The world of Tzu Chi July 2020 (Vol.124)

2020 • 07 44 social security of thousands more families in the future. In that respect, the El Menahil International School is an initiative to provide these children with a lifeline and ensure the security and stability of the community. With assistance from Tzu Chi Taiwan, these children are able to understand the true essence of love.We often share with the children the reason behind the volunteers’ willingness to go the distance to offer them the rare chance at an education. We ask them, how should you repay the kindness? We teach the children that Islam is a religion of compassion. It advocates love and peace among mankind. Faith and hatred cannot exist simultaneously. Hence, mankind should not harbour any negative intentions other than to love. One who embraces love shares it with others. One of our graduates, Ahmad Jned, fled with his schoolbag to Turkey with the hope of continuing his studies there. Little did he know that he would have to resort to illegal labour to survive under harsh circumstances that kept him away from school. Yet, he constantly imagined himself at school. He was subsequently able to pursue his studies with Tzu Chi’s assistance. He converted the amount of funding he had received from Tzu Chi into its equivalent in USD and recorded it in a small notebook. He hoped to repay the same amount to Tzu Chi in the future to enable the organization to help students in need. His life has changed significantly from being unable to attend school to furthering his studies at a university. The El Menahil International School provides education from the primary to high school levels. To date, we have supported 136 Syrian students in pursuing tertiary education in Turkey. In the past four years, some of them have already moved on to postgraduate studies. They have also become volunteers to give back to society, as we have hoped. The existence of the El Menahil International School is as essential to us as water. Tzu Chi has helped these children receive an education. The school has elevated our quality of life. We are grateful beyond words. We only hope that someday, we will be able to reciprocate the generosity with little acts of kindness. I also believe that Tzu Chi’s deeds will go down in history as an initiative that has saved an entire generation by giving them a second chance at life. Tzu Chi encourages everyone across the globe to commit to acts of kindness together. My certification as a Tzu Chi commissioner is testament to the fact that we are all capable of charity. I hope that everyone will love and support one another in keeping with the Master’s teachings. I wish the Master robust health. We are forever grateful. I also wish to acknowledge my fellow Tzu Chi volunteers as my brothers and sisters. You are among the blessed, so stay true to your kind intentions and keep on practising kindness! Editor’s note: According to observations by Tzu Chi volunteers in Turkey, Syrian children are forced to beg on the streets or turn to child labour to survive. These children work 13 hours a day with only 13 minutes of rest in between – including a toilet break – to earn a monthly wage of 700 lira (approximately RM480). From December 2014 onwards, Tzu Chi volunteers began locating Syrian children who have quit school on the streets and in underground factories, in hopes of reversing their fate of illiteracy. The volunteers patiently persuade the parents of the importance of education in securing a promising future for their children. eople