Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

In May 2022, a Tzu Chi care team went to the Buddha's birthplace, Lumbini, Nepal to care for people there. They could not bear to see so many local residents live in poverty, without resources, and in simple, thatched huts.

Affinities

Lumbini is the birthplace of the Buddha. Even 2,500 years later, it is poor and backward. Following severe flooding in Nepal in 1993, Tzu Chi went there to help; it built four Great Love villages in three counties. In 2015, when the country was hit by a strong earthquake, the Tzu Chi disaster relief medical team once again set foot in the Buddha’s hometown. Since then, Tzu Chi’s care for Nepal has never ceased.

Doing Good Together

Most residents of Lumbini are poor and in bad health. In 1993, Bhikkhu Maitri, founder of the International Buddhist Society (IBS), set up the Buddhist Free Clinic in Lumbini. It is equipped to treat common illnesses.

In 2018, Bhikkhu Maitri began to interact with Tzu Chi volunteers. Seeing the needs of the residents, he hoped to add dialysis services to the Buddhist Free Clinic. So, he invited Tzu Chi to assist in building the clinic and to cooperate in projects such as food distribution, medical construction, and community learning centers in Lumbini.

In August of the same year, Dr. Chen Jimin, deputy CEO of Tzu Chi Malaysia, led a team of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association to Lumbini to explore what they could do. In September 2019, they launched the expansion project of the dialysis center, to provide better medical services.

Tzu Chi built the Lumbini Dialysis Centre (LDC) for Bhikkhu Maitri’s Buddhist Free Clinic in Lumbini. In March 2022, the Ministry of Health approved the center to start the dialysis service.

Dr. Rishi Kumar Kafle, in charge of the Center, said that it currently had six machines serving patients. Thanks to its comprehensive equipment, the city can actively promote its plan for kidney disease prevention in the future.

Gratitude and Care

Dr. Chen Jimin and the Tzu Chi TIMA team went to Nepal to thank everyone for their hard work in setting up the Lumbini Dialysis Centre. They continue to care about its operation, and also for the patients, local vulnerable families, through home visits. In this way, the warmth of Tzu Chi’s Great Love is flowing into the care households.

Because of Bhikkhu Maitri's love, people are inspired to come together and serve mindfully. United by such good affinities, Tzu Chi volunteers from Singapore and Malaysia seized the chance to pool the power of love between people together to do good. Through a great aspiration, loving-kindness can be spread to people in need.

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