Despite suffering from asthma, Tzu Chi volunteer Olga Vendivel sweeps dust from this stretch of corridor. She and her fellow volunteers set aside time for February 17, a Sunday, to clean the entire building in preparation for the volunteers training camp. 【Photo by Heng Choun Lee】
Story Highlights
Filipino and Chinese Tzu Chi volunteers on February 17 work hand in hand to clean the Tzu Chi Great Love Campus’s Harmony building in time for the volunteers training camp.
In the run-up to the New Volunteers Training Camp, Tzu Chi volunteers on February 17 trooped to Tzu Chi Great Love Campus’s renovated building for an extensive cleanup.
The Harmony building, as it is known, will be the home of the attendees of the upcoming camp for three days and two nights. An estimated 80 people will attend the camp to learn how to be a Tzu Chi volunteer. Nuns and volunteers from Taiwan will be on hand to conduct the seminars.
In light of the upcoming event, the volunteers get to work in clearing every window and floor of dust and debris from the renovation work. All the volunteers were taught the proper way of sweeping and disposing the debris, they were even advised to wear proper protective gears during the cleanup.
Despite suffering from asthma, Tzu Chi volunteer Olga Vendivel makes an effort to take the lead in this activity.
“If I don’t teach them [the proper way to clean], the dust will simply come back over and over. If [the volunteers] don’t know the proper procedure, the mess will only return,” said Vendivel.
Students from Tzu Chi’s Livelihood Training Program joined in the cleaning wholeheartedly. Evangeline Sumalinog is a 24-year-old student taking up the Machine Operation Course as part of the third batch. She used to work as a welder, but the demands of such work took their toll on her body, forcing her to resign.
“I can’t stand dirt. I want to see a clean room the moment I open the door,” said Sumalinog.
The cleanup spared no nook and cranny. Everything from the window frame to the door knob has to be spic and span. Some male volunteers used their height advantage to wipe the hard-to-reach areas of the doors and windows.
Using a brush, Tzu Chi volunteer James Cheng sweeps the window joints and railings of cement debris. “I have to dust off the residue. Otherwise, the window mechanism will not function properly.”
Tzu Chi Philippines CEO Henry Yuñez is thankful to the volunteers who came to help. “I’m really grateful to the volunteers working in harmony, especially with the camp just a few days away.”
The Harmony building is the first building to be completed for this major renovation project of the Great Love Campus. We foresee the campus to become a center of activities for the different missions of the Tzu Chi Foundation upon its completion.
