Work in China
Due to the organization's apolitical stance, Tzu Chi has been carrying out charity work in China. Tzu Chi's involvement in the People's Republic of China began in 1991, when it undertook relief operations after severe floods hit central and eastern China. Since then, the group has built schools, nursing homes and entire villages, including infrastructure in poor inland areas, such as Guizhou province. In carrying out these projects, Tzu Chi volunteers abide by the rules of "No politics, no propaganda, and no religion."
Over the past twenty years, 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China have received aid from Tzu Chi. This aid has taken many forms, including infrastructure projects (such as rebuilding schools and villages after the Sichuan earthquake and installing water cisterns in Gansu and Guizhou provinces); relief work in poverty-stricken areas and winter-time distributions of rice, cooking oil, blankets and jackets; social programs, such as home visits to the needy and providing scholarships to low-income students; medical missions, such as bone marrow donation and free clinics; and promotion of environmental protection and recycling.
In March 2008, Tzu Chi became the first organization represented by a non-Mainland resident to be registered with the Chinese government. That year also marked a watershed moment for humanitarian work in China. In the aftermath of the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Tzu Chi immediately sent food, blankets and medical aid to survivors, while volunteers in China set out for the disaster zone. Tzu Chi was also one of the few organizations the Chinese government allowed to bring in aid workers from overseas to join the relief effort. With the motto "First to arrive, last to leave," the organization has continued with long-term reconstruction work in Sichuan, and by 2010, had rebuilt thirteen schools in the region.
After many years of quiet but sustained work, in August 2010, Tzu Chi became the first overseas NGO to receive permission from the Ministry of Civil Affairs to set up a nationwide charity foundation. (Normally, overseas organizations must register with the Ministry of Commerce as businesses). The foundation received the China Charity Award from the Ministry of Civil Affairs for its work in promoting the well-being of society and relieving the suffering of the needy in 2006 and again in 2008.
Master Cheng Yen has continued calling for building a "Bridge of Love" between China and Taiwan, believing that Great Love transcends all national, religious and racial boundaries.
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