Relief to South African Fire Victims
Muaguasi
emergency fire relief.
MAUGUASI, South
Africa - A fire at 10pm on August 15th left 28 households
homeless. Because the temperature was around 3 degree Celsius,
the fire victims were in great need of food and warm clothes.
When Tzu Chi volunteers
arrived on the 16th to do an assessment, they found that some
work was already being done for the victims. The head of the
police department, Mr. Soli, had taken his colleagues to get
donations for the fire victims from the community and the
victims had even started to rebuild their houses!
The next day, August
17th, five Tzu Chi volunteers along with five police officers
handed out blankets, old garments, corn flour, cooking oil,
sugar and beans. Twenty-three households benefited from the
distribution while five households were absent.
Accepting without
blaming
A policeman asked
a Tzu Chi volunteer, "Where does your compassion and
big heart come from?" The volunteer replied, "We
human beings are born with a heart of gold but we tend to
forget it. Tzu Chi is a key to open our hearts and from there,
we learn to give." Some asked, "What are the benefits
you gained by joining Tzu Chi?" The volunteer replied
with a big smile, "You will be as happy like me after
doing every good act!"
One couple among
the fire victims smiled while pointing to their "new
home". It had nothing inside and only had a roof and
a zinc wall. Their acceptance of life without blaming anyone
or anything is indeed an inspiration to us all.
