Tzu Chi Mobile Clinic Arrives in Houston
Will Provide Dental and Medical Assistance to Katrina Evacuees
Tzu
Chi volunteers at the Beaumont Ford Park shelter in Texas
give emergency gift cards to hurricane survivors.
SAN DIMAS, Calif. (SEPTEMBER 6, 2005) -
After 40 hours of driving, the Tzu Chi Mobile Clinic finally
arrived in Houston to help the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina.
The mobile clinic left from the Buddhist Tzu Chi Free Clinic
in the Los Angeles area, early Tuesday morning. Two Tzu Chi
volunteers who drove the vehicle took turns and stopped only
to catch a few hours of sleep so that they can get to Houston
as soon as possible. Tzu Chi volunteers said it was a challenge
to drive the 12-foot tall mobile clinic on the interstate
for 1,500 miles from Los Angeles to Houston because every
time a large truck passed by, you could feel the vehicle sway
side to side.
One week after Hurricane Katrina hit the
Gulf Coast, evacuees continue to arrive in Houston, filling
up the Astrodome and other evacuation centers. Medical and
dental needs are great in this area, so the Tzu Chi Mobile
Clinic arrived to give assistance. The mobile clinic is equipped
with two dental stations, x-ray and sanitation capabilities.
To help operate the mobile clinic, one dentist and two dental
assistants, Tzu Chi volunteers who are part of the Tzu Chi
International Medical Association (TIMA), left Los Angeles
late Tuesday evening and arrived in Houston early this morning.
Along with Houston's Tzu Chi volunteer doctors and dentists,
the team is ready to provide dental and medical assistance
to evacuees.
Tzu Chi's disaster assistance began on
Sept. 3 as volunteers set up tables at the Beaumont Ford Park,
a shelter in Beaumont, Texas. Beaumont is an hour and a half
by car from Tzu Chi's Southern regional office in Houston.
Tzu Chi has given gift cards to about 2,000 of the 6,000 evacuees
staying in Beaumont, so far, 2,000 people have received Tzu
Chi's gift cards. Volunteers also gave 30-minute pre-paid
phone cards. Tzu Chi's emergency gift cards will allow families
to buy daily necessities, food, water, clothing and prescription
medicine.
Although there are some basic items such
as food, water and baby formula, Tzu Chi's gift cards give
people a chance to purchase what they really need. A man who
received the gift card this weekend, came back to Tzu Chi
volunteers to say "thank you" because he was finally
able to buy detergent to wash his clothes, a razor for shaving
his week-long beard and nail clippers.
Tzu Chi will continue distributing gift
cards in Beaumont as long as there is a need. Elsewhere in
the United States and in 22 countries around the world including
Canada, Paraguay, Malaysia, Australia, and Singapore, Tzu
Chi volunteers have begun raising funds to assist those affected
by Hurricane Katrina.
To help those impacted by Hurricane Katrina,
please write checks to Tzu Chi and mail to Tzu Chi Foundation,
1100 S. Valley Center Avenue, San Dimas, CA 91773. For more
information, please call (909) 447-7799.
