Senior Recycling Volunteers
BANQIAO, TAIWAN - There is gold to be found
at Tzu Chi's recycling center in Banqiao
city of Taipei County. Not only can trash be turned into cash
there, but the elderly volunteers are giving their invaluable
service to society through volunteering. Volunteering has
been the secret to their improving health, as well as abundant
happiness.
The weather is hot, but grandma Jian's
passion for recycling beats the heat. One can hardly tell
she's already 71 years old. Jian happily shared that it is
not tiring for her at all, and she does it with a happy mindset.
She just had a bone spur operation on her neck last year,
but sitting at home for half a month was already too much
idle time for her, and she is back doing recycling again.
Another Tzu Chi volunteer, Grandma Lin,
found her cure for depression in recycling. Her husband passed
away 30 years ago, leaving her struggling to raise her 5 kids.
After they grew up and moved away, loneliness left her in
depression, until she became a Tzu Chi recycling volunteer.
Lin shared that when recycling, "she has people to talk
with, and the day passes very fast. She's always in a good
mood and never troubled by worries, so her health keeps improving."
In the back of the recycling center, Grandma
Shu is churning out some of her famous dishes for the volunteers.
Shu expressed, "When I see the Tzu Chi brothers sweating
bullets working so hard recycling, it would break my heart
to see them go hungry." (Note: Tzu Chi members are addressed
as brothers and sisters to promote a sense of a universal
family)
For 10 years, 70-year old Grandma Gao has
been making the one-hour trip on bicycle to the Taipei Chapter
to be a volunteer. For 20 years, Grandma Gao has volunteered
for Tzu Chi with only one aim - to contribute herself to the
society. She often says that she is illiterate and a bad communicator,
but her selfless deeds say volumes about how to live a beautiful
life.
These senior citizens have long since
earned the "right" to a relaxed retirement, but
they are living advocators of the belief that "no second
should pass by emptily". They truly live their lives
to the fullest, utilizing the best of their abilities to continue
contributing to society.
