Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

Volunteers in the southeast Asia state of Brunei helped more than 80 foreign workers at a factory who lost all their belongings in a fire, providing clothes and daily necessities. The warmth of the volunteers helped them cope with their loss.

The fire broke out on the evening of February 13 in the two-story dormitory of the factory where the workers lived. It was so fierce that, within one hour, the building had been reduced to ashes and the workers were unable to recover their belongings inside. The factory owner provided a sum of money to the distraught workers and hoped that the news of the fire would not leak out. But their plight was so serious that, on February 25, the factory secretary called the Brunei office of Tzu Chi and asked if the foundation could provide clothes and daily necessities for the workers. Immediately the volunteers held an emergency meeting and went to buy the goods the next day.

On February 27, they drove 45 minutes to the factory and held a distribution on the premises. They invited the workers to join them in prayer; their warmth and sincerity touched the hearts of those who had lost everything in the fire and helped them to come to terms with their loss. They also brought bamboo banks and invited the workers to help others when they could.