for anything in return. You are forever our brothers and sisters.” Hu said that the 3,000 students represent 3,000 hopes. They will always live with the love of Tzu Chi volunteers in their hearts. |
|
