#5 - Helping hands In Santa Ana
The Tzu Chi International Medical Association returns to Ecuador to host a medical outreach in the town of Santa Ana. Addressing concerns from hypertension to nutrition, volunteers partnered up with local doctors to provide wellness to residents. One of them, Adriana Perdomo, shared a powerful takeaway from her day of volunteering:
“[Tzu Chi volunteers]… motivate you to help others with everything you have, with your resources and knowledge… You can help in many ways.”
#4 - New Life After the Camp Fire
One year after the Camp Fire tore through Northern California, leaving immense devastation in its wake, many families still live in tents and trailers. Concow resident and Tzu Chi Care Recipient Emilia Erickson coins it “perma-camping.”
To help relieve the situation, frustration, and coming of winter, Tzu Chi volunteers hosted a distribution. See how we inspired hope in Concow families as they continue to struggle with the Camp Fire’s aftermath.
#3 - Cuteness Overload thru a Tea Ceremony
Established in 2014, the Happy Campus program has taken shape at Belle Haven School in Menlo Park, California. Tzu Chi USA volunteers lead with the foundation’s core values: think good thoughts, do good things, and speak good words. In 2019, they taught kindergarteners a traditional Tzu Chi tea ceremony.
“I like that the children have to be calm and really patient,” says Teacher Jose Ibarra; “it’s really hard for kindergarteners to be patient and sitting still for that long, and they really did a good job with it, I think.” See the cute results in the video below!
#2 - The Infectious Energy of Tzu Chi's Wellness Ambassadors
Returning to Canoa, the Tzu Chi International Medical Association hosts another medical outreach to the once-earthquake stricken region. There, volunteers kick off the event with high energy music, dance, and fun. Still, “this is not a party,” insists longtime Tzu Chi volunteer Suong Chang. Instead, she says her introductory workout serves “two purposes: exercise and happiness!”
#1 - A grand Proposal
July 13, 2019 marked an extraordinary day of celebrations in Canoa, Ecuador, as Tzu Chi volunteers and locals each joined hands for the grand opening ceremony for Canoa’s newly reconstructed church!
But, for Julián Zamora, Civil Engineer and Canoa resident, it was also the perfect occasion to make a very special declaration of love: “what happened was during the opening ceremony of the church, I took three minutes to propose.”
See this lovely moment for yourself in our top video of the year!
