Taiwan Buddhist Foundation becomes top global charity

Mark O'Neill August 14, 2024 23:04

A foundation set up by a Buddhist nun in Taiwan in 1966 has grown into one of the biggest charities in the world, with more than 10 million members, branches in 68 countries and projects in 136.

According to its 2023 annual report just published, the Tzu Chi Foundation (慈濟基金會) has built and given away a total of 22,743 houses in 18 countries and 256 schools in 17 countries. It has donated 154,380 metric tonnes of rice and 1.45 million blankets to the poor and victims of disasters.

The Foundation was set up in 1966 by Master Cheng Yen (證嚴法師）in Hualien, a city in eastern Taiwan, one of the poorest areas of the island. She began by inviting 30 local housewives to save NT$0.5 a month.

In 2023, it received NT$9.665 billion (US$290 million) in donations and spent NT$8.6 billion (US$258 million) on its global projects. These include eight hospitals, including one in Jakarta, the Great Love Television channel broadcast round the world, a bone marrow bank and an international medical association which has provided 18,400 free clinics in 58 countries.

Born in May 1937, Master Cheng Yen remains the leader, speaking every day on her television channel. She works an 18-hour day, rising at 0400 for Buddhist prayers, discussing projects with disciples at home and abroad, receiving visitors and going to bed often after 2200.

She has received numerous awards for the Foundation’s charity. Many of her disciples believe she deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Stephen Huang, executive director of the Foundation’s global volunteers based in Southern California, became a disciple 35 years ago during a time of personal grief. “She is an ordinary person who does extraordinary things,” he said. “The heart behind all the work she has done over the last 60 years can be described in one word: compassion.”

Starting from charity projects in Taiwan, the Foundation has become a global movement, able to raise millions of dollars and mobilise thousands of volunteers to help victims of natural disasters thousands of kilometres from Taiwan.

After the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquake in February 2023, the Foundation provided 43,000 items of relief to 41,000 households in four provinces.

In 2019, Mozambique was ravaged by Cyclone Idai. There the Foundation is running a US$70-million-dollar project to build 3,000 homes and 23 schools in the region hit by Idai. It also distributes hot meals and provides care for older people, prevention of teenage pregnancy, child nutritional and vocational training.

In Indonesia, the Foundation has 2.3 million members, of whom 85 per cent are Muslim and Indonesian. It has conducted many disaster relief operations and built schools and hospitals around Jakarta.

In June 2023, President Joko Widodo went in person to inaugurate the Tzu Chi Hospital in the north of Jakarta. With 23 floors and 576 beds, it is one of the country’s largest and most modern hospitals.
In January 2015, the El Menanil (“oasis” in Arabic) school opened in Sultangazi, a district of Istanbul. It was the first secondary school in Turkey to accept Syrian refugee children and give classes in Arabic, their mother tongue. On the first day, 578 boys and girls attended. Their teachers are also refugees from Syria – professors forced to leave their country and careers behind. By 2024, the number of students had reached 3,000, with 300 faculty and staff. The Foundation covers all the costs.

In 2010, Tzu Chi became the first overseas religious non-profit to receive permission to set up an office in China, in the city of Suzhou. It has more projects in China than in any other country – building schools and homes, promoting vegetarianism and digging wells in arid regions.

The Foundation has achieved this remarkable growth through several factors – the inspiring message of Master Cheng Yen: tens of thousands of volunteers, in Taiwan and abroad, who give their time, energy and skills without pay: and a sophisticated system of fund-raising.

This is mainly done by commissioners, members who have undergone extensive training and raise funds every month. The 2023 report shows that, of all donations, 87 per cent were less than NT$1,000 (US$31); they accounted for 18 per cent of the total amount donated. One per cent was from corporations and NGOs; they gave 11 per cent of the total donated.

Another factor is that the Foundation has scrupulously avoided politics, in Taiwan and abroad. Of the 10 rules members have to follow, one states that they cannot take part in politics or demonstrations. It also does not proselytise Buddhism. This has enabled it to work in Muslim, Hindu, Christian and atheist countries and attracted thousands of members who are not Buddhist. Many countries are suspicious of the motives of Christian-based charities and sometimes ban them.

The superintendent of Tzu Chi’s Hualien hospital is Christian. It has constructed churches in Haiti, Ecuador and Mexico and mosques in Indonesia. It is paying for the restoration of a hand-written Quran of the 15th and 16th century.

At the start of the 2023 report, Master Cheng Yen wrote: "When others are hurt, I feel pain; when others suffer, I feel sorrow. When we see people in poverty and suffering, we must promptly help them with utmost sincerity. With Tzu Chi's charity work spanning the globe, whatever we can do, we must do it with all our dedication. Whether in international disaster relief, poverty alleviation, or reconstruction assistance, we must act with sincerity, love, and compassion to relieve suffering and bring joy.”

Mark O'Neill

A Hong Kong-based writer, teacher and speaker.