Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

A transformation has occurred among the workers on a site building a ‘Great Love Village’ in southern Taiwan for survivors of Typhoon Morakot in August last year. The foundation raised money from over 50 countries to build a new community, with housing for more than 1,000 families, in the Shanlin district of Kaohsiung. Workers work days and nights, in an effort to complete the first 600 homes by the start of the Chinese New Year in February. “The survivors of Typhoon Morakot do not have a home,” said Chen Jian-fu, a technician with the Meide Construction Company, one of the contractors. “We need to hurry up so that they can move in. For Tzu Chi, I am not afraid of being exhausted.”

Tzu Chi volunteers bring lunch boxes with vegetarian food for the workers; the boxes and the chopsticks can be re-used and are collected by the volunteers after the meal – so there is no garbage and no discarded plastic lunch boxes. After several months of close interaction with Tzu Chi, many of the construction workers have become vegetarian. “The vegetarian meals are much better for us and teach us to be compassionate,” said Wang Qiu-jun, manager of the Meide Construction Company. Fan Zhen-huang, a group director of the IEC Group which is also involved in the project, said that his employees wondered if they would get used to not eating meat. “But it is not bad at all. It is filling and tastes good, so eventually it grew on them.”

Workers give up cigarettes, alcohol
The construction workers have also been inspired to give up smoking and drinking, two other precepts of Tzu Chi. They feel better for it and there is less litter on the site as a result. “There is less swearing at work,” said Cai Yao-ting, a worker with Menghui Construction. “To be honest, I am touched to see the change in everyone’s attitude. It is very impressive.”

If the building workers have a pure heart and interact well with each other, they will work more efficiently. And co-operation between them and Tzu Chi is creating an environment of humanity and culture on the site.