| Tzu Chi Events Around the World |
Tzu Chi participated in a Care Harbor free health clinic that ran from October 15 to 18, 2015, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Photo by Xu Chun-lan USA Care Harbor, a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization, has offered free clinics for uninsured and medically underserved local populations since 2011. Its fifth annual Los Angeles clinic was held from October 15 to 18, 2015, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Tzu Chi has worked alongside Care Harbor in this large-scale annual event since its inception. Before that, the foundation worked with Remote Area Medical for two years. The collaboration over the years has benefited more than ten thousand people. Mark Ridley-Thomas, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, presented a certificate of appreciation to Tzu Chi for its efforts in taking care of people’s health. To make this huge event possible this year, Care Harbor asked for help from 50 organizations; volunteers put in 3,100 person times. The L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan, provided some of the funding; Tzu Chi donated the most assistance. In addition to professional volunteers, the foundation provided three medical vans (one vision and two dental mobile units), equipment for the dental section, a dental pharmacy, and many other resources. There was much work to be done before the empty stadium could be used as a free clinic site. Tzu Chi volunteers drove the three medical vans and two trucks full of medical equipment to the arena on October 13. Then a team of 16 volunteers spent hours inside without air-conditioning to set up equipment and examination rooms. They returned the following day to finish the job. The check-in area was placed outside the arena; the inside was divided into six zones. Zone 1 was for dentistry. It was the biggest zone and staffed entirely by Tzu Chi volunteers. Patients received dental scaling, fillings, extractions, and other services. More serious dental conditions were treated in the two dental vans. An intraoral scanner at the venue was used to scan teeth and produce dentures on site. Anyone needing dentures could get them immediately. Tzu Chi also provided oral cancer screenings, as it did in 2014. Zone 2 was staffed mainly by medical professionals from the University of California at Los Angeles and Western University of Health Sciences, offering services for people needing various Western medical treatments.
In recognition of Tzu Chi’s efforts in taking care of the health of people in the greater Los Angeles area, Mark Ridley-Thomas, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, presents a certificate of appreciation to William Keh, CEO of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation. Photo by Huang Jia-hui
Zone 4 was dedicated to Chinese medicine and was also staffed completely by Tzu Chi volunteers. Acupuncture was a big draw this year. Many people went for the service after they had heard good things about it from other people. One patient, Jose Hertcraul, said that his lower back pain had been greatly reduced following an acupuncture treatment. Another patient, Gerbil Loghoa, exclaimed after treatment how magical Chinese medicine was. He gave his doctor a big hug to express his gratitude. Zone 5 was for preventive medicine, medical information, and health promotion. Zone 6 was a referral center for people who needed to be treated elsewhere. Tzu Chi also provided free vaccinations for flu, tetanus, pneumonia, and shingles at the event. Tzu Chi volunteers had asked businesses to join this good cause. This year, Frank Su, who runs the Norvatimes company, came to volunteer with his brother Eric and their eight employees. Frank has participated in Tzu Chi events before and is very supportive of Tzu Chi and Master Cheng Yen. The brothers have often led their employees to volunteer at free clinics. This shows how a loving owner can inspire his employees to be loving too. William Keh (葛濟捨), MD, CEO of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, was impressed by the mindful dedication of every volunteer. He said that he planned to have Tzu Chi volunteers receive more professional training, such as in dental assistance and equipment sterilization, so they could do the volunteer work even better. He also expressed hope that Care Harbor could expand the free clinic event to more than once a year and to include northern California in the future. Canada The news of the upcoming winter distribution on November 1 prompted 28 Tzu Chi volunteers to gather at the Tzu Chi office in Surrey, British Columbia, on October 27 to pack relief goods, including jackets and personal care packages, for 150 street people. The packages contained woolen hats, scarves, gloves, socks, towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and combs. Past experience told the volunteers to work in an assembly line fashion. They set up tables, put out the goods, and assigned people along the tables. At the end of the assembly line, volunteers checked to ensure that everything was in order, including the uniform placement of items in the plastic bags—every bag looked as good as every other bag. Many hands made light work. They finished the job in one hour instead of the two they had planned. At 4 p.m. on November 1, 35 volunteers arrived at the Front Room, a drop-in shelter for street people in Surrey, British Columbia. The volunteers quickly mopped the floor and wiped clean 10 dining tables and 50 chairs. On each of the tables they placed a white tablecloth, maple leaves, and a small light. In 30 minutes, they turned this shelter into a comfortable dining hall filled with the aroma of food. People were already waiting outside. The temperature had dropped to 5°C (41°F), so volunteers gave each person outside a cup of coffee to help keep them warm. Because there were more people than there were seats, some people had to wait, each receiving a number. As soon as a seat opened up, the next number was called. Volunteers tried to keep the wait to a minimum. Volunteer Lin Hong-ming (林宏明) played violin throughout the meal. When volunteers handed out the distribution goods, they asked each guest to pick out from a container a Jing Si aphorism and read it out loud or explain its meaning. While the food warmed the guests’ stomachs, it was hoped that the maxims by Master Cheng Yen might provide some spiritual nourishment for the guests.
Members of the Tzu Chi Collegiate Association serve food to guests at the Front Room in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Photo by Chen Hui-ying
Mr. Woods asked Sister Guan to explain the meaning of “Tzu Chi.” She did, and he said with a smile, “I like your group. Thank you for your help.” Tzu Chi volunteers have held winter distributions at the Front Room for 14 years. They hope that by giving the homeless a little something, they may feel that there is still warmth in society and they may not lose heart. The volunteers hope to help them stand up again. On the other hand, the act of giving helps the volunteers realize how fortunate they themselves are. Malaysia Deepavali is an annual Hindu festival that lasts five days in October or November. It signifies the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. This year, the festival fell in mid-November. On October 11, Tzu Chi volunteers in Muar celebrated it early with care recipients at SJKT Ladang Lanadron primary school. At the same time, there was an aid distribution of food items, which included flour, curry powder, cooking oil, mixed nuts, dhal, and turmeric powder. The volunteers invited 181 people from 78 families to the celebration, hoping to warm the hearts of the participants. The guests felt a strong festive atmosphere as soon as they stepped into the school auditorium. A kolam—a traditional colorful drawing often made with rice flour or rock powder to welcome guests—had been laid out on the floor in the front of the auditorium. The lamps set out on both sides of the kolam represented the triumph of light over darkness and goodness over evil. S. Jeganathan, a teacher at the school and the MC of the ceremony, was in charge of decorations. He had asked for help from students and teachers to decorate the venue, and the kolam was made by three teachers. The teachers had dyed rice in different colors the day before the event, and after the rice was dry, they laid it out on the floor in a geometrical pattern. Ten Tzu Chi volunteers, wearing saris, wove in and out of the crowds. C. Pandu Rengan, principal of SJKT Jalan Khalidi, said he was touched to see the Chinese volunteers dressed in traditional Hindu costumes for the occasion because the costumes were not easy to put on. He felt their sincerity in bridging the gap between different cultures. Volunteers in saris also staged a performance to entertain the guests. The principal said that the aid distribution was a wonderful idea, as it would help ease the Hindu families’ financial pressures as they got ready to welcome and celebrate the Deepavali festival. It would also make them feel very warm at heart. He praised the volunteers for giving unconditionally and treating people equally without regard to their race or religion. All six people in Padma A/P Manian’s family came to the celebration. She said her husband was the only breadwinner in the family. As their family grew in size, they started to have problems making ends meet, including paying for their children’s transportation to and from school. Her children often had to skip class as a result. Fortunately, Tzu Chi helped them with that, and now her children no longer had to skip school. She observed that Tzu Chi’s assistance did more than reduce their financial burden—it also helped give them courage to face life’s challenges. “I often encourage my children to study hard,” she said. “Today we get help from others, so when we become capable in the future, we must pay back to society and help other people.” Her children liked going to school, and their grades had improved much. This had brought her much comfort. After enjoying the food served at the venue, care recipients went home with gifts of goods in their arms and big smiles on their faces. Volunteers also helped drive elderly people home.
Tzu Chi volunteers, clad in saris, celebrate the Deepavali festival in Muar by entertaining care recipients and other guests with a performance. Photo by Lu Jun-hui Taiwan On November 20, Tzu Chi donated a mid-sized bus to the Mennonite New Dawn Educare Center in Hualien. The center has been taking care of people with physical or mental disabilities since 1977. It has two types of residents: day-care and 24-hour. Most of the week, the nursing home has no problem picking up day-care residents from their homes in the morning and driving them home at the end of the day. But on Friday afternoons, employees must also drive the 24-hour residents back to their homes for the weekend, and then pick them up again on Monday morning to bring them back. At those times, the home does not have enough buses to go around. One of the home’s buses was over 22 years old. It used to travel an average of a hundred kilometers (62 miles) every day. It was so old and worn it was unreliable, and the cost of maintenance was very high. Once it even died on its way to pick up residents. For the safety of the residents, the nursing home really needed a new bus. After assessing the situation, Tzu Chi decided to donate one. On November 20, 50 volunteers arrived at the center for the donation ceremony. Some of the volunteers performed a song during the ceremony, bringing with them blessings from Tzu Chi volunteers around the world. The volunteers also donated 131 thermal undershirts to the residents, just in time for the approaching winter. Mu-chuan Lin (林木泉), superintendent of the center, thanked Tzu Chi on behalf of the residents. He said that they will be much safer on the road with the new bus. The home has another old mid-sized bus and a bus that can take wheelchair users. He said they will use their vehicles efficiently to reduce carbon emissions. Volunteer Cai Xiu-zhu (蔡秀珠) commended New Dawn for its decades of dedication to the care of disabled people. Working in the same spirit, Tzu Chi has also been helping the underprivileged for 50 years. The foundation is happy to provide support for a like-minded organization like New Dawn.
Tzu Chi donated a brand-new mid-sized bus to the Mennonite New Dawn Educare Center in Hualien so that its residents can travel to and from the home in safety. Photo by Yan Fu-jiang Germany Many people, escaping war or turmoil, have recently flooded into Germany. A refugee center in Grassau, Germany, has taken in over 200 refugees from countries including Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Most of the refugees are waiting for a resident permit from the German government. Tzu Chi volunteers in Germany have been visiting the center to offer their care and support. Months of interaction have enabled the volunteers and refugees to bond despite the language barriers between the volunteers and most of the residents. As the weather grew colder, the volunteers realized that many at the center, especially children, needed warmer clothes. In response they collected several boxes of second-hand clothes, and they also purchased winter coats and socks for the youngsters. They delivered those items to the center on September 13. Hassan, 21, and his father, Mohammed, are from Syria. They are among the few refugees in the center who can converse with the volunteers in fluent English. Mohammed was once an engineer, and Hassan had completed two years of medical school. After fleeing their home country, the pair had traveled by car and by foot to Turkey. Then they undertook a perilous boat ride to Greece. For safety, they split up there and each took a different route north. A month later, they reunited in Germany. The father and son had lived at the center for over three months when volunteers delivered clothing to the center.
Tzu Chi volunteers chat with Hassan (right) on a visit to a refugee center in Grassau, Germany. Photo by Chen Shu-wei Hassan hopes to get a resident permit from the German government as soon as possible so he can resume his medical studies. However, due to the recent flood of refugees into the country, that could take some time. The young man also expressed a wish to master the German language. He said that after he finished his medical studies, he would use his expertise to pay back the country that has taken him in. He and his father also hope to bring the rest of their family—Hassan’s mother, younger sister and brother—from Syria to Germany so the whole family can be together again. Noor Muhammad, from Afghanistan, is another resident at the center. He told the volunteers that he wished there was a teacher to teach them German so that they could find work instead of relying on social welfare. Maximilan Landenberg is a local German volunteer. He was happy to join the Tzu Chi volunteers in caring for the refugees at the center. He didn’t know much about the lives of the refugees when he began, but now he can see their suffering and helplessness. His volunteering experience has taught him to be grateful. He said that the act of giving helps one learn and grow. Tzu Chi volunteers will continue to provide support for the refugees. They sincerely hope that their continuous care will help the refugees through this difficult time in their lives, and that one day, when they have the ability to do so, they may also help others in need. |
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