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Tent construction is continuing and we proceeded to
build more tent foundations after 53 tents were completed
yesterday. A total of 200 tents are to be built next
to the mosque. In the morning, Brother Hsieh Ching-kuei
met with the premier of Sri Lanka and informed him about
Tzu Chi's decision to build 1,000 permanent Great Love
houses.
The premier talked to representatives from many charity
organizations, including the Red Cross, about the requirements
of house construction and plans of giving boats to the
fishermen. He also announced that Hambantota would be
expanding instead of relocating, and no religious buildings
would be demolished.
A memorandum listing the number of houses to be built
was prepared for each organization. Most organizations
signed the memorandum on the spot. However, since Tzu
Chi's name was misspelled, we had to reschedule to sign
the memorandum at the premier's office in Colombo on
Jan. 18.
There are two sisters, aged 22 and 20, who were born
with joint disease and had suffered from the disease
since they were nine. The hardware store owned by their
family was damaged by the tsunami, but fortunately not
totally destroyed.
Tzu Chi volunteers brought the two sisters to the clinic
for diagnoses, and doctors treated them with acupuncture.
One doctor washed their feet and trimmed the nails for
the elder sister, whose condition was more severe. Doctors
also tried to show their mother proper ways to take
care of her daughters. We will continue to follow up
on their progress and provide them with hygiene education.
We will also present them with wheelchairs so that they
can take part in more activities.
A 60-year-old grandma, Susilawathi, came to the free
clinic for treatment today. After the tsunami took her
husband's life, she lost her appetite, could not sleep,
and became severely depressed. Doctors and volunteers
hugged her and encouraged her to stay strong, but the
tears continued streaming down her face.
Doctor Lin told her about a local translation volunteer
who is a tsunami victim and now works on the Tzu Chi
team. The volunteer was able to walk out of his own
tragedy and decided to help after he saw so many people
coming from other countries to help people in Sri Lanka.
We told her that we would continue to be here to support
them and wished her a quick recovery so she could help
others. After hearing this, the grandma finally left
the clinic with a little hope in her heart.
A two-year-old boy with deformity was unable to use
the thumbs of both hands. He had to use his index and
middle fingers to grip when the doctor gave him a lollipop.
After diagnosis, the doctor believed that some tendons
could still function, and a surgery would be beneficial
for him. However, due to the complexity of the operation,
the doctor needed to send the X-rays to Taiwan for further
evaluation before further help can be discussed and
considered.
In the afternoon, a group of Tzu Chi doctors from California
arrived and joined the free clinic services. They found
that many patients had skin infections. Furthermore,
the patients probably swallowed sea water during the
tsunami and many of them coughed due to respiratory
infections. Lack of rest, anxiety about their future
after the disaster as well as the poor local medical
resources all contributed to the worsening condition
of the people's health.
Another common health problem was fractured bones from
people who tried to fix their houses after the disaster
and fell from the rooftops. They could only receive
low quality medical care from the local hospital. Thus,
there is a great need for more medical professionals
and better medical supplies to help treat the patients.
Doctor Xu found an orphan while giving community medical
services and asked the volunteers to find out how Tzu
Chi could help the child. Tzu Chi doctors do not only
treat the patients' physical illnesses, but also try
to relieve their inner emotional pains. They would utilize
all possible Tzu Chi resources to provide those in need
with every possible help.
Satha is a 22-year-old junior medical school student.
After his father and brother died in the tsunami, he
lost financial support to continue his education and
was forced to work to earn a living. Our volunteers
expressed that Tzu Chi would do its best to assist him
and invited him to work at our free clinic. He came
to help in the emergency room in the afternoon. Doctor
Lin encouraged Satha to become a good doctor to serve
people in Sri Lanka. We hope that the seed of great
love would grow in him so he could bring the Tzu Chi
humanitarian spirit to the local medical team in the
future.
In the evening, local residents and all Tzu Chi volunteers
had time to sing and appreciate this opportunity that
brought them together. A local volunteer, Miss Zareena
Samidon, said that before, she had been selfish and
too proud of herself growing up in a strict Muslim family.
However, she was touched by the sincere care and love
from everyone in Tzu Chi, and therefore her attitude
had changed into having a more open mind after visiting
our clinic.
Master Cheng Yen sent messages to the Tzu Chi medical
and relief team in Hambantota. She was grateful for
all the work and efforts we have done, but urged the
volunteers to take good care of their own safety and
health. The Master had noticed that some of the medical
staff did not wear facemasks while treating the patients,
and wanted to remind everyone to take the necessary
precautions to protect themselves.
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