The world of Tzu Chi Nov-Dec 2022 (Vol.144)

TZU CHI 144 41 view—the same house where we had encountered the little boy a couple of days before. The house had been built by the local municipal government for the destitute family. It had no windows and only two doors, one of which was hung with a worn cotton cloth to serve as a door curtain. When we arrived, the grandma of the family was lying on a bed in a room. Jupiter asked us to wait outside while the people in the house readied themselves to meet us. The grandma soon walked out to greet us. As we approached her, we saw Aman just inside the door, crawling on the floor. We walked over to him and picked him up. Through all this, Aman’s mother, Sharada Harijan, was squatting near us on the porch, listening to everything that was happening. We went over to her and introduced ourselves. We told her we were from the same charity organization that had distributed rice to them during the pandemic and that we were visiting them because Master Cheng Yen was concerned about their welfare. Sharada was visually impaired. She told us her parents had told her that she could still see up until she was five, but after that her vision gradually deteriorated until she went completely blind. Khor Seok Hoon, also a volunteer from Malaysia, turned on the light of her mobile phone and asked if Sharada could see the light. She shook her head no. To Sharada, the world was a total blank— like her windowless bedroom, devoid of any light, any shadow. The colourful world she once was able to see had receded so far back in her memory, it was as if it had never existed. Showing respect to Master Cheng Yen After Sharada had told us her story, I put Sharada Harijan’s daughter, Aniska, has begun going to school with Tzu Chi’s help. [Photo by Unish Khyaju]