Buddhist group helps in Jakarta

Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri is slated to meet a group from Taiwan's Buddhist Compassionate Relief Tzu Chi Foundation in Jakarta today and visit the "Ta-ai Village," its medical center as well as the Tzu Chi middle and elementary schools.

"We have been planning this trip and our meeting with President Sukarnoputri for nearly a month," said Wang Yun-jing (王運敬), a senior member of the foundation's Religion Department.

"We want and hope to keep sowing the seeds of love to whoever need us, especially here in Indonesia," Wang said.

The group of 46 members from the US, Philippines and Australia, led by the foundation's Global Volunteer Chief Inspector Huang Su-hsien (黃思賢), flew to Jakarta from Taipei yesterday and will join President Sukarnoputri on her trip to the "Ta-ai Village" today.

Wang told reporters that in addition to meeting with the president, the group will also visit the poorest area in Jakarta, Kapuk Murua Village, along the Angke River tomorrow.

"We want to know whether there is still something that we can do to help those who are in need. We want to show our Indonesian friends our love from Taiwan," he said.

The foundation began operating in the Muslim country on Jan. 29 last year, when the Angke River flooded the slum area on its banks.

Due to garbage jams in the drains, the floodwater remained stagnant for more than a month which resulted in disease outbreaks and a shortage of food and medical supplies.

On Jan. 31, the foundation's volunteers began to help distribute free food and medical equipment to residents in Kapuk Murua Village.

On July 8, the foundation began to build the "Ta-ai Village" in Cengkarang Village, another residential area along the Angke River which was flooded last year. It was completed on July 5.

The village has 1,100 houses for homeless people whose residences were destroyed during the flood.

In addition, the foundation also provided free medical treatment and education for children by establishing an elementary school, a middle school and a medical center in the village.

All the aid was donated and construction made possible by the foundation's members, who include Taiwanese businessmen, teachers or doctors in Jakarta.

"We want to help the poor and destitute and it is good to see them happy after receiving assistance from us," Wang said.