Peaceful Pure Water Well, 3/29/2015 – Remembrance and Appreciation
Dear Benefactors;
Below are some pictures of the 15 wells in Cà Mâu and 7 wells in India to commemorate in appreciation to the late Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh.
Lieu Duyen has been involved in charitable activities in Vietnam many times, but she usually travel from September to December. Traveling in March is not as easy because of the susceptibility to ‘heat stroke’ since the temperature range from 100-103′ F. For 2 days in a row we were outdoor the entire day – riding a motorbike, taxi, boat, and working with the locals in U Minh province. So by the time we return to Saigon, we needed an entire day of rest, we discovered our skin was burned because we didn’t have experience doing charity during the hot season (next time we will apply many layers of sun protection).
Lieu Duyen and Ms. Nghia represent Tu Bi Foundation, traveling via Phuong Trang Guest Car from Saigon to Ca Mau over night. By the time we reach Ca Mau, we only have time to change our clothes, eat breakfast, and proceed directly to inaugurate the bridge at U Minh. At Ca Mau, the elders in the Buddhist charity group were incredible, enthusiastic and hard working. The joy of doing charity work in remote areas is that the local authorities are very concern for the people and are grateful for the gifts that we built for their region. People are happy, their happiness is clearly visible on their faces. In their house they have grown bananas and papayas which they present freshly picked for the delegation.
The Peaceful Pure Water Project was very meaningful to us as it is a program that Buddhist groups in Virginia, California, and Maryland have contributed to commemorate in gratitude to the late Venerable Thích Trí Tịnh. Thanks to his translation and compilation, many generations have access to sutras to study and chanting.
Tu Bi Foundation has built seven wells in India on the 49th day of the venerable passing. On the 1 year anniversary, the Peaceful Pure Water Well Project have completed construction of 15 wells in U Minh and Ca Mau province – our sincere appreciation and remembrance.
In India, Venerable Tánh Tuệ dedication and continuous effort to go from one village to another to build water well accessible to more than 50 families. We would like to thank you for your hard work in our programs to benefit all sentient beings.
U Minh province is an agricultural area, mostly forest with no roads – it is only accessible by boat. The distance between homes is very remote so choosing a location that is accessible for many families to share was not an easy task. It took the entire day for the delegation to travel to all 15 water wells. Without these wells, the families will have to bathe and wash their clothes in water ponds nearby and use rainwater to drink.
Most of the families who receive water wells are ethnic minority living in remote region; hence, their understanding is limited so we need to go to each well to examine the odor and check for alum. We also remind them to get/use the water regularly to maintain it’s quality.
In the past, there was a family that receive a well water but didn’t know how to use it, instead of pumping water from the well they took water from a nearby pond and poured it into the well. So the well water became red with alum. Since then LD has asked local officials to explain clearly to people on how to use the water well when construction is done.
After finishing the work, we boarded Phuong Trang guest car to travel overnight back to Saigon and Lieu Duyen return to the United States.
Much appreciation to Buddhist donors in VA, CA and MD
Tu Bi Foundation
