Amor en Acción

Bangladesh

Es la temporada del monsoon en el sur de Asia, y las torrenciales lluvias día tras día, causaron severas inundaciones en esta región. Especialmente en Bangladesh. Nuestra compasiva Maestra solicitó a los compañeros iniciados, que fueran y ofrecieran ayuda. Al recibir las amorosas palabras de parte de la Maestra, el 1 de agosto los compañeros iniciados de Formosa, formaron inmediatamente un equipo de ayuda hacia Dhaka, la capital de Bangladesh, ese mismo día, para dar principio al trabajo de ayuda. Los esfuerzos de ayuda ofrecidos a las víctimas en Bangladesh, es de un total de US$40,318.45.

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Por el Grupo de Noticias de Taoyuan, Formosa (Originalmente en chino)

It is monsoon season in south Asia, and torrential rains day after day have caused severe flooding in this region. Especially in Bangladesh, almost 40% of the land has been immersed by the mighty torrent. Innumerable people have been displaced and are awaiting help. Feeling the suffering of the flood victims, our compassionate Master instructed fellow initiates to go and render aid. Upon receiving Master’s loving words on August 1, fellow initiates from Formosa immediately formed a relief team and flew to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, that very day, to launch the relief work.

On August 2, fellow initiates split into two working teams. One team, with the help of translators, started the translation and printing work of the fliers. Another team quickly contacted the local Red Crescent Society to find out more about the disaster situation. The Regional Director of the Red Crescent Society suggested that we go to assess Shibalaya, one of the most affected areas, and sent a Commissioner to accompany us. At around seven o’clock that evening, we arrived in Shibalaya and immediately visited a local official, Mr. Sone Mamkhah, to find out what the victims needed most.

	The Daily Ittefaq repeatedly reported our relief efforts in Bangladesh: (Top) Relief team members from The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association distributing relief materials and medicine to the destitute victims.
	(Bottom) Mr. Dulal Krishna Saha, government official of Sirajganj accepting the relief items from our Association members.

Early in the morning of August 3, fellow initiates went to the wholesale market to buy the required materials. Our interpreter told us that his brother-in-law offered to help purchase all the needed items and also to divide and pack them for distribution. Even a press reporter from The Daily Ittefaq, Mr. Mannan Chowdhury, who had come to interview us, helped us to negotiate a better price, and to confirm the cost and quality of the materials. Therefore, we fixed the deal that day, purchased the needed items the next day, and started the packing process. What the local people thought would take one week to accomplish, we finished in one day. On August 4, we quickly divided and packed all the relief materials for 800 households. In addition to that, we also bought some medical supplies, candies, biscuits and toys for the hospitals and children. On August 4, �Mr. Mannan Chowdhury, the reporter from The Daily Ittefaq, also gladly accepted our interview and expressed gratitude to Master for helping his disaster-stricken compatriots.

Early the next day, August 5, we split the 800 bags of relief materials into two parts, and delivered 500 of them and half of the medical supplies personally to Shibalaya. The remainder we delivered to the Red Crescent Society, requesting that they deliver these relief items to some remote places difficult for us to reach.  

Accompanied by local officials and police, we set off to distribute the relief materials to five affected places in Shibalaya. At the third stop, the victims were already waiting for us; they had formed an orderly queue in the water with certified coupons in their hands. Later we found out that the highly efficient local officials, upon knowing that we were going to distribute relief materials, quickly created a register and issued certified coupons to each eligible household, and that was why the distribution work went so smoothly. We were very touched and filled with respect for these officials. At the fifth stop, when a flood victim opened the relief material bag, she told us with tears in her eyes, that she had never had such good rice in her whole life. We were overwhelmed, on hearing her words of appreciation.

When Mr. Shafiul Alam from the Red Crescent Society received and counted the 300 bags of relief materials, he expressed gratitude to Master and said that these items were precisely what the victims needed most at that moment. We have to thank Mr. Lukky, a service staff from the hotel where we stayed, for helping us to smoothly deliver the relief materials to the Red Crescent Society. He not only offered to assist our relief work with his greatest effort, but also gracefully refused to accept any remuneration. Instead, he humbly said, “I just come to serve you the best I can!” At such a critical moment, Mr. Lukky’s noble attitude really touched us deeply.

On August 6, we set off very early in the morning for another severely devastated area—Sirajganj, launching another wave of relief work. Most encouraging was that The Daily Ittefaq had already published the news of our relief efforts prominently on their front page, which subsequently would bring the needs of the flood victims to the attention of more people.

The second batch of relief team members from Formosa and new translators arrived on August 7. We again split into two groups to work separately. One group went to Sirajganj to meet a local official, Mr. Dulal Krishna Saha, and to assess the affected area. The other group purchased, divided, packed and loaded the relief supplies, which was all completed the following day. On August 9, we went with vehicles to two affected areas and smoothly distributed 600 packages of relief items to the flood victims.

	Contributing medical supplies to the hospital.
Appreciation letter from the flood victims in Sirajganj.
	Receipt for the relief materials delivered tothe Red Crescent Society.

We were very grateful to all the “living saints” that we met on this relief trip. All of them were angels sent by Allah. Thanks to their assistance, we were able to carry out the work so �easily, to alleviate the urgent needs of the flood victims. After we had finished the first distribution of relief materials, Mr. Sone Mamkhah expressed his amazement at Master being able to dispatch a relief team to that place before any other relief group or even the military had started their relief operation, and that our group was able to accomplish all the purchasing and distribution tasks so quickly. He was wholeheartedly thankful to Master. Hearing his appreciation speech on behalf of the flood victims in Shibalaya, we felt really delighted and relieved, because Master is most concerned about rendering timely aid to the disaster victims. When distributing the second batch of relief items, we were glad to know that some other groups were also doing the same work. As the situation was serious and relief materials were very scarce in the affected areas, if more other groups could join in the relief efforts, the suffering of the victims would also be alleviated much sooner. We sincerely prayed that the victims’ recovery from this difficult situation would be swift, so they could resume their original peaceful and happy life.

Expenditures of The Supreme Master Ching Hai
International Association’s
Relief Efforts Rendered to Flood Victims in Bangladesh

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