Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association relief news update from India.
Incessant monsoon rains in September triggered flood-like conditions throughout five districts of southern West Bengal, India. Some 1.7 million people were affected, with at least six fatalities. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated, partly due to breached embankments in the tidal mangrove forest of the Sundarbans.
Many of the remote villages there were still recovering from Cyclone Aila that had struck in May and had not yet received any aid.On September 11, Supreme Master Ching Hai asked our nearby Association members to please go comfort the afflicted. Conveying her prayers and love, she donated US$15,000 for urgent aid
to the most destitute and forgotten, which could purchase US$243,000 in supplies in the United States, based on the cost of living in India.
As per Supreme Master Ching Hai’s frequent requests for updates, the following is our Formosan (Taiwanese) Association’s relief report sent via Foreign Group.
November 10, 2009
Most merciful Master,
Re: Relief work in India Covering our own travel and related food and lodging expenses of US$1,419, our relief team set off to the afflicted areas on October 14 to deliver relief supplies to those most in need. With the help of two warm-hearted local friends, Mr. Jolly the guide and Professor S.K.
Chatterjee, we visited several villages to distribute the relief items of rice, seasoning, blankets and clothes.
In the Gram Panchayat village of Lahripur, the farms and lands had been flooded by sea water and would not be able to be cultivated for many years.
About 600 villagers, many of whom are Hindu and vegetarian, were waiting for the relief. The village head said that this was the first aid they had received, and the villagers expressed their deep gratitude and honor to Master with the holy sound of “Om.” In Binapan, the village head and villagers welcomed us and
were very thankful for Master’s care.
Thank you so much, Master, for your immense love that warms and comforts our hearts and souls always.
Relief team from Formosa
VOICE: Our gratitude to Supreme Master Ching Hai for allowing us to share these details with our viewers, as well as to our Association’s Foreign Group for providing this report.
We send our appreciation to Mr. Jolly and Professor Chatterjee for their kind assistance. Our thanks also for Supreme Master Ching Hai’s benevolent assistance to the disaster-stricken and the sincere endeavors of our Association’s relief team.
We pray for the quick recuperation of the Indian people, and that potential weather extremities may be avoided as humanity’s more considerate ways help restore our planetary balance.