The world of Tzu Chi March 2020(Vol.120)

TZU CHI 120 35 for the little girl he decided to help out. He measured the girl’s height and the distance between her elbow and the ground. He would have crutches custom-made for her in Taiwan and then mailed to Sierra Leone. St Mary’s-Fatima Interim Care Centre is an orphanage that gives shelter to children orphaned by Ebola and natural disasters. After Tzu Chi started providing rice to the institution, the centre was able to save up enough money to buy a vehicle to ferry older children to and from school. Due to care from Father Konteh and assistance from Tzu Chi, children at the orphanage have been able to attend school and have a different life. Tzu Chi volunteers witnessed unimaginable poverty on this trip to Sierra Leone. Food was scarce in many places, and medical care was gravely inadequate. Volunteers visited several medical clinics and found that none of them had doctors – nurses were caring for patients, providing treatment and even delivering babies. This is a country that will need long-term aid and support. But amidst poverty and deprivation, volunteers also witnessed hope and the beauty of humanity. For example, the clergy members and school teachers that the volunteers met exemplified lives of service and compassion. These people lead very poor lives themselves, but still choose to give to those who are more in need. They ask for nothing in return. Their lives of selfless service are truly worthy of admiration and respect, especially in a world where fame, status and wealth are so much valued and sought after. Volunteers were impressed that the locals had not lost their enthusiasm and passion for life, even though their lives were so destitute. They remembered a school they had visited in which the classrooms were as shabby and crude as could be. The lighting was so poor that the students had to rely on sunlight filtering in through the windows to read and study. To welcome the volunteers, students stood outside their classrooms, singing at the top of their voices: “We are the light of the world, we are the light of the world.” That brisk melody and their resonant voices made the visitors forget for a moment how run-down the school was, and that the children were either orphans, Ebola survivors or flood victims. Their smiles conveyed to the visitors their happiness and contentment and made the volunteers feel that, like the lyrics said, these youngsters were indeed the light of the world and the hope of Sierra Leone. The volunteers hoped that with the help of organizations like Tzu Chi and its partners, these youngsters will grow up properly and, by dint of their own strength, change their lives for the better and bring hope and light to their own country. Lin Pei-fei, deputy director of Tzu Chi’s Foreign Affairs Office in Taiwan, kisses a baby girl in Sierra Leone. Children in this African country face all kinds of survival challenges growing up.