IB students with ASA children.
~ Tzu Chi raises funds for Africa ~
PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation in collaboration with St. Dominic High International Baccalaureate (IB) students continued to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment when students delivered a presentation about this subject to 50 children enrolled in No Kidding with Our Children Foundation’s After School Activities (ASA) Programme at the Lions Club building in Sucker Garden on Friday, April 5.
Six IB students delivered what was described as a shocking, educational and interesting presentation about environmental protection and global warming to the excited students.
At the end of the presentation, one of the ASA teachers said the information presented by the IB students had been very interesting and it coincided with ASA’s theme for this year, which is recycling. The teacher said the presentation to the ASA children demonstrated why recycling is important and why trash should not be disposed of inappropriately, particularly in waterways as this can affect aquatic life.
She said ASA children also learned about the importance of conserving water and the importance of keeping taps off when they are not using water while brushing their teeth and taking a shower. Some children were not familiar with the “outside world” and were shocked and saddened by the effects of global warming on the environment and on animal life.
“Some of them could not believe that kids at the other side of the world drink dirty water. They learnt a lot and I hope that they take the message that they got from Tzu Chi (and IB students) to their homes and to their parents,” the teacher said, thanking everyone for coming out.
One girl who benefitted from the presentation said that what she had seen in the presentation had been devastating and she would do her utmost to encourage others to do their part to protect Mother Nature.
Later that same day, Tzu Chi also continued its efforts to raise funds for Africa. The funds raised are for a project to help build shelters made of bricks for the survivors of the deadly cyclone Idai – a category 4 storm that brought weeks of rain and flooding to the poorest countries of Africa from March 4 to 21, 2019. Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi were hit particularly hard and about 765 persons died, hundreds went missing, and millions were left homeless without food and water.
Tzu Chi volunteers collecting donations at Carrefour Market.
Eight Tzu Chi volunteers participated in the drive. They held a prayer before collecting the donations for the worthy cause.
The director of No Kidding with Our Children Foundation kept a bamboo bank to continue efforts to collect funds for the worthy cause.
The public can also contribute to the cause by placing donations on Tzu Chi’s relief account at Windward Islands Bank at WIB #21932201.
A group of 11 Tzu Chi volunteers, including four from Key to Freedom, held another donation drive at Carrefour Market from 5:00 to 7:00pm Saturday, April 6.
One of the Key to Freedom volunteers who participated said he was never asked for funds to assist in a worthy cause and he was not used to bowing when accepting donations from others as is customary in Tzu Chi. He said that after listening to the explanation from senior Tzu Chi volunteers that bowing is done as a show of gratitude to the person giving the donation, he felt grateful for the opportunity to collect on behalf of survivors in Africa. He let go of his pride, started to bow and in the end he felt joy and gained a peaceful mind, Tzu Chi said in a press release on Monday.
Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung said she was grateful to students and volunteers for taking time out to share the worthwhile information to ASA children and to help raise funds for a worthy cause in another part of the world, and she thanked ASA for accommodating the team for the presentation.
Tzu Chi volunteers during one of their donation drives for Africa.
