page_title: Tzu Chi
section_title: Portfolios
hierarchical_section_title: Tzu Chi / Global presence / Portfolios
caption_attribution_description: English: PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Feb. 26, 2010) Members of the Bouddhiste Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddist charity based in Taiwan, distribute about 2,000 blankets and tarps to Haitian citizens. Several U.S. and international military and non-governmental agencies are conducting humanitarian and disaster relief operations as part of Operation Unified Response after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake caused severe damage in and around Port-au-Prince, Haiti Jan. 12. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Robert J. Fluegel/Released)
context_page_description: Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Republic of China, known for short as the Tzu Chi Foundation, is a Taiwanese international humanitarian and non-governmental organization. The foundation has several sub-organizations such as the Tzu Chi International Medical Association and also the Tzu Chi Collegiate Youth Association. Tzu Chi volunteers and relief workers are mostly recognizable by their blue and white uniforms called, in Chinese: 藍天白雲, lántiān báiyún. The foundation's work includes medical aid, disaster relief, and environmental work such as recycling. It is operated by a worldwide network of volunteers and employees and has been awarded a special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
  The Tzu Chi Foundation was founded by Master Cheng Yen, a Taiwanese Buddhist nun, or bhikkhuni, in 1966 as a Buddhist humanitarian organization. The organization began as a group of thirty housewives who saved money for needy families. Tzu Chi gradually expanded its services over time, opening a free medical clinic in 1972 and building its first hospital in 1986.
context_section_description: Tzu Chi's portfolios include case management, medical, educational and disaster relief.
  The organization builds and operates many hospitals and schools, with outreach efforts that range from visits to nursing homes to providing bone marrow surgery, as well as offering items such as washing machines to struggling single mothers. The television "Da Ai" network operates with its own news and television programming. Chinese schools have also been established abroad, such as in Australia and the United States, which apart from teaching Chinese and sign language also guides students in ways of compassion and community service.
caption: Tzu Chi volunteers distribute blankets to victims of the 2010 Haitian earthquake
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