Get the latest stories and updates sent to your mailbox.
Tzu Chi USA
Reflections
Whenever I heard the victims said that they had received the help of Tzu Chi and wanted to be a volunteer in the future to help those in need, my heart was always touched, and I felt all the hard work was worthy. Melissa Johnson grew up in the Bay Area and moved to Paradise […]
Reflections
When Tzu Chi volunteers met Jessie in the Disaster Recovery Center, their first impression of Jessie was her sunny smile in comparison to other survivors who had sad faces and exhausted bodies. When volunteers asked how things were going, most survivors basically replied, “I am fine, taking each day as it comes.” In contrast to […]
Reflections
I couldn’t imagine nor assume what types of story will happen in 2019. There’re too many unpredictable things that happen in life, the Camp Fire being only one of them. The future sometimes looks like the morning fog in a Northern California winter. Even though there’s uncertainty, I still have to move forward. Step by step, I wrote down the stories, my stories, the many stories of Camp Fire. While on the surface they may seem like tales of destruction, loss and grief, they are actually stories about the happiness of survival, mixed with the sadness of loss. These are the stories connected by love and hope.
Reflections
I kept recalling those children… And that little sleeping baby. little sleeping baby The 3-month-old baby, Liam, always falls asleep on his mother’s shoulder. His mother, Nicole Burt, had him in her arms the entire time she was visiting the Chico Disaster Relief Center. No matter what she was doing – whether talking, crying, or […]
Reflections
Granny Shirley Lipovac, her son Ridge Lipovac and his wife Patricia Lipovac are all from the town of Paradise. They lost everything and had their lives turned upside down in November’s Camp Fire. And yet they consider themselves very lucky. A friend of Ridge’s friend offered the family a fully furnished house to stay in, […]
Reflections
He was not with me, he was fighting the fire, helping others Shiana Chamness is a 25-year-old mother of two. She has a 3-year-old daughter and a 10-month-old son. When the Camp Fire broke out near her house, Shiana panicked while trying to escape with her kids. She was worried not just about where to […]
Reflections
After participating in two recent disaster relief missions, I found myself not able to fully remember everyone’s story. This worried me. One day on the way home after working at one of the relief centers, I tried recalling fragments of all the stories from that day. I was able to remember their sincere and focused […]
Reflections
“When we were trapped in the Camp Fire, we received a phone call from our daughter saying goodbye, saying that she might not be able to escape,” Michelle McNamar said in a trembling voice, as she described the pain they felt on that terrible day. “Fortunately, our daughter survived!” she said. When Michelle and other […]
Reflections
A mother and daughter were sitting at Tzu Chi’s table in the Disaster Relief Center. As the mother sobbed uncontrollably, the daughter was trying to comfort her. They were survivors of the recent Camp Fire. Finally able to speak, the mother explained that she is of Native American descent. Her faith is a very important […]
