Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association relief news update from Colombia.
At least 18 people perished and 87 injured were when waves of torrential rains pummeled southern Colombia beginning at the end of May. Floods and landslides uprooted thousands across 134 municipalities as 15,000 homes were damaged.

Relief recipient, Caquetá, Colombia (F): We completely lost all that was in our homes and lost everything, completely all, because of the mud...

Relief recipient, Caquetá, Colombia (F):  We suffer because we don’t sleep, we don’t eat in peace.

VOICE: Sending her love and sorrowful prayers, Supreme Master Ching Hai quickly donated US$10,000, an amount that could obtain US$50,000 in urgent supplies purchased in the United States, based on the cost of living in Colombia. She also requested that our nearby Association members please go render aid to the worst affected regions, and provided an additional reimbursement of US$1,340 to cover their travel expenses.

As soon as conditions allowed, our Association members from Costa Rica and Colombia traveled to Caquetá Department. As they were consulting with Governor Germán Medin in Florencia and preparing vegan food items for 1,050 families, tragedy struck in a community when a three-year-old child drowned.

Because the family could not afford a coffin, the relief team purchased one for them, in addition to buying enough food to feed the surviving four children in the household for a month.
Our Association members then went to comfort another family who had lost a five-year-old child to a landslide, as well as all their other belongings including their house.

They were currently residing with two other families, and their neighbors were another three families who had also been affected by the landslide and left without food. So, our Association members paid their rent and purchased food for the month. The relief recipients expressed their deep gratitude to Master.

Relief recipient, lost her grandchild, Caquetá, Colombia (F): crying The biggest thing,the boy is lost …the rest of it, well, you get it anyway. And I thank you so much that you do not leave us so helpless like this. And thank you.

VOICE: The relief team then visited six communities, where many children and elderly people of disadvantaged backgrounds who had already been suffering from regional civil conflict had lost everything. They were very happy to receive Master’s aid, especially because it was the first to reach them after the flooding.

Relief recipient, Caquetá, Colombia (F): Master, to give to you a sincere  thanks for remembering these communities that are located in the flood area: thousands and thousands of thanks for all that you have sent as a gift to us.

Relief recipient, Caquetá, Colombia (F): In the name of the community from the neighborhood of La Foresta, we say to the lady who sent us this love, which we receive with much, much, much love.
Thank you, Mother, you’re very kind and thank you all in the name of the community of the neighborhood La Foresta. We are very grateful for you.

Young relief recipient, Caquetá, Colombia (F): Kisses and thank you Master! Many thanks!

VOICE: We too thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for her wholehearted care and support to the afflicted, as we also send our appreciation to our Association’s relief team for their sincere efforts.
Our prayers for the smooth restoration of comfortable day-to-day lives to the Colombian people and that our increased benevolence helps ensure a calmer, stabilized ecosphere.

Upon receiving this update, Supreme Master Ching Hai immediately donated an additional US$10,000, with the total US$20,000 able to acquire US$100,000 in emergency items if purchased in the United States, based on Colombia’s cost of living. She also conveyed the following message to our Association’s relief team:
“Please go to see if there are any more urgent family needs now. Indeed their suffering is so vast my heart aches for them.”