Volunteers from South Africa’s Zulu tribe were commended by the Taiwan-based Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation Nov. 20 for helping thousands of AIDS patients and orphans in their communities.
Fifteen Zulu tribe members from Durban, South Africa, along with some 1,600 volunteers from a total of 21 countries, were conferred certificates of merit by Tzu Chi Founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen at a ceremony in New Taipei City.
Pan Ming-shui, a Taiwanese expatriate who started providing aid services in South Africa after joining a local Tzu Chi chapter in 1993, said the Zulu volunteers, who emerged from poverty and despair, were recognized for their efforts to take care of those suffering from AIDS.
Gladys Ngema, one of the Zulu volunteers, said her life was transformed after joining Tzu Chi 17 years ago, when she and her children escaped from a fire set by her husband and his mistress.
Thanks to the Tzu Chi career training center, which trained women to make and sell clothes and handicrafts, Ngema is now able to make a living and help others.
“AIDS is a long-existing problem that many South African used to be apathetic about. Tzu Chi showed me the plight of AIDS orphans and taught me that helping them is something I should do,” Ngema said.
“Many of the volunteers are poor people, but we realize that poverty cannot be a problem if we are rich in heart,” she added.
According to Pan, one tenth of the population of South Africa is infected with HIV, and more than a thousand South Africans die from AIDS-related complications every day. He added that it was extremely difficult in the beginning for Tzu Chi to recruit volunteers there because of the stigma attached to AIDS.
Through relentless efforts, Pan said, the Tzu Chi Durban chapter now has over 5,000 Zulu volunteers working on 120 “Big Love” vegetable gardens and caring for 1,800 AIDS patients and 5,000 AIDS orphans.
Write to Rachel Chan at rachelchan@mail.gio.gov.tw