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and unload them there the next day. But when By half past four, they had all received their
the containers arrived, we discovered that they goods and left. At that point, there were already
were too tall to enter through the stadium’s low more than a thousand people waiting outside
entryway. We first had to unload the containers for the distribution to begin. We had originally
and carry all the materials into the stadium, and planned to start at seven, but the mayor
this job would require a lot of effort. suggested that we let one or two hundred
people in immediately, otherwise the crowd
Although we were supported by sixty local would just keep getting bigger and may grow
volunteers, most of them were unfamiliar with restless.
the kind of hard manual labor required for this
task. At the same time, there were about eighty I have participated in dozens of disaster
people just standing around watching us, and relief distributions, but this was the first one
they seemed to be precisely the kind of people that started at four thirty in the morning. It was
we had been warned about. So we changed our not at all what I expected, but it worked.
plan and asked the mayor to help us hire them
to help for twelve dollars per person. It had never occurred to me that the people
we most feared would be the ones who helped
Most of them were young and strong, us complete this mission. When George and I
so they worked quickly, but they suddenly saw the crowd gathered outside the stadium
stopped midway through the job and said that at four in the morning, we looked at each other
twelve dollars was not enough. We agreed to and thanked the Buddha. We could not have
give each person a package of rice in addition to unloaded all the material in time on our own.
their pay, and they continued. After unloading The mayor was concerned that local gangs
another container, they again demanded more. would bring us trouble, but instead they helped
After three strikes and three negotiations, we us and earned their food. They went home to a
finally agreed to give each person a package well-earned rest after a full night of hard work.
each of rice, corn, and red beans.
When we treat people with sincerity and
By four in the morning, four and a half affection, we can transform violence into
containers had been unloaded, but then peace. One person told us, “My family always
there was another problem. Although ninety- complains about me, a strong, healthy man
one people had signed up to work, dozens of with no job. But today I finally can put three
additional people now came up and claimed packages of food on the table and tell my wife
that they had just been too busy to sign the and children that I earned two months’ worth of
sheet. George and I decided to distribute food food through my hard work.”
to all of them. After all, our purpose was to help
the Haitian people, and they were all Haitians. Since we motivated people to work instead
The mayor seemed very impressed with this of simply handing them food, thousands of
flexible response. people earned a sense of accomplishment and
gained a familiarity with Tzu Chi. The seeds of
We began distributing to the 150 people kindness have been spread far and wide—to
who helped us unload the containers, but after the people at the stadium and in Shada, to the
just a few people had received their portions, mayor, to the police officers, and even to the
those at the back of the crowd started rushing gang members. We finally understood Dharma
forward to get their food. The situation was out Master Cheng Yen’s wisdom in insisting on a
of control yet again. We told them that there large-scale distribution.
was enough for everyone to get a share, and
everyone eventually calmed down.

Everyone has a Buddha-nature and a Bodhisattva's strength and spirit.
Jing Si Aphorism by Dharma Master Cheng Yen

TZU CHI USA SUMMER 2015