Flood Relief Aid to the Pure-hearted Nepalese

By Formosa Relief Team (Originally in Chinese)

Every year from June to September, it is monsoon season in South Asia; however, this year there was more rainfall than in previous years, causing severe flooding. As of September 2017 in Nepal, at least 160 people perished during floods or landslides, and nearly 250,000 houses were damaged or destroyed, with approximately 1.7 million people affected. It was the heaviest recorded rainfall in 60 years for the central and western parts of the country.

Upon receiving the loving instruction from Supreme Master Ching Hai to provide disaster relief in Nepal and Her contribution of US$10,000, our Association members in Formosa (Taiwan) immediately formed a relief team. The disaster area was 15 hours away from our local center in Nepal. Before our relief team from Formosa arrived, our local Association members went to the disaster area to check the road conditions and investigated the number of affected families.

On August 24, our relief team arrived at Nepal airport, where we were picked up by our local Association members. Together we went to the center to discuss the next steps. According to the latest message from our Association members who went to the disaster area, most people were fine after the water receded, but poor families experienced much more hardships. After consulting with the village heads, we planned to assist 500 to 550 disadvantaged families who were seriously affected by the flood. That night, we decided we would purchase relief items. Each family would receive 25 kilograms of rice, enough to sustain a family for over three months, lentils, blankets, mosquito nets, candies and cookies. On the same evening, we were also joined by the contact person of our Association in Medan, Indonesia. He brought an additional US$4,200 contributed by our Indonesian Association members for relief work and support of our relief team’s traveling cost. This allowed us to help as many as 700 affected families. We asked the Association members in the disaster area to coordinate with the three village heads and to confirm the number of families in need in their respective villages.

On the morning of August 25, we rented a medium-sized bus for 16 of us, including our local Association members, and went to the disaster area. Another three members helped to transport blankets and mosquito nets we bought from Kathmandu. As parts of the road were damaged, it was very difficult to drive and our relief team did not arrive at the destination until close to 10 pm. A local vegan restaurant postponed their closing time to let all of our team members have a nourishing dinner after a long journey. We invited the owner of the rice shop where we purchased relief supplies to the restaurant and assured him that we would pay for all the items after dinner, even though the packaging work would not be finished until noon the next day. We also bought some treats for the workers who were working overnight to pack relief items. The owner was very touched. He has been in business for many years, but has never met anyone who would pay such a large amount before receiving the goods. We gave him a copy of Master’s The Key of Immediate Enlightenment Sample Booklet and told him about the charity work Master has done all over the world. We also explained to him the benefits of the vegan diet. The owner shook hands with us and happily said goodnight.

In the early morning of August 26, we went to the rice shop to help pack and load relief items onto the trucks and then divided into three teams to travel to Sunsari District in southeastern Nepal. The first team headed to the faraway Dewanganj Village Development Committee (VDC) to distribute relief items to 300 families. Soon afterwards, the second truck was loaded and set off to Bhokraha VDC to distribute to 295 families. The third truck went to Jalpapur VDC to distribute to 105 families. Each team had at least four Association members, so we had enough help to hand over the relief items to the victims one by one. Each of them looked very happy and content after receiving the supplies and we were touched by their joy. These victims worked hard for their families even though they lacked material comfort and were affected by the disaster. We felt grateful for Master’s immense love, which was with us all the way to take care of the victims and nourish their souls. All the teams kept working until sunset and went back to the hotel late in the evening.

We left at 4am on August 27, and returned to our Association center around 6pm. Three bus drivers talked to us for a long time before leaving. They were curious about us, and wondered why we were always energetic. We shared some stories about veganism and gave each of them a copy of The Key of Immediate Enlightenment Sample Booklet. One bus driver said he meditated everyday. He said he would read the Sample Booklet and try to understand more about Master and our Quan Yin Method.

We knew it was due to Master’s invisible blessings on this mission and every other mission that impossible things like this relief work are achieved. We sincerely pray that the vegan world will arrive soon and all beings can live together happily and peacefully like one family.

Expenditures by The Supreme Master Ching Hai and Her International Association for Flood Relief Work in Nepal