Tzu Chi as global charity game-changer (First part)

By Lito U. Gagni

I first learned about Tzu Chi and its charity work in the aftermath of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name: Haiyan) that devastated Eastern Visayas when I read the news about its cash-for-relief program that cleaned Tacloban and its environs of tons of mud, heaps of garbage and washed-out clothes.

It was the first time I heard of such charity work in the face of such devastation but I thought it was very practical, as from my perspective as a business writer, it meant that there is an immediate impact on the economy by letting the residents have money to buy for their needs.

But being a journalist and with it, its healthy dose of skepticism, I remained unimpressed with Tzu Chi’s charity work, believing it was a one-time thing, the cash-for-relief program.

And so, it was with a detached sense as a journalist that I responded to an invitation from Oishi patriarch, Ambassador Carlos Chan, a Tzu Chi believer, to visit two Tzu Chi activities in Singapore and Jakarta last week, a journey that opened my eyes to the wondrous sense of volunteerism that Tzu Chi has nurtured.

Together with Philippine Star columnists Boo Chanco and Tony Katigbak and Clairmont Group Chairman Eddie Yap, I saw firsthand the kind of charity work that I have to admit is a game-changer in its scope as well as reach. To my mind, there is nothing that compares to Tzu Chi.

First off, Tzu Chi has pumped in P1.2 billion in cash into the almost P3-billion charity work that Tzu Chi’s worldwide chapters funneled into the devastated Eastern Visayas. And the charity and relief work continue to this day as the organization builds permanent houses for the victims.

Tzu Chi has also endeavored to make the victims recoup their dignity with an initial 200 tricycles in a takeoff from the Biblical passage that it is better to teach a man to fish, instead of just giving him fish. It is in this area where Ambassador Chan made his contribution and in what I thought was an admirable gesture, Tzu Chi did not allow the ambassador to solely take care of the charity work.

This is what Tzu Chi does not lack:  businessmen with the means to make a difference in the lives of victims of calamities and disasters as well as the poor. They are all attracted to the kind of philosophy that Dharma Master Cheng Yen has stood for.

For over 50 years now, Master Cheng has come up with a sense of charity work that has linked up volunteers of various persuasions and religions to populate the globe with the kind of compassion and love and giving that led to their spiritual happiness.

In Singapore, even the government was so impressed with the charity work of Tzu Chi, especially in the delivery of health care to the poor and in its recycle work that it allowed the organization to occupy a government property almost free and deliver airport discards such as trolleys to its recycling site.

According to Sim Hee Chew, managing director of Nylect Engineering PTE Ltd with offices in Singapore, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam, there are nine volunteers in the 10-man recycling staff that turns plastic bottles into cool T-shirts, bags and other items. These are sold in so-called Jing Si cafes where the proceeds are funneled to charity activities.

Tzu Chi Singapore officials say Sim Chee Chew drops everything for Tzu Chi activities. But the same is true of others. We heard about a businessman who used to play golf every day but who no longer frequents the fairways as he now devotes much of his life to Tzu Chi volunteer work.

(To be concluded next week)