Page 157 - 42-Winter 2014_Final

Dharma Roots
Tzu Chi in the USA
1989 – 2014

n 1989, a number of college students in Hsinchu,
northwestern Taiwan, began to organize tea
Iparties to introduce the Tzu Chi spirit to their
classmates. At the same time, they also used their
free time to join Tzu Chi commissioners on visits to
charity care cases. The following June, this student
group traveled to Hualien Tzu Chi General Hospital
to volunteer, and through serving they gained life
wisdom beyond what they could learn in a classroom.
On May 31, 1992, they officially established Tzu Chi
Collegiate Association (TCCA). College students who
are members of TCCA are known as “Tzu Ching”
(Chinese for “compassionate youth”).
In the 1990s, college students across the United
States and Canada decided to join Tzu Ching to
do their part for the community. Spread across
many distant cities, however, they were only able
to connect via the internet until July 1998, when
they met in Hualien to attend the annual Tzu Ching
summer camp. After returning home, they gathered
together again in September in San Francisco and
held the first planning meeting for North America Tzu
Ching (NATC), discussing a constitution and website
for the North American organization.

Tzu Ching participate in the annual United Nations Youth Assembly.

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