Tzu Chi E-Newsletter

March 2010 Issue
USA Edition

Tzu Chi volunteers giving relief goods to Catholic sisters in Haiti, with a deep bow to show respect and gratitude.

Letter from the CEO

I am currently on the East Coast, attending UN and InterAction meetings relating to Haiti reconstruction work. It is now two and a half months after the devastating earthquake struck Haiti. Local Tzu Chi volunteers as well as Tzu Chi volunteers from all over the Americas are still there, providing continuous help.

I am always grateful to the Tzu Chi volunteers who put a hold on their personal life and pay for their own trip to give selflessly in Haiti. I am also grateful to the local Haitian volunteers and the UN peacekeepers and military police for their support and dedication to help the Haitians.

We call the volunteers "Pusa", or Bodhisattva. Anyone who gives him/herself selflessly for the benefit of humankind by relieving sufferings with compassion and kindness is a Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva means an awakened being, or enlightened and compassionate being. A Bodhisattva's Great Love and compassion arise from one's own heart and mind.

In this issue, we will tell you more about the new Tzu Chi Bodhisattvas in Chile and Haiti, as well as Tzu Chi Bodhisattvas in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mexico and USA. We hope that all the Bodhisattvas in the world can join together to create a cycle of love and bring hope to the suffering people!

Gratefully,
William Keh
CEO of Tzu Chi USA

Make a Donation

A few dollars can go a long way to help those in need! Let us accumulate our loving kindness and create a cycle of love. For more information on how to donate, please click here. (Your donation is tax deductible in the US)

Volunteer Opportunities

We are always looking for volunteers to help with nationwide and community charity work, projects and events. Together, let us make a difference in the world! For more information on how to volunteer, please click here.

For more information:

Please visit
www.us.tzuchi.org
or email
info@us.tzuchi.org

Giving more and demanding less is the secret to a
delightful life.

-words of wisdom from Master Cheng Yen

News from
Haiti

Left: A local Tzu Chi volunteer takes care of a child while her mother is getting treatment at the Tzu Chi free clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Right: A Tzu Chi doctor is helping a family at the Tzu Chi free clinic.

Tzu Chi continues its relief operation in Haiti as teams and teams of Tzu Chi volunteers and medical personnel travel to Haiti to provide continuous help. Besides continuing to focus on relief aid distribution, medical services and relief work program as part of its immediate relief operation, Tzu Chi has started its mid-term relief work and preparation work for long-term relief.

Tzu Chi has also started conducting local volunteer trainings in Haiti. Between March 26-30, over 330 Haitian volunteers have participated in the trainings. Tzu Chi will hold a large-scale prayer event, with over 10,000 people attending, at the National Stadium on April 3.

To read the most updated report on Tzu Chi's relief operation, please click here. To read a doctor's sharing about her Haiti relief experience, please click here. To read a Swedish Tzu Chi volunteer's sharing of his Haiti relief experience, please click here.

News from
Chile

Left: Tzu Chi volunteers are happy to see the smiles on the survivors’ faces. Right: Tzu Chi volunteers perform sign language at the distributions.

On March 27-28, a month after the powerful earthquake struck Chile, Tzu Chi conducted relief aid distribution, benefiting over 8,500 earthquake survivors in Dichato, Caleta Tumbes and Cobquecura.

Over 100 volunteers, including Tzu Chi volunteers from Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, USA and Chile as well as local business people, were present at the relief aid distribution, to help the survivors. Tzu Chi will establish a temporary service center in Chile with the help from local volunteers.

To read the full article, please click here.

Global News

Left: A Tzu Chi volunteer from San Diego plays with the kids at the Pai Pai Indian Reservation. Right: Prayer at a large-scale free clinic in Sri Lanka.

On March 20, Tzu Chi volunteers traveled to the Pai Pai Indian Reservation in Mexico to hold a free clinic and distribute goods. To read the full article, please click here.

Starting on March 10, Tzu Chi held its second large-scale free clinic in the Sri Lankan town of Ratnapura, treating over 2,000 patients in three days. To read the full article, please click here.

On March 6, Tzu Chi held a handover ceremony at Yangon, Myanmar, to officially hand over the Thingangyun No 4 Basic Education Middle School to the government. The No 4 Basic Education Middle School in Thingangyun Township, Yangon was one of the schools that Tzu Chi help built for the children affected by Cyclone Nargis that struck Myanmar in May 2008. To read the full article, please click here.

Excerpt from Dharma Master Cheng Yen's Teaching

We are always involved with the past, the present, or the future. For instance, we often speak of last year, this year, next year. On a shorter interval, it would be last month, this month, and the next month. On an even shorter interval, it would be yesterday, today, tomorrow, or even last second, this second, and the next second. No matter how long the time intervals are, there seems to be three components—the past, the present, and the future. But, do the past, the present, and the future really exist?

To read the full article, please click here.

News from the Headquarters

Tzu Chi Foundation was reported by the Wall Street Journal in its March 12-14 weekend edition. The article appeared on five pages in the hard copy of the Journal as well as online edition. The article noted that "By branching into cross-border humanitarian relief, Tzu Chi has become the first Asia-based Buddhist organization to enter a field dominated by large Western aid groups." To read the full article, please click here.

In early March, Tzu Chi attended the 54th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Tzu Chi sponsored a session entitled “Women and Health,” presented at a session sponsored by the Simply Help Foundation, and also set up booths displaying Jing Si Publications and promoting environmental protection and vegetarianism. To read the full article, please click here.

About Tzu Chi

Tzu Chi Foundation was established in 1966 by Dharma Master Cheng Yen. Since then, Tzu Chi has grown to be an international humanitarian organization with over 5 million members in 47 countries, providing relief in 69 countries. The foundation dedicates itself in the fields of charity, medicine, education, environmental protection, international relief work and the establishment of the world's third largest bone marrow donor registry. It also promotes humanistic values and community volunteerism.

In 1984, Tzu Chi Foundation in the U.S. was established in California as a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Since then, 62 local offices have been established with over 100,000 members in the U.S. working to make a difference in their local communities.

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