Tzu Chi volunteers and Indian care recipients celebrate Deepavali together via zoom. (Photo by Chen Ya Yin)
Deepavali is an important traditional festival for Hindus. It symbolises “the victory of light over darkness, good over evil and hope over despair". On this day, Hindus would wish each other peace, safety as well as bliss in the coming year. This year, Deepavali fell on the 24th of October 2022. With the current unprecedented inflation coupled with the ongoing pandemic, the lives of the less fortunate and vulnerable families will not be easy. Tzu Chi volunteers visited their Indian care recipients in advance to give out festive gifts so that they could celebrate the festival with joy and ease.
Facing illnesses with a positive mind
On the 16th of October, Tzu Chi volunteers, in groups of three to five people, brought with them festive gifts and laptops to visit their Indian care recipients to celebrate Deepavali with them via zoom.
Last year, Indian care recipient Tiya (not her real name) missed out on the Deepavali celebration event due to health reasons. This year, she was finally able to celebrate the festival at home with the volunteers. She was touched and said: "This activity is so full of love. For those care recipients with limited mobility, it feels great to be able to participate in the event online. This is so wonderful!"
Care recipient Tiya (left) and her friend making the light decorations with the materials prepared by the staff. (Photo by Chong Kim Hong)
Tiya suffers from various medical conditions, including stiff spondylitis, asthma, knee osteoarthritis, diabetes and other complications. A friend who used to live with Tiya at her house happened to be Tiya’s primary caregiver. They looked after and supported each other. However, the friend could no longer take care of Tiya lately due to personal reasons, so Tiya was left alone at home with a pet dog as her companion.
While Tiya has already been suffering from many illnesses, she was recently diagnosed with a tumour on her face. That was a double whammy for Tiya. However, Tiya’s optimism has enabled her to accept her conditions without complaints. Volunteer Chong Kim Hong, who has been visiting Tiya since 2019, was saddened by Tiya’s fate. He also said that even though Tiya has been suffering from various illnesses for a long time, her willpower remains strong and she never complains. For Chong Kim Hong, besides appreciating the blessings that he has while witnessing how others are going through suffering during the process of volunteering, he and the team are eager to help Tiya eradicate her suffering and be happy.
Therefore, Chong Kim Hong and other visiting volunteers would often share Tzu Chi stories with Tiya and encourage her to donate through the bamboo coin bank. Chong Kim Hong recalled that once when he visited Tiya, both Tiya and her friends took out two heavy bamboo banks filled with coins and expressed their wish to donate the money to Tzu Chi to help people who are poorer than them. Their selfless contributions through practical actions moved Chong Kim Hong at heart.
Tiya has been very grateful for the companionship and care given by the volunteers all these while. Such gestures not only warmed her heart but also made her feel very motivated to face the many obstacles in her life. She said sincerely: “I want to help people and sharing love with a small token of money is the only thing I can do."
Hand-making lighting decorations to send sincere greetings
It was warm and cosy celebrating the festival online together with the computer playing Deepavali festive music while the volunteers and the care recipients greeted each other. The online programme of the day was a series of exciting activities and performances, including picture guessing games, singing and dancing performances and hand-making of light decorations.
During the picture guessing game, the care recipients participated actively by raising their hands to give their answers. When the children started singing Indian songs, the care recipients kept sending their positive comments on zoom.
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Two little Indian girls are singing Indian songs and receiving many positive comments from the care recipients online. (Photo by Chen Ya Yin） -
The little dancers spread an aura of joy to the audience through their vigorous dancing. (Photo by Chen Ya Yin) -
Lively Indian songs emerge from the Jing Si Hall, with the dancers dancing vigorously, exuding a strong atmosphere of Deepavali celebration. (Photo by Chen Ya Yin）
During the Deepavali celebration, Indian Hindus would light up small clay oil lamps, hang auspicious items and light decorations at home, and offer prayers to seek blessings in the coming year. This year, the production team added an extra activity to the programme, which was the making of light decorations, where the care recipients followed the instructor’s step-by-step demonstration online and made their light decorations. Although the steps were slightly complicated, everyone happily held up the lights to take a group photo after completing their artwork.
Volunteers demonstrate the steps in making light decorations to the care recipients through zoom. (Screenshot by Holly Foong)
With the current unprecedented inflation coupled with the ongoing pandemic, the less fortunate and vulnerable families would be even more greatly affected. With Tzu Chi’s companionship and festive gifts for this joyous celebration, Tzu Chi hoped to bring blessings to the Indian families and pray that all who suffer will be blessed with a blissful and bright future.
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