Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Feeds Displaced Children in Ethiopia

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Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Feeds Displaced Children in Ethiopia

By Craig C Lewis
August 26, 2024

Ethiopian refugee camp children receive full plates of food. Image courtesy of Tzu Chi Foundation

The children enjoy an all-too-rare nutritious meal. Image courtesy of Tzu Chi Foundation

The Taiwan-headquartered global charity and humanitarian organization Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation has reported on its efforts to deliver food packages in Ethiopia to 3,000 families who have been affected by ongoing civil conflict in the East African country.

Home to some 109 million people, Ethiopia has long been plagued by internal conflicts and ethnic violence. The most recent period of conflict, which began in 2018, between the between the federal government and various militia groups, has been a significant source of human rights violations, war crimes, and social upheaval and instability. Despite the signing of a peace treaty in 2022, sporadic civil conflicts have continued, which, coupled with drought and crop failures, has resulted in an unfolding humanitarian crisis.

“The ongoing civil war has left the country in turmoil, with countless children living in a state of perpetual hunger,” Tzu Chi said in a recent announcement seen by BDG. “Recognizing the urgent need, the Tzu Chi Foundation, in partnership with Kidmia Mahiber, a Christian charitable organization, launched a six-month meal program on 19 July. The initiative provides daily meals for children under eight years old in refugee camps for the displaced, along with food packages for 3,000 families.” (Tzu Chi Foundation)

Aiming to bring relief and hope amid chaos, Tzu Chi has been ensuring meals reach 1,350 vulnerable refugee children daily, for families who are struggling to survive in three locations: Bakelo, Woineshet Paper Factory, and China Camp.

“These children, who can only attend school for half a day in basic tents, represent the broader plight of Ethiopian youth. Their parents, struggling with the instability of their homeland, cannot provide them with safe shelter or sufficient food. This meal program offers a glimmer of hope in their otherwise challenging lives,” Tzu Chi related.

“Despite remaining in their own country, these Ethiopian refugees are forced to live in non-operational factories. Here, they scatter their belongings on the ground and sleep wherever space allows. In these chaotic surroundings, they seek only the essentials for survival, unable to dream of any semblance of privacy or normalcy.” (Tzu Chi Foundation)

Displaced by civil conflicts, Ethiopian refugees are forced to seek shelter in factories. Image courtesy of Tzu Chi Foundation

In collaboration with Kidmia Mahiber, Tzu Chi distributes food packages to refugee families. Image courtesy of Tzu Chi Foundation

Working closely with Kidmia Mahiber, Tzu Chi distributed food packages to 3,000 families across these refugee camps on 24–25 July. The refugee camps’ self-governing committee, which is composed of five refugee representatives from each camp, played a crucial role in identifying the households most in need of relief.

“Through these small gestures of compassion, Tzu Chi hopes to offer brief respite to those enduring the harsh realities of refugee life,” Tzu Chi emphasized. “This effort, although modest, brings a sense of comfort and humanity to families facing immense hardships.”

The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Republic of China, more widely known as the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, was founded in Taiwan in 1966 by the Buddhist nun and Dharma teacher Master Cheng Yen. With a focus on “putting compassion into action,” the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is a UN-accredited NGO with some 10 million supporters and 432 offices worldwide across 51 countries, undertaking regular activities in the fields of humanitarian aid, medical care, education, and environmental sustainability.

As a global icon of socially engaged Buddhism, Master Cheng Yen has expressed a deeply held belief that all people are capable of manifesting the same great compassion as the Buddha. She has noted that true compassion is not simply feeling sympathy for the suffering of others, but is found in reaching out to relieve suffering with concrete action.

Master Cheng Yen is popularly known in Taiwan as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Buddhism, the others being: Master Sheng Yen, founder of Dharma Drum Mountain; Master Hsing Yun, founder of Fo Guang Shan; and Master Wei Chueh, founder of Chung Tai Shan. These four global Buddhist orders, correspondingly known as the “Four Great Mountains,” have grown to become among the most influential Chinese Buddhist organizations in the world.

Craig C Lewis

Craig Lewis grew up in a transplanted Scottish family in southern England before setting off against all advice to seek light and wisdom in far-off places, rather than staying put and looking within. After repeated encounters with the Buddhadharma as a journalist in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and across Asia, he eventually found refuge as senior editor at BDG, where he reports and writes on the diversity of contemporary manifestations of the Dharma. Craig is also a keen mountain trekker and photographer, finding particular inspiration in the peoples, cultures, and Buddhist expressions of the Himalaya. In his column for BDG, “Chasing Light,” Craig seeks to document encounters, experiences, and epiphanies resulting from his own tentative and faltering path toward liberation. Contact: [email protected]

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