Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association relief news update from Paraguay and Argentina.
On September 7, an unexpected cold front with winds that in some places turned into tornadoes swept across northern Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

In the Argentine town of San Pedro, a tornado affected 200 homes, taking 11 lives and injuring more as it destroyed a 25-square-kilometer-area.

On September 9, Supreme Master Ching Hai donated an initial US$40,000, conveying her love and condolences and asking that our Association members search for the most vulnerable and desperate, then do what they can to comfort and aid people.

This amount could purchase US$183,000 in emergency items obtained in the United States, based on the average cost of living in the affected countries.

Covering all their own expenses, our Association’s relief team from Paraguay immediately began a 1,400 kilometer trip through to the afflicted regions of Paraguay and Argentina.

In Paraguay, where the storm victims were widely dispersed, they reached as many residents as they could, distributing SOS flyers while explaining the cause of these climatic events and their solutions, much to the victims’ appreciation.

Although the damage was clearly visible, most rural residents were not facing major difficulties and were already receiving government assistance.

In Argentina, where many residents had already received relief and reconstruction assistance from the Argentine government and several other countries, our relief team visited eight of the families most in need, giving them SOS flyers as well as a financial donation of US$100.

We are grateful, Argentina and all helping governments for your timely assistance to the afflicted. We are also thankful to Supreme Master Ching Hai for her care extended to those in faraway lands and to our Association members for their earnest endeavors. Our prayers for the storm victims’ quick return to productive normalcy and that such calamities subside with humanity’s more loving stewardship of the planet.