PHILIPSBURG:--- The St Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation brightened the day and put smiles on the faces of about 275 mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers on Sunday when it donated 300 packages containing goodies plus 300 bags of 10kg “Love Rice” during its triple celebration held at the Belair Community Center on Sunday.
The annual celebration, which is to mark Tzu Chi Day, Mother’s Day, and Buddha Day, was held in collaboration with Leaders for Change and the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor VSA, a first-time collaboration for Tzu Chi.
Culture Department Head Clara Reyes and Tzu Chi volunteer Yamile Bastidas guided the event, with Reyes serving as Master of Ceremonies and Bastidas, who translated in Spanish.
A capacity-filled hall at the Belair Community Center, with practically all seats filled and standing space taken up, was on hand to experience the event.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Highlights of the event included a humble foot washing and tea offering ceremony, where children got an opportunity to wash the feet of their mothers in a show of respect. Tzu Chi believes that it is important to be grateful to parents and the way to repay them is to appreciate them and be good to them as this is the foundation of being a good person.
The leaders of several organizations were also on hand to share their heartfelt testimonies.
Young talent was also on display as several youngsters took to the stage to entertain guests including dancers from the Total Restoration Dance Ministry, who performed a dance, and young Jayden George, who sang about his love for his mother.
This year Tzu Chi is celebrating its 56th anniversary. It is also a day to especially remember the organization’s volunteers. Tzu Chi began with a group of 30 housewives who set
aside a small amount of their grocery money (NT.50 cents US $0.02) each day to care for needy families. From these humble beginnings, the group has grown to become a major civil society actor, with approximately 10 million members, and chapters in 47 countries. The group's core activities span Charity, Medicine, Education, and Humanistic Culture, and it provides aid to all people regardless of race, religion, or nationality.
“Without everyone's joint efforts, Tzu Chi would not be able to help people in over 127 countries and carry out the missions of Charity, Medicine, Education, and Culture. With Tzu Chi volunteers all over the world caring for people in their local communities, many people's suffering can be alleviated in times of disaster,” Master of Ceremonies Reyes said.
“St. Maarten might be a tiny dot on the map, but thanks to our volunteers the local Tzu Chi Foundation chapter has been carrying out numerous activities on the island. Over the past year Tzu Chi has been very busy in several of its missions,” she added.
A touching video depicting Tzu Chi’s work around the world was shown.
Tzu Chi St. Maarten is able to carry out much of its work thanks to the assistance and compassion of its founder Master Cheng Yen, a Buddhist nun, who formed Tzu Chi on May 14, 1966 in Hualien, Taiwan. Due to Master Cheng Yen’s assistance through Tzu Chi international, which sent several containers of rice to the country, from Hurricane Irma in 2017 to December 2021, Tzu Chi St. Maarten was able to distribute a total of 30,052 bags of 10kg rice and donate 30,609 food relief packages, which assisted a total of 30,609 families and 153 institutions. It is estimated that a total of 94,750 persons from the various households assisted have benefitted from the donations given. Volunteers assisted in various events a total of 4,689 times over the specified period.
Chantale Groeneveldt from the Minister of VSA’s Cabinet said she had been impressed with the number of persons who were present and with the growth of Tzu Chi over the years.
VSA Minister Omar Ottley said the event exemplifies that humanity supersedes one’s race, culture, belief, and humanity. “This is what we have been missing in the world today - people that would put your neighbor before yourself. People that would see someone hurting, someone in need and stops to take a minute to just hear them out,” Ottley said, expressing gratitude to Tzu Chi and its St. Maarten Commissioner Sandra Cheung, amongst others.
“Organizations like this and seeing turnouts like this, push me to strive to be better, push me to strive to focus on social needs… Within this Ministry, we often focus on public health and the social aspect has been placed on the backburner. Since I have taken this helm, I have worked hand-in-hand with the [Department of] Community Development, Family and Humanitarian Affairs and we have promised to put social affairs up that ladder. Today is a prime example of what we can achieve when we work together,” he said.
The Minister said it is events like these that push him to be the best that he can be and he pledged to continue to strive for social equality.
A grateful Cheung said she was heartened by the event. Cheung said she has been with Tzu Chi for almost 20 years. Her heart-wrenching Hurricane Luis experience motivated her to do something to help others. Seventeen years after joining Tzu Chi, she said Hurricane Irma hit and she was scared, but she wanted to help. After a fire was averted at her business and help was received to start up their generator, her husband started baking bread to feed as many people on the island as possible during a period when many people had been fearful, hungry, and hopeless.
“It’s so important for everyone to remember the disaster and remember that when the disaster came how scared you are, but the moment you step up to help, that fear is no longer there,” she said adding that without everyone and her husband, her life would not be as beautiful and contented as it is.
The triple celebration culminated with the VSA Minister assisting Tzu Chi volunteers to give out the food packages and rice to mothers.
The assistance of 55 volunteers helped make the event a success.
Cheung said she was grateful to everyone who was involved in the event in one way or another and thanked everyone for their participation and assistance.
