4·14 Earthquake Relief Special - 17

　　Yushu Rescue – We’re Doing Our Best, No. 17

　　Doing good deeds benefits both oneself and others.

　　May 10, Sunny

　　This morning, the sky was exceptionally clear. Rays of morning sunlight streamed through the narrow window of the tent, illuminating the team members’ faces and gently erasing the traces of days of fatigue. The clear weather promised a busy day ahead, and everyone was especially excited. Their tanned faces glowed with joy as they set about starting the day’s work.

　　But at 11 a.m., the sudden arrival of residents from Xiangda Town threw our plans into disarray. Originally, we hadn't intended to distribute supplies to them ahead of time—instead, we had planned to gather all the supplies and hand them out uniformly in the afternoon so as not to disrupt today's overall distribution effort. However, when we heard from the residents that they’d gotten up early and struggled hard to find a tractor just to pick up their supplies, they’d arrived much earlier than expected. Xiangda Town is quite far from Jiegu Town, and transportation there is extremely inconvenient. Seeing the weary faces of these residents, each one brimming with eager anticipation, we simply couldn’t bear to make them wait another two hours under the scorching sun. So, on the spur of the moment, we decided to reorganize our team: Ge Cuo and Sang Cuo would stay behind to notify the other residents, while all team members except those in the medical group rushed immediately to the distribution point to hand out the supplies to the Xiangda Town residents ahead of schedule.

　　Upon arriving at the site, everyone immediately got to work. Thanks to our previous seamless cooperation and everyone’s serious and responsible attitude, we managed to distribute supplies to all 47 households in Xiangda Town in less than an hour. After receiving the supplies, the residents were overjoyed and kept thanking us repeatedly. One of the leaders who had organized the distribution said to us: “You’ve been busy all day with a tight schedule, and we hadn’t really expected to receive the supplies this morning. But your thoughtful and caring actions have deeply moved us. On behalf of all the disaster victims in the town, I’d like to express our heartfelt gratitude to you once again—thank you so much!”

　　The simplest words of gratitude have once again allowed us to savor the sweet taste of doing good deeds, making us even more deeply grateful for the company’s recent relief effort that has enabled us—fortunately—to step forward and do good on behalf of everyone. I remember at this year’s annual meeting, we were still passionately discussing the relationship between self-interest and altruism, grappling with the meaning and proper boundaries of “interest.” But this time, as we plunged into the disaster zone, sweating and exerting our physical strength to help the affected people, we witnessed firsthand how a single catastrophe can instantly reduce a person’s life back to square one. In such moments, the basic needs of life and the true meaning of existence become entirely independent of wealth or the level of material comfort enjoyed. People find themselves in a state of extreme deprivation, where even the most humble and seemingly insignificant supplies bring immense joy to those who receive them. And when people from all walks of life and every ethnic group extend their compassionate hearts to help others, the gratitude and happiness expressed by those who are helped make us truly realize that caring for others and benefiting them is the greatest, most fulfilling treasure of all. In the disaster zone, the calamity itself and the local people have taught us a precious lesson about the blessings of kindness and benevolence. We’ve begun to understand that doing good doesn’t necessarily require great wealth, profound knowledge, or abundant free time. All it takes is a sincere intention to do good—and when we see others facing danger or suffering, whether or not it directly affects us, we should do everything possible to lend a helping hand. As long as we seize every opportunity to assist others, serve the public, relieve their suffering, and enhance their well-being, practicing various virtues in our daily lives, we’re engaging in acts of boundless merit. Kindness is the source of health and happiness; practicing kindness is the very foundation of both self-benefit and benefit to others.

　　Since we were busy distributing supplies in Xiangda Town this morning, our lunch break was extremely brief—just twenty minutes for a quick meal. After finishing our lunch, we set off again toward the supply distribution point. The weather today was nice, so we saw a noticeably larger crowd of people coming to collect their supplies. In total, we managed to distribute supplies to 209 households throughout the afternoon. Although today’s workload was heavy, thanks to the experience we’ve accumulated over the past few days, our efficiency remained remarkably high. By six o’clock in the afternoon, we had successfully completed all our supply distribution tasks.

　　Back at the camp, Zeren Lamu, Gecuo, and the other two brought children’s clothing, shoes, and milk powder to visit the little girl whom they had been treating and helping all along. Seeing that the wound on her cheek had almost completely healed, we all felt deeply relieved and gratified.

　　Today, our medical team saw a very large number of patients. In addition to some regular patients, many new patients came specifically after watching last night’s report on our medical team broadcast by Qinghai TV. From 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., we treated a total of 178 patients today. In the afternoon, we were also interviewed by the Qinghai Daily, hoping that the joy of doing good will spread to the hearts of every reader.

　　The evening mini-meeting was lively and energetic, with everyone eagerly sharing their observations and feelings from the day. Tomorrow, we’ll still be distributing supplies in the afternoon as scheduled, since the number of people needing assistance keeps growing. We’ve decided that Luo Songni Ma will join Dorje Renqing, Pu Qiong, and Lasang Qudan for morning consultations, while in the afternoon, he’ll be separately assigned to help us with the distribution of supplies. Meanwhile, the medical team will continue providing full-day consultations. We’re hoping for good weather tomorrow, because there’s a lot we need to get done.