PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation has transferred the funds it raised in St. Maarten to its head office in the Philippines to assist with typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) victims.
A total of US $5,102.65 was transferred on Wednesday, January 15, Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung said, adding that the St. Maarten chapter was "grateful for the opportunity" to assist.
The international arm of Tzu Chi Foundation went to the Tacloban in the Philippines on November 15, just after the typhoon hit to assist with the disaster and has achieved success with its cash-for-work programme, which began on November 20.
In less than a month, 280,000 Filipinos had regained strength and cleaned their homes. Through the relief funds from Tzu Chi's cash-for-work initiative, residents were able to face rising inflation and purchase materials for rebuilding.
Typhoon Haiyan devastated nearly all the houses by the seashore. Tzu Chi's cash-for-work programme covered areas from Anibong Elementary School to San Jose Barangay, Tzu Chi volunteers worked hand-in-hand with local residents to clean the streets of 70 districts and helped to remove post-disaster debris to avoid pandemic diseases and rejuvenate the city's vitality.
Besides cash-for-work programme, Tzu Chi International Medical Association and medical staff from Tzu Chi hospitals in Taiwan have carried out four large-scale medical services. In the form of mobile free clinic, the medical service is available to residents on site. The free clinics had assisted more than 4,000 people. At the same time, the instant rice developed by Tzu Chi International Humanitarian Aid Association had been used in afflicted areas without supply of water and electricity; a total number of 190,000 portions hot meals had been provided.
Since December 11, Tzu Chi Foundation has built pre-fabricated classrooms at two schools. More than 50 classrooms are expected to be built. The pre-fabricated classroom can be used for five years.
Tzu Chi volunteers from all over the world have campaign to "raise hearts and love." Forty-four countries and regions including South Africa, Mozambique, Haiti, the United States, Malaysia and others have fundraised in wintery or sun-scorching streets.
Since its establishment in 1993, Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines Regional Office has upheld the principles of its founder Master Cheng Yen: "Great kindness and great compassion to all." Tzu Chi Philippines actualizes Tzu Chi's four missions: charity, medicine, education and humanistic culture. Besides the eye center and dental clinic in Manila, there are several branch offices and recycling stations throughout the Philippines in promoting altruistic love and action.
In 2008, after Ketsana Typhoon struck the Philippines, cash-for-work programme was first implemented in the city of Marikina and it took only 18 days for the city to reclaim its orderliness. With Typhoon Haiyan, volunteers and medical staff from Taiwan, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other areas have devoted themselves to the first-line of relief work. An estimate of over 3,000 people have committed in this Haiyan relief.