Day 17, Ways 16 & 17So I skipped yesterday. One has these lapses. The day is short, and lent is long. Anyway, continuing with out Faiths Falwell Warned You About theme, I decided that today I would find out what the Buddhists are doing re Katrina relief. Now I don't know any more about Buddhism than the next American Catholic, but that's what Google is all about: giving you access to a wealth of information about a subject on which you don't know shit, and then leaving you to deal with the process of trying to sort and evaluate it.
Well, it turns out even people who know more about Buddhism than myself have had difficulty answering this question. A plaintive letter from a Buddhist nun posted at the
Buddhist Channel in September 2005 asks,
"Where are all the Buddhist relief groups?" "In my research I've come across many Christian agencies and other groups that offer opportunities for relief and assistance, but I do not see any Budddhist efforts or groups organizing yet. Am I looking in the wrong place? Where are we as a Buddhist family, community or group in this effort?"By contrast, she notes, you never have to look too hard to find Christian groups, cause they're friggin' EVERYWHERE (emphasis and profanity mine).
In fact, there was a pretty quick Buddhist response--partly because so much of the worldwide Buddhist community had already been galvanized by the tsunami disaster. (Remember that one? Remember how it took Bush 3 friggin' days to notice? What is it with him and disasters? All right, don't answer that question.) From the Buddhist Channel, here's a sad article on how Buddhist nations ravaged by the tsunami came forward to
offer advice and lessons learned after Katrina. The Tzu Chi Foundation, a Taiwanese Buddhist organization, came through with
$1.8 million for Katrina relief and coordinated volunteer efforts in September 2005.
Closer to home, I discovered a number of Buddhist communities who responded immediately to the disaster, acting on a much smaller scale but with equally moving compassion. The San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, perhaps recalling that asinine "tidal wave of compassion" crack that Bush coughed up when finally forced to address the tsunami, set off their own
Wave of Compassion for Katrina survivors, which at the time this page was put up had raised $2000. It is unclear whether the fund is still active. A Cambodian Buddhist community in Lowell, MA got together and raised
$1015. The Dieu Phap Temple (Vietnamese Buddhists)
organized a convoy to Houston to help out evacuees.
Yes, Plaidder, I hear you say, this is indeed moving and I am glad to have this knowledge to add to my understanding of how we are all connected in the great web of being. But, if I may speak plainly--it's March of 2006. @#$! September 2005--what can I do
now?
Well, the Dieu Phap temple sponsored a repeat relief trip in January and they're raising money for
another one. Bhante Suhita Dharma, the teacher who has been running all these trips, grew up in Texas and has family in New Orleans, so one can assume he is in this for the long haul. According to the piece up at the
Buddhist Peace Fellowship--looks like a great bunch of people, but they seem to be more focused on anti-war activism and awareness than on demolition and de-molding--Bhante is specifically looking for
"People with repair skills: carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, any kind of construction. People, especially the elderly, need honest, skilled workers who charge reasonable fees. A lot of price gouging is going on as repairs are commenced, and elders in particular are very vulnerable. People with social worker skills to help people get through the red tape in order for their homes to be rebuilt, and to counsel people suffering from trauma. Bhante said there is a high degree of frustration as people face complicated and lengthy processes that, in Bhante’s words, “raise the heat level.'"For our second way, there's
Buddhistrelief.org, the social-responsibility wing of
Kunzang Palyul Choling, a Tibetan Buddhist center run by
Jetsunma Ahkon Lamo, who according to her biography was "born Alice Zeoli in Brooklyn, New York." Well, say what you want about that, but they organized a relief effort for the Vietnamese community in
Bayou La Batre on the Alabama Gulf coast, once again reaching a population given the finger by FEMA:
"The majority of the 1000 or more Vietnamese residents of Bayou La Batre do not speak sufficient English to qualify for citizenship. So far, no assistance has been available to them through FEMA. Like the other residents of Bayou La Batre, their belongings have been ruined by the 25 foot hurricane storm surge that swept muddy water through their houses as high as the roof. Many of their homes will not be habitable again."As of
October they were still planning further relief trips to the various other Gulf Coast Buddhist communities. Nothing on that website appears to be more recent than October 2005, though, so email before you donate to be sure they're still active. Meanwhile, Kunzang Palyul Choling is running a separate relief effort for
animals. Specifically, they have created a dog and cat refuge in Sedona, Arizona. Apparently the need is still great and as of January the refuge was up, running, and expanding.
Yee ha,
The Plaid Adder
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