After recent torrents, Wagga Wagga in southwest NSW is facing its most severe flooding in 125 years. With nearly 10,000 residents forced off their homes and thousand houses in the vicinity damaged by floods, volunteers from Tzu Chi Foundation offered their help. On March 7th to 9th and 15th to 19th, they went to North Wagga Wagga, Griffith, and Yenda to assess the extent of the damages and what they can do to help. In the process, a limited amount of aid materiel was handed out to 154 affected families.
Knowing that thousands of families are still suffering from the effects of the massive 6.9 magnitude earthquake that devastated Negros Oriental and other adjoining provinces last February 6, Tzu Chi Foundation, Philippines in Manila have shipped 2,500 sacks of rice, each weighing 20 kilograms, and other relief materials to the affected areas last February 11.
The three schools which Tzu Chi is building in Haiti are due for completion in January 2013 and will accommodate more than 1,800 students. The foundation announced this at a news conference in Taipei attended by four sisters of the Catholic order who will manage the schools and came to Taiwan to express their gratitude.
As the excitement of the New Year slowly faded away, another celebration took its place in Haiti on January 21, 2012, as Tzu Chi broke ground on three new schools for the island nation. Exactly two years prior - on January 21, 2010 - Tzu Chi volunteers entered Haiti to provide relief to a country overrun with despair and devastated by the January 12 earthquake.
Tzu Chi Foundation will hold this week a two-day rice relief activity for about 9,000 Cagayan de Oro and Iligan families who were affected by flooding caused by Typhoon Washi last December 16.
The rice distribution will be done separately at Kong Hua School in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan National High School in Iligan on December 28 and 29, respectively. 5,000 families from Cagayan de Oro and 4,000 families from Iligan will be benefited from Tzu Chi Foundation's relief mission.
After Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were hit by flooding caused by Typhoon Washi last December 16, Tzu Chi volunteers from Manila gave out relief items to the affected families in the two cities on December 22.
About 1,000 families benefited from Tzu Chi’s relief activity held at Kong Hua School and Macasandig Elementary and High School in Cagayan de Oro. Among the relief items distributed to the flood victims were thermal blankets, used clothes, casseroles, sleeping mats, detergent bars, plates, tumblers, spoons, forks, and recycling bags.
Tzu Chi volunteers on December 4 distributed rice, oil and other necessities to 888 needy households in the capital Phnom Penh; all live below the poverty line. Volunteers came from Singapore and Malaysia and were joined by 120 enthusiastic local volunteers. Every household received a set of goods, including heat rub, 15 kilograms of rice, 5 kilograms of cooking oil, 15 packets of vegetarian instant noodles and one kilogram each of sugar and salt.
Thailand was drowned by the devastated flooding since October this year. The local dialysis patients seriously faced the medical shortage. Tzu Chi Foundation urgently shipped dialysis solution for 10,000 patients, 30,000 bags of saline solution and 60,000 IV sets to Thailand.
On November 11th, 40 Tzu Chi volunteers left for North Korea for 9 days relief operation in 4 prefectures. The volunteers planned to distribute more than 13,000 tons of rice, 350,000 liters of cooking oil and 43 tons of infant formula to benefit over 400,000 recipients equaling to 143,000 households in total. This time, volunteers will distribute the largest amount of aid items in one single relief operation which make the new record of Tzu Chi’s relief distribution history.
With widespread flooding since late July, Thailand is faced with a shortage of clean drinking water in the affected areas. Tzu Chi Foundation Kuala Lumpur & Selangor helped raise 3 truck-loads of bottled water, which were loaded on November 3 and were expected to reach the Thai border on November 4, 2011.
Volunteers in the central American state of Honduras have distributed sacks of cornflour to some of the tens of thousands who have lost their homes to floods. Many had eaten nothing for several days.
Winter is coming. The earthquake and tsunami survivors in Japan are still struggling. With continuing care and love, Tzu Chi volunteers departed for Ishinomaki City and Natori City of Miyagi Province in the morning of October 18th for the 7th distribution of relief fund. Tzu Chi has estimated to distribute relief fund to 35,000 households to help the survivors through the winter.
On October 2, the Tzu Chi Foundation held a tea party to celebrate completion of the second phase of a new community it built in south Taiwan. They built it for those who lost their homes to Typhoon Morakot in August 2009. At the ceremony, 250 homes at the Shanlin Da Ai Community, in a suburb of Kaohsiung, were handed over to their new residents, taking the total of 1,002 homes. Construction of the new homes began on March 12 this year. Attending the party to welcome the new residents were Chen Chu, Mayor of Kaohsiung City, Dr.
Tzu Chi Foundation departed for Japan on August 25 for the fourth distribution of relief aid. From August 27 to August 29, they plan to distribute 360,000,000 yen of relief fund to an estimate of 7,200 households. After the distribution, they will head for Kamaishi City to sign a contract to support for the school lunch fees and school bus transport fees at disaster area.
Tzu Chi South Africa Office held winter aid distribution to Hhohho area in Northern Swaziland joined by 252 volunteers. Two distributions were held in Mbasheni Primary School and Mhlangatance Inkundla Community Center for 4,000 families, to benefit a total 14,000 local residents. The relief items were a bag of rice, sugar, red bean and blanket.
On July 29, the first Tzu Chi volunteer group joined by 17 volunteers from South Africa Office arrived Swaziland in advance to arrange the distribution of aid goods, the progress of distribution and job assigning.
Tzu Chi Foundation, Japan Chapter departed for Iwate Prefecture on July 28 to distribution relief fund for the third time. The distribution took place in Kesennuma City, northeast of Iwate Prefecture. A total of 7,757 households received relief fund from 30,000 yen to 70,000 yen, depending on the number of people in the households.
Through the patience, innate goodness, and generosity of the volunteers of Tzu Chi Foundation, around 994 marginalized families in Tabaco City, Albay received 20-kilogram sack of premium Taiwanese rice each during the organization's rice relief program which was conducted in the above-mentioned place last July 24.
The recipients came from Tabaco City's 15 barangays which include those of Tayhi, Cormidal, Bacolod, San Lorenzo, San Juan, Panal, Matagbac, Fatima, San Vicente, Divino Rostro, San Carlos, Cobo, Basud, Bongnabong, and Baranghawon.
Since the earthquake and tsunami on March 11 in the Northeast of Japan, Tzu Chi Foundation’s Japan Chapter has been caring and distributing relief fund to the disaster victims. On July 15, volunteers from Taiwan’s headquarter and Japan Chapter departed from Tokyo once again, heading for the disaster area of Rikuzentakata-shi, Kamai-shi, Yamada-cho and Otsuchi-cho.
Tzu Chi volunteers in New Zealand have been caring for the victims in Christchurch since the 6.3 magnitude earthquake on February 22, 2011. From July 15 to July 16, they held two relief distributions at the Phillipstown School and Linwood College to provide the victimized residents goods such as canned food, cereals, oatmeal, spaghetti, rice, hot water pack, flashlights and jackets, to benefit a total of 2,687 residents.
Tzu Chi Foundation continually cares the hardest-hit zones in quake-torn Japan after the March 11, 2011. The second Tzu Chi Relief team left Taipei on July 14 for hardest-hit zones, Yamada and Oochtsuchi in Iwate Prefecture and planned to give the relief money to the 10,000 households which would benefit 50,000 disaster survivors. The volunteers also plan to support school students’ lunch fund and the follow-up relief distribution. Total budget for relief money will be 500 million Japanese yen.
