| Recycling Heals—Zhan Chun-yu |
| By Huang Xiao-zhe and Cai Yu-xuan Translated by Tang Yau-yang Photos by Huang Xiao-zhe |
Photos possess the ability to freeze and preserve the best images of a person forever. One morning, we met Zhan Chun-yu (詹淳鈺), 46, for the first time at the Tzu Chi recycling station in Guandu, Taipei. She greeted us with a smile so broad and pure that I had to press the shutter to capture the precious moment. Her ready smile made it hard for us to imagine that she had struggled with bipolar disorder for over 20 years. Chun-yu worked for a bank when she was 19, but she could not handle her work. Her journal would often indicate that she should have had more money than what was actually at her desk, and she was responsible for making up the shortfall with her own money. She felt that she was not good enough for the job, and so she left. As a result she often suffered mood swings. Though she was still very young, her future seemed dark and bleak. She underwent medical treatments, but no medications or hospital visits could bring her relief. It pained her mother, Liao Shui-liu (廖水柳), to watch her daughter suffer. Finally, upon the recommendation of Tzu Chi volunteers, Shui-liu began taking her daughter to volunteer at the Guandu recycling station eight years ago. There, volunteers treated Chun-yu with love and respect. With their encouragement, she gradually regained her confidence and began to smile more. Doing recycling work turned out to be great therapy for her disease.
A good helper Chun-yu’s older brother, Tian-shu (天樹), was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was in high school. Their mother takes the two of them to the Guandu recycling station every day now. They hop on a bus near their home halfway up Mt. Yangming, transfer to the MRT to Guandu, and then walk to the recycling station. Upon arrival, Chun-yu fills a thermos with hot water for her mother to drink, and she helps her settle in for the day’s work before starting work herself. Most of the volunteers at the station are getting on in years. While they sort recyclable garbage in the station, Chun-yu, being younger, usually works on truck routes to pick up recyclables at collection points. Her work often keeps her out all day long. On busier days, she may not get home until nine o’clock. If she does not go out with a truck, she stays in the station sorting out recyclables. She is deft and quick and can lift heavy things. She is a good helper. One day she heard that Master Cheng Yen was coming to Guandu to certify recycling volunteers. She misunderstood the message to mean that only certified volunteers would be allowed to work at the station. Since she really wanted to keep working there, she worked even harder and became certified. In the process, she learned to work better with other people. She keeps a piece of paper with her, on which is written her motto: “When you face a challenge, adjust your mindset before attempting to work out the issues.” She has certainly surmounted hurdles along her path, and now she examines and reflects on herself constantly to make sure she is on the right track. She is a good role model for us.
Repaying their mother’s love Today Chun-yu is a very different person from the one she used to be. Her transformation is in large part due to the love of her mother. Shui-liu raised five children alone on her income from cleaning range hoods for people. When her children fell ill, she took them everywhere to seek medical help. The stigma associated with mental health sometimes invited ridicule or raised eyebrows, but she endured all that without complaint. She even disregarded the discomfort brought by a tumor in her own brain. It is hard to imagine the hardship she had to go through to care for her children, but the experience did not turn her bitter or cause her to lose hope. When asked what had sustained her in caring for her sick children for so long, she said with a smile, “It was hope that kept me going. I believed that my children would get better day by day.” The day before Mother’s Day, Chun-yu made a vegetable and fruit salad for her mother. Though it was a simple dish, Shui-liu was moved because she felt that it was packed with Chun-yu’s love. “I used to worry about them,” the mother said. “But now, looking back, I’m grateful to them because they led me to Tzu Chi.” By working at the recycling station, the three of them are doing the earth a good turn, and they are cultivating blessings. This is the happiest time in Shui-liu’s life. “Filial piety is the most fundamental of all good deeds,” Master Cheng Yen once said. “To be a good child, you must take good care of your health, go in the right direction in life, be independent, and cause your parents no worries.” Chun-yu is being a good daughter. She is helping herself, and helping others. It is her biggest hope to live every day in peace and safety so she can maintain her current course, be a person that serves others, and lead a meaningful life.
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