In the morning of August 21st, 2009, children from the Tzu Chi Kindergarten (Da Ai Educare Sdn Bhd) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia put themselves into pairs, one was holding the donation box, whereas the other one was holding the poster. They have urged from people passing by, and also explained to them the purpose of this fundraising. “Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan on August 8th, and so it is also known as the “88 Flood”. Because of the mud slides, many people have lost their homes. But Aunties and Uncles from Tzu Chi Foundation fed them with meals, so we are here trying to raise the money for them. Any amount is kindness love, so it doesn’t matter how much you donate.”
Be Encouraged to asked for the donation
The children not only donated what they have but had also learnt to ask donations from others. Some kids had been participating Tzu Chi street fundraising activities with their parents, like Lu Yi and Shen Huei Yi, they had also tried to fundraise among their peers. With the encouragement and the clear explanations from the posters they held, many also joined to donate.
When parents arrived to pick up their children, these young volunteers were at first hesitant to approach the parents. With kind gestures coming from the parents, children were encouraged and become more courageous to ask for the donations. After several practices and generous donation from the parents, these kids passionately and bravely approach those who came to pick up their children from school.
Miss Fang, who is the teacher in Kuala Lumpur Tzu Chi Kindergarten, mentioned that most Tzu Chi Kindergarten students have access to Da Ai TV Channel at home. Hence, when the children learnt that the land where Master Cheng Yen lives is suffering from the flood, all of them wanted to offer their help to the victims. And the teachers also took the opportunity to educate the children that many part of this world is suffering from natural disaster because we human beings are over cutting the forests for our own need, so the mother earth was hurt without the forests’ protection. Therefore, mudslide happened wherever there is a typhoon or heavy rain. Not only our mother earth is hurt but many human beings are suffering as well.Parents Also being Motivated and Act Their Love
One of the mothers, Tsao, Fei Chun, also shared that since her children, Huang, Yi-Hen and Huang, Yi-Hun, learnt about the typhoon disaster from Daai TV news, they had been sharing their thoughts with her. She also took the opportunity to teach them about being thankful and cherishing what they have. When Tsao saw her children being so devoted on fundraising, she was deeply moved and promised her two boys to volunteer at the Da Ai School.
Toward the end of school day, they had a simple prayer ceremony. Everyone closed their eyes and sang the song, “Prayer” with the most sincere heart. In their mind, they wished that all typhoon victims in Taiwan can feel their love and be comforted under their prayer. The students also prayed for health, peace and disaster free world for all human race.
Written by Seiw-Lam Lo
Translated by Jack Tseng, Charlotte Lin, Lucy Lee
