The world of Tzu Chi (Vol.109)

TZU CHI 109 25 M ingalaba! (Greetings in the Burmese language) Following the 2008 Cyclone Nargis, stories of Great Compassion and Great Love have been emerging in Myanmar, a country once named Asia’s rice bowl. More than a decade since the devastating disaster, seeds of love have sprouted on the land, and are spreading wider. Today, many local volunteers, like U Thein Tun and U San Thein, who once received aid from Tzu Chi, have served as role models for the global Tzu Chi community. The rice seed distributions held from February 16 to 25, 2019, inYangon, Bago, Kayin and Mon, were made possible thanks to the concerted efforts of Tzu Chi volunteers from four countries, including Malaysia. It was an affinity that came about from the heavy flooding in July and August 2018, that destroyed large tracts of rice fields in the central and southern regions of the country, leaving the affected farmers in debt. Most of the farmers relied on loans – either acquired from the government or private corporations – to sustain their agricultural activities, and some of them even had to borrow rice from others to feed their families, let alone resume their agricultural activities. Upon learning this, Master Cheng Yen advised the volunteers to distribute mung bean seeds to the farmers in October and November 2018, followed by rice seeds in February 2019. The rice seed distribution mission, which was expected to benefit 47,690 families and enable the cultivation of 82,392 hectares of farmland, was the largest scale of its kind in Tzu Chi’s history. Immersing in spiritual joy From the moment I knew that I could join this mission, my heart was in great joy and I started counting down to the day I would set foot in Myanmar. I could feel Master’s great wisdom that these rice seeds could transform the lives of Bags of rice seeds were readied for distribution in a temple in Kayin State.