The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.116)

2019 • 11 48 harma Interesting stories from volunteers A t every Volunteer Assembly, I listen carefully to the volunteers’ experiences and thoughts as they report what they have seen and heard in the hospitals. There is a senior volunteer who is advanced in age, but who does not think of herself as old; she still made a vow to become a Tzu Chi commissioner. As a Tzu Chi commissioner, she needs to collect donations and record the names of those who make donations. As she was illiterate, she would use symbols and drawings to record their names. As a hospital volunteer, she would sometimes be asked to deliver medical records, but since she could not read, she was unable to do it. She told herself she must not be any less useful than others, so she started to study diligently. Eventually, not only did she learn to read, but also to recite sutras. Recently, she came to the Abode to learn the “Chapter on the Universal Doors” from the Lotus Sutra . She first learnt the “Praise for Purifying the Water”. After returning home, she kept diligently practising the chant. Either she did not pronounce the Taiwanese words accurately or her daughter-in- law did not hear it properly, because her daughter-in-law said to her, “Mum, you’ve been so busy lately, how do you know that there’s a water shortage at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital? Does Veterans General Hospital also lack water?” How did she learn to read? If, for example, the medical records needed to be delivered to the Internal Medicine Department, she would look for the character 内 with a rectangular frame and two internal strokes; if they were for the Surgical Department, she would look for the character 外 with a stroke going outward; and if they were for the Orthopaedic Department, the corresponding character, 骨 , looked like two legs supported by crutches. This was her secret for ensuring she would be useful. Over time, she too will be able to learn to read fluently. Some people wish to study, but they are afraid others might laugh at CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION