Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

The three schools which Tzu Chi is building in Haiti are due for completion in January 2013 and will accommodate more than 1,800 students. The foundation announced this at a news conference in Taipei attended by four sisters of the Catholic order who will manage the schools and came to Taiwan to express their gratitude.

The three are the primary and secondary schools of the College Marie-Anne and the Christ the King Secretarial School in Port-au-Prince, the capital. They were badly damaged by the terrible earthquake that hit Haiti on January 21, 2010. The first two will have space for 1,700 students and the secretarial school 120. “Our students will never forget their co-operation with Tzu Chi for the rest of their lives,” Sister Marthe-Marjorie Fevrier, director of the college, told the news conference. “When I told them that Tzu Chi would help us rebuild the school, I could feel the gratitude flowing from the hearts of the students. They really felt the start of a new life.” She showed paintings done by the students to express this gratitude. “I hope that our education can produce students who not only can count and write but also are good moral citizens. They are the future hope of Haiti.”

The schools belong to the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne, an order founded in 1850 by Esther Blondin in Montreal, Canada, to improve the poor condition of rural schools. It has been involved in health and education in Haiti for 62 years. Many officials of the Haiti government and entrepreneurs are graduates of College Marie-Anne; they include the wife of the ambassador of Haiti to Taiwan, Mr Mario Chouloute. So they have a special feeling for the importance of the reconstruction work. “Since January 2010, Tzu Chi Foundation has kept working really hard with Haitian people. It is not an easy job as they are working in a very difficult situation, “ the ambassador said. “ Education is basic for all the achievements in the society. I take this opportunity to thank Tzu Chi Foundation and the Sisters of Saint Anne for their effort.”

Among those present was James Chen, a member of the foundation in the United States, who has been to Haiti 17 times and is responsible for the reconstruction. In his remarks, he looked back on its work in the country. “Tzu Chi has been providing help since 1998. Its attitude and practice of Great Love and compassion has never changed.” In 1998, it went to provide assistance to victims of a hurricane. The volunteers have been inspired by the words of Master Cheng Yen that disasters do not distinguish one country from another, nor does Great Love. “This has enabled me to continue providing help to Haiti and never feel hardship,” said Chen.

Sister Marie Elaine Raymond, the provincial superior of the order in Haiti, said that the spirit of Tzu Chi as described by James Chen was a big surprise to the Catholic sisters. “Before I came to Taiwan, I constantly asked myself – ‘why does Tzu Chi want to help us?’ When I reached Hualien, I found the answer. I saw the compassion and Great Love of Master Cheng Yen. Her spirit of action is the same idea as ours. Seeing Tzu Chi has given us hope. We deeply hope to have a long-term co-operation with Tzu Chi.” Sister Rita Larivee, the general superior of the Congregation, said that many people had asked why Catholic nuns should co-operate with a Buddhist organization and she used the analogy of a coin with two sides to explain that love was the same. “Somehow in this universe we are living, we share the exact same value. Tzu Chi said that it isn't true compassion unless it is put into actions. And as Catholic nuns, we also said that contemplation without actions is not contemplation. We have realized that we share many similarities.”

Rey Her, spokesman of the foundation, expressed the thanks of Master Cheng Yen, quoting her as saying that love was like a stream of clear water. “Whether it comes from a well or a river is the same living source of clean water. Love enables us to find each other. I hope that we can bring this Great Love together, to lighten up Haiti and the world!”

Also attending the event were ambassadors from different countries in Taipei, including those from the Solomon Islands, Paraguay and Belize.