Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Distributes 45,000 Aid Vouchers to Ukrainian Refugees

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Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Distributes 45,000 Aid Vouchers to Ukrainian Refugees

By Craig C Lewis
June 15, 2022

In response to the refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Taiwan-headquartered charity and humanitarian organization Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation has distributed 45,000 gift and cash cards to individuals and families displaced by the conflict.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February, has forced some 5 million Ukrainians to flee their country, accord to UNHCR data, in what is reported to be the biggest movement of refugees in Europe since the Second World War. For many of the people and families fleeing the conflict, the first stop is Poland. Groups of Tzu Chi volunteers from Europe, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States have gathered in the Polish cities of Warsaw, Lublin, and Poznan to offer humanitarian assistance.

“Tzu Chi’s humanitarian response in Ukraine and surrounding countries includes direct financial aid, relief materials, and emotional care to refugees in Poland as well as medical assistance, protection for women and children, psychosocial assistance, food shipments, and other types of aid for refugees and displaced people in Poland, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine,” the foundation said in an announcement shared with BDG. “To increase the reach and breadth of its assistance, Tzu Chi has entered into partnerships and collaboration agreements with UNICEF, IsraAid, the Camillian Disaster Service International Foundation, and the Polish Women Can Foundation.”

Refugees receive humanitarian supplies from Tzu Chi volunteers. Image courtesy of Tzu Chi USA

The support distribution of aid vouchers, each with a purchasing value of 2,000 Polish zloty (US$450), follows the foundation’s launch of its humanitarian aid initiative in March: “Love & Compassion for Ukraine,” through which Tzu Chi aims to provide critical supplies for individuals and families fleeing the war.*

Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation’s work for the people of Ukraine includes delivering essential supplies to refugee families across three cities in Poland, as well as providing them with access to psychosocial and emotional-spiritual care. The foundation has said that it aims to expand this aid initiative to at least 15,000 individuals by the end of June.

“With our common mission to serve humanity and inspire others, we trust this interfaith partnership will assist the refugees both in material needs and emotional support,” said Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation CEO Po-Wen Yen. “One’s strength may be small, but together, we can move mountains.” (Tzu Chi)

Donations to “Love & Compassion for Ukraine” may be made here

The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Republic of China, more widely known as the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, was founded in Taiwan in 1966 by the Buddhist nun and Dharma teacher Master Cheng Yen. With a focus on “putting compassion into action,” the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is a UN-accredited NGO with some 10 million supporters and 432 offices worldwide across 51 countries, undertaking regular activities in the fields of humanitarian aid, medical care, education, and environmental sustainability.

As a global icon of socially engaged Buddhism, Master Cheng Yen has expressed a deeply held belief that all people are capable of manifesting the same great compassion as the Buddha. She has noted that true compassion is not simply feeling sympathy for the suffering of others, but is found in reaching out to relieve suffering with concrete action.

Master Cheng Yen is popularly known in Taiwan as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Buddhism, the others being Master Sheng Yen, founder of Dharma Drum Mountain; Master Hsing Yun, founder of Fo Guang Shan; and Master Wei Chueh, founder of Chung Tai Shan. These four global Buddhist orders, correspondingly known as the “Four Great Mountains,” have grown to become among the most influential Chinese Buddhist organizations in the world.

* Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Responds to Ukraine Refugee Crisis (BDG) and Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Contributes US$10 million to UNICEF Effort to Aid Children Affected by War in Ukraine (BDG)

Craig C Lewis

Craig Lewis grew up in a transplanted Scottish family in southern England before setting off against all advice to seek light and wisdom in far-off places, rather than staying put and looking within. After repeated encounters with the Buddhadharma as a journalist in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and across Asia, he eventually found refuge as senior editor at BDG, where he reports and writes on the diversity of contemporary manifestations of the Dharma. Craig is also a keen mountain trekker and photographer, finding particular inspiration in the peoples, cultures, and Buddhist expressions of the Himalaya. In his column for BDG, “Chasing Light,” Craig seeks to document encounters, experiences, and epiphanies resulting from his own tentative and faltering path toward liberation. Contact: [email protected]

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