The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.114).

01 TZU CHI 114 By Dharma Master Cheng Yen Translated by Max Siew aster’s Teaching The more I think of the past, the more I treasure the present. The more I think of the present, the more I must strive harder for the future. As they say, time and tide wait for no man. We must seize every moment to serve humanity. Why waste a minute of our lives doing nothing that will benefit others? D espite feeling quite unwell, I insisted on setting off on my regular visit to the Tzu Chi premises on June 15, 2019. At each place that I visited, the volunteers shared with me memories of the past. Throughout the 31-day trip, I was deeply moved to learn of the volunteers’ dedication in serving humanity with the spirit of love, which in turn, makes their lives worthwhile. The devastating Jiji earthquake (commonly known in Taiwan as 9/21 Earthquake) struck Taiwan 20 years ago. In the aftermath of the quake, Tzu Chi helped with reconstruction of 51 schools for school-going children. Now, many students have graduated from their respective universities and joined the workforce, and some have returned to serve at their alma maters. Back then, members of the Tzu Cheng Faith Corps had stayed at the disaster areas for an extended period of time to work on the school landscaping projects, while the Tzu Chi Commissioners took turns to handle the cooking chores. They have truly lived up to the virtue of selfless compassion. Tzu Chi also constructed 1,700 prefabricated houses as temporary accommodation for the residents badly affected by the quake. Male and female volunteers alike carried steel bars, climbed onto roofs to fasten the screws and slept on the floor, all with the hope of getting the prefabricated houses ready within the shortest possible time. When my tour took me to Taichung, a villager of the Great Love Village came to me to share his experience. The houses constructed by Tzu Chi were fully furnished, and when his tenancy of three years was up, he relocated with some furniture, like washbasins. But it was not until this year during an interview by a Seize Every Moment to Serve Humanity