Volunteers from the Buddhist humanitarian organization JTS Korea, founded by revered Korean Dharma Master and Buddhist activist Venerable Pomnyun Sunim (법륜스님), recently conducted humanitarian relief operations in Sri Lanka, helping students with low incomes. income and disadvantaged communities who have been most vulnerable to the fallout of the country's recent economic crisis.
Sri Lanka is still recovering from the worst economic crisis in its history. At the height of the crisis in 2022, Sri Lankans faced record inflation, crippling power cuts and severe shortages of fuel, basic foodstuffs and medicine. The Sri Lankan rupee became the world's worst-performing currency, falling to a historic low, while foreign exchange reserves were depleted, leaving the country unable to import basic necessities such as food or fuel . More than 54% of Sri Lankan households are now in debt. Thanks to a $2,9 billion rescue package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), inflation was brought down to 1,7% in June this year, after rising to 70% in September 2022.
After four support projects in 2023, the second round of JTS support activities this year focused on providing essential school supplies to students and rice to the most vulnerable families. Local government officials actively contributed to the process, from surveying potential beneficiaries to packaging school supplies and their final distribution.
“Local JTS volunteers have worked diligently for months to ensure that this relief activity was carried out in a safe and fair manner,” JTS Korea told BDG.
Venerable Pomnyun Sunim founded the humanitarian organization Join Together Society (JTS) as an expression of the compassion of engaged Buddhism, and based on the principle that helping others is the best way to enrich one's own life. Charged with bringing hope, empowerment and self-reliance to disadvantaged communities in developing countries, JTS is run and operated by unpaid volunteers, who ensure that all donations benefit marginalized communities. JTS carries out relief work in countries affected by humanitarian disasters and has engaged in humanitarian projects in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The humanitarian organization has also been granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
In the Gampaha district of Sri Lanka's Western Province, JTS volunteers provided 500 households with 20 kilos of rice and school supply packages containing new bags, pencils, notebooks and other essential items, to the delight of the children.
The next area where relief was provided was Chilaw, in the Puttalam district of the North-West province, where many poor families live mainly as daily wage laborers on shrimp farms and in the industry. some fishing. Their situation is particularly difficult because the region lacks drinking water and even the groundwater is contaminated by salt. Households must therefore collect rainwater or are forced to buy water. There is also no electricity.
The difficulties of local residents are compounded by the fact that schools are located 5 to 10 kilometers from the village, meaning that children have to rent bicycles or motorbikes to go to school. Some families forgo preschool because they cannot afford the monthly fee of 1 to 000 rupees ($2 to $000). In the wake of the economic crisis, many households, which had already reduced their meals to two meals per day, have further reduced their spending to just one meal per day.
JTS volunteers provided school supplies to 1 students and distributed 100 kilos of rice to each of their families, as well as 20 additional households identified as extremely poor. In cases where a family had more than one child in school, JTS provided additional support.
The third area to receive assistance is the town of Medirigiriya in the Polonnaruwa district of the North Central province. Although it is a major rice-producing region, many residents live hand to mouth working on farms as day laborers and do not own land. The massive use of agricultural pesticides has led to groundwater contamination and a high incidence of kidney disease among local residents.
Households in Medirigiriya receive daily water rations and must purchase purified water for drinking, adding to their financial burden. People in extreme poverty, who cannot afford to buy water, resort to boiling contaminated groundwater for consumption.
Here, JTS volunteers distributed school supplies to 1 selected students in 400 schools and provided 17 kilos of rice to each of 10 households. They also selected 1 other households living in extreme poverty to each receive 360 kilos of rice.
“I am extremely proud of JTS activities that help the poor through a transparent and fair selection process,” said a volunteer on the ground. “We sincerely hope that with our small contribution, the people of Sri Lanka will be able to recover quickly from the national crisis. »
Venerable Pomnyun Sunim is a well-respected Korean dharma teacher, author, and social activist. He has founded numerous organizations, initiatives and projects around the world, including: JTS Korea, an international humanitarian aid organization working to eradicate poverty and hunger; Jungto Society, a community of volunteers founded on the teachings of the Buddha and dedicated to solving modern social problems that lead to suffering; Ecobuddha, an organization focused on environmental ethics and sustainable living based on the teachings of the Buddha; and Good Friends, which promotes reconciliation and cooperation between North and South Korea, and provides humanitarian aid to North Koreans. Venerable Pomnyun Sunim also works closely with the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB).
In October 2020, the Niwano Peace Foundation in Japan awarded the 37th Niwano Peace Prize to Venerable Pomnyun Sunim in recognition of his international humanitarian work, intensive environmental and social activism, and tireless efforts to build trust and goodwill between communities of different faiths and cultures, with the aim of world peace.*
* Buddhist monk Ven. Pomnyun Sunim receives the 37th Niwano Peace Prize (BDG)
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Jungto Company
JTS Korea
JTS America
International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB)
Sri Lanka will elect a new president on September 21 amid crucial economic reforms (Reuters)
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