Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

Tzu Chi relief team, along with Senator Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic, travel to Jimani to meet with Tzu Chi volunteers in Haiti. Tzu Chi provides instant rice and eco-friendly blankets. 29 countries participate in the first phase of Tzu Chi’s global fundraising campaign.

On January 19, Tzu Chi relief team, along with Senator Juan Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez and guards from the Dominican Republic, traveled from the Tzu Chi Emergency Communication Center in Santo Domingo to Jimani to meet with the Tzu Chi volunteers in Haiti. The one-way trip from Santo Domingo to Jimani took five hours, with a stop in Barahona.

Tzu Chi volunteer Steeve said it took 1 ½ hour to travel from his house near Port-au-Prince to Jimani. The traffic condition was good, and there were UN peacekeepers patrolling along the way. According to Steeve, only the city center is still chaotic, but other areas are fairly safe, and the main needs are diesel fuel, gasoline, medical supplies and food. Tzu Chi relief team and Senator Rodriguez will enter Haiti on January 21 to provide more relief goods and medical supplies.

Senator Rodriguez first came into contact with Tzu Chi in 1999, when Tzu Chi organized a mudslide relief operation in Senator Rodriguez’s home state before he was elected into office. He was extremely impressed with how well organized, efficient, and effective Tzu Chi's relief work was, whether carrying out disaster surveys, distributing the aid, or holding free clinics. Tzu Chi's spirit also had a profound impact on his public service career. Senator Rodriguez said, "It's now nearly 11 year and the residents from my home state still remember Tzu Chi's help. In the Dominican Republic, I don't think there is a humanitarian organization comparable to Tzu Chi." Senator Rodriguez is volunteering with Tzu Chi for the Haiti relief operation, and he hopes that his children can be Tzu Chi volunteers as well.

Two of the unique relief goods that the relief team is bringing into Haiti are instant rice and eco-friendly blankets. Tzu Chi International Humanitarian Aid Association (TIHAA) has developed instant rice, which only requires the addition of water of any temperature, for use during relief operations. Depending on the water temperature, it takes anywhere between 20 minutes to 50 minutes before serving, and there are four different flavors to choose from. Tzu Chi’s eco-friendly blanket was also developed by TIHAA. Each blanket is made from 70 PET bottles recycled by Tzu Chi recycling volunteers, providing warmth to the people in need. So far, over 300,000 blankets have been distributed to disaster survivors in different parts of the world. Tzu Chi relief team plans to provide these relief goods to the survivors in Haiti as well as to relief workers from other humanitarian organizations.

Large quantities of relief goods and medical supplies from Tzu Chi USA and global headquarters, Taiwan, will be shipped to Santo Domingo, for transport into Haiti. In the next few days, another team of Tzu Chi volunteers from the US with extensive relief experience will travel to Santo Domingo to provide additional support.

Over the weekend, Tzu Chi volunteers from 29 countries conducted street fundraisers as part of Tzu Chi’s global fundraising campaign. More countries will join in the fundraising campaign this upcoming weekend. Please continue to send your kind thoughts or pray for the people in Haiti, and invite your family and friends to do the same. Tzu Chi will be there to accompany the survivors as long as there is a need, and Tzu Chi will help to deliver your love to Haiti. Your donation of any amount will go a long way to help the suffering people in Haiti; every cent of donation will be used for the immediate, mid-term and long-term relief operation in Haiti. Together, let us help Haiti with love!