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– Dharma Master Cheng Yen
Disaster relief is one of Tzu Chi’s key charitable missions, and the Foundation follows the guiding principles of being “direct, focused, respectful, pragmatic, and timely.“
Directness: to personally bring the supplies hand-to-hand to those affected.
Focused: to concentrate on the worst-hit areas and those most in need of aid.
Respectful: to regard the local customs, cultural traditions, lifestyles, and religions.
Pragmatic: to offer practical aid that disaster survivors actual need.
Timely: to deliver relief supplies in the shortest possible time.
We employ scientific methods to assess a disaster’s subjective and objective factors and then plan for short-, medium-, and long-term relief and assistance. As well as providing food, clothing, beds, blankets, and medicines for emergency assistance, Tzu Chi also aids in housing reconstruction, development of water resources, and offers free medical clinics. Each project will be different, but our philosophy of “respect for life” remains the same.
Since 1994, Tzu Chi has provided care and aid to refugees sheltered in 17 countries. For detailed information, please see the table below:
USA
Since 1994
Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan, Pakistan, Syria, Myanmar, Thailand, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Haiti, Iran, Vietnam, Bosnia, Vietnam, Russia, Turkey, Bhutan
Thailand (Northern Region)
1995-1997
China
Thailand (Bangkok)
Since 2015
Myanmar, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia
Canada
Since 1995
Iran, Mozambique, Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Turkey
Jordan
Since 1998
Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Chechnya, Syria
Albania
Since 1999
Kosovo
New Zealand
Since 2001
Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Congo, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia
Australia
Since 2003
Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Sri Lanka, Congo, Russia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Rwanda
Malaysia
Since 2005
Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Palestine, Iran, India, Sudan
Turkey
Since 2014
Syria, Afghanistan
Indonesia
Since 2015
Myanmar, Bangladesh, Afghanistan
Germany
Since 2015
Syria, Africa, Afghanistan
Austria
Since 2015
Middle East, Africa
Serbia
Since 2016
Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Iraq, Iran
Italy
Since 2016
North Africa
Chile
Since 2018
Venezuela
Mexico
Since 2018
Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala
Brazil
Since 2018
Venezuela
First, Tzu Chi provides financial aid and emergency relief to people in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. We follow up with ways to help enhance refugees’ self-reliance by implementing programs regarding livelihood, health and education.
For example, in response to the humanitarian disaster caused by the war in Ukraine, Tzu Chi has distributed over 80 thousand relief packages to refugees displaced by the conflict. Our humanitarian response to this conflict and others includes direct financial aid, relief materials, emotional care, medical assistance, protection for women and children, psycho-social assistance, food, and other forms of aid for refugees and displaced people in Poland, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine.
As of May 21, 2022, over 8,000 individuals had already received gift cards for the supermarket chain Biedronka at a value of 2,000 PLN per person. At a distribution site on May 6, 2022 in Warsaw, one recipient said, “My husband and I have eight children. When I heard that cards would be given to each family member, I cried from joy. With this card, we’ll have a food supply for our family for half a year or more.”
To increase the reach and breadth of its assistance, Tzu Chi has entered partnerships and collaboration agreements with UNICEF and other relevant partners such as IsraAid, the Camillian Disaster Service International Foundation (CADIS), and the Polish Women Can Foundation. Through our partnership with CADIS, we will be able to assist in providing long-term housing and psychosocial support for refugee women and children in Poland, as well as food and other relief goods for more than 30,000 internally displaced persons inside of Ukraine.
At the signing of the collaboration agreement with Tzu Chi, Father Aristelo Miranda, Executive Director of CADIS, said, “We have shared values. Tzu Chi works on compassion and charity. For us Camillians, these are our primary values too, compassion and charity.” Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation CEO Po-Wen Yen added, “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. One’s strength may be small, but together, we can move mountains.”
British Columbia has the highest number of resettled refugees in Canada. Since 2012, Tzu Chi has been sponsoring breakfast and end-of-year hampers at Bain High School there.
In early 2015, in response to a request from the Settlement Workers in Schools, Tzu Chi assisted five families from Iran and Iraq, opening a new page in Tzu Chi’s care for refugee families. In the late summer of 2015, a photo of a Syrian child lying dead on a Mediterranean beach aroused global concern for the world’s refugees. The Canadian government passed a special bill to accept more than 41,000 Syrian refugees in just three months, half of whom were to be based in Canada’s No. 1 industrial and commercial areas – Toronto and surrounding cities.
Starting from January 2016, Tzu Chi Canada’s Eastern Region volunteers started by collecting food, clothing, housing, transportation, and other necessities for the new immigrants, such as mattresses, pillows, pots and pans, winter coats, and even school supplies. The volunteers visited the families every week to help them acclimatize to a country without war or ecological disaster, and realize peace – for some the first time in their lives. Volunteers also helped adults to learn English and children to register for school. Once adults had develop some language skills, Tzu Chi helped them find employment.
Since 2017, Tzu Chi volunteers have been working with Settlement Workers in Schools in Burnaby, BC, who provided information on families in need of assistance. The volunteers prepared supermarket gift cards, winter coats, toys, furniture, and other needed items. This helped many newcomers from war-torn countries in Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe experienced compassion in their new country of Canada.
By the end of 2023, the Eastern Region had accompanied or assisted more than 500 Syrian or Ukrainian families, of which more than 100 have taken root and joined the family of Canadian citizens!
