El Salvador Free Clinic
(Translated by Peggy Lo, Stanford)
At the Lantern Festival (the day of the first
full moon after Chinese New Year), Master Cheng Yen joyfully
announced that the work of the free clinic in El Salvador had
come to an end. Volunteers and patients were all very happy.
This second program of assistance had included
the free clinic, distribution of relief supplies, and construction
of houses for resettlement of homeless quake survivors. The
free clinic took place at Sacacoyo, in the department of La
Libertad, from February 3 to 5, with doctors seeing more than
1,600 patients. Volunteers distributed 6,500 packs of relief
supplies, each of which would last one person for month. Temporary
cinder block housing will be built in Sacacoyo for an estimated
1,327 families. The staff of 141 volunteers for relief work
and the free clinic came from Taiwan, the Dominican Republic,
the United States, Guatemala and El Salvador.
The Salvadoran newspaper, El Diario de Hoy, ran an article on
"Support from Buddhists." It was apparent that local
citizens were touched by Tzu Chi's Great Love and selfless giving.
The article is as follows:
Buddhist doctors from Taiwan will continue
to care for residents of La Libertad department for another
year. Aside from that, the Tzu Chi Foundation will also construct
over 1,300 units of temporary housing, with the entire relief
plan totaling over US$1 million.
Ramon had a surprised expression on his face
as a Chinese doctor skillfully inserted two thin needles into
his left hand. It felt to him like an ant bite. He opened his
eyes wide and listened to the doctor speak a language he did
not understand, but he also saw a face full of compassion and
professionalism.
This was all very new to Ramon, but the assistance
was very timely. Ever since the earthquake, he had suffered
from back pains, as if someone had hit him on the neck. Now
the Chinese doctors were here, with their medical skills and
little needles.
In their eighty-five years of life, the old
people had never seen anything like this. The pain was in the
back, but the doctors stuck the needles into the hand, and yet
the pain disappeared. "Only they know how these things
work" said the old people, fully confident in the healing
powers of the little needles.
Even more interesting was that they were in
the inner sanctum of a church. Usually only the priest can go
there. Today they erected a temporary bed, and Ramon couldn't
turn his head to look at the Jesus on the Cross because his
neck still hurt.
Suddenly, Ramon felt the pain completely disappear.
The Chinese doctor walked over, patted him lightly on the shoulders
and smiled. His understanding smile seemed to say "All
right, you can carry the food away now." The old man seemed
to answer him with the same expression, saying "God will
bless you" before disappearing into the crowd. The old
man didn't know that the doctor's name was Wang Chuan-min, and
that he was one of 150 volunteers who came to Sacacoyo to care
for the people affected by the earthquake.
Although this group of people came from all
over the United States, what brought them all together was the
Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, their precepts
and their willingness to give.
There are young and middle-aged men and women in this group,
all wearing their blue-and-white uniform. Few of them can speak
Spanish. There are eighteen doctors and nurses among them, including
Wang Chuan-min, who will stay in this region for a year to continue
caring for the patients.
This group of people gathered at the capital
in a few hours, and quickly organized themselves to provide
assistance to the residents of Sacacoyo. Their foundation raised
over US$1 million to help the region. A portion of the money
went toward buying foodstuffs. They distributed a total of 83
tons of goods.
The mayor of Sacacoyo estimated that 6,500
residents of the area had been affected by the earthquake, and
Tzu Chi distributed goods according to that number. The sacks
of goods included grains and other basic foods. The distribution
was aimed at families who suffered from the earthquake.
Aside from that, in the next few months the
money raised by Tzu Chi will be used to construct more than
1,300 housing units. So all the families affected by the earthquake
will benefit, including 700 families whose houses were destroyed
and 500 families whose houses were seriously damaged and uninhabitable.
At the end of the event, Ramon happily returned
to his home by a cemetery. His pain has been relieved and he
has a bag full of food. Even though he doesn't know where those
Chinese people have gone, he knows that they are good people.
They didn't say much, but everyone knows what they have done.
