四川地震人文学校募款 Sichuan Earthquake fund-raising at Chinese School

唐人街街头募款隔天，人文学校也为同学和家长们举办了一场标新立异的校内募款活动。

A day after the Sichuan earthquake fund-raising at Chinatown, we had our own fund-raising for our students and parents at our Chinese School. It was a very special form of fund-raising.

我们在第三节课时，把同学都聚集在餐厅内。大家（同学、家长及慈济人）一起观看了一场短片，了解四川地震的破坏力。短片一幕接着一幕显示着，儿童受困在瓦砾中、学生紧握着手中的铅笔一动也不动、父母盼儿归的焦虑、母亲面对着孩子遗体的欲哭无泪。餐厅内除了许校长的旁述，鸦雀无声。众所周知这次四川大地震，多所学校倒塌，学童死伤惨重。

We gathered all our students during the third class period and everybody (students, parents and Tzu Chi volunteers) watched a short powerpoint clip of what happened in Sichuan. The powerpoint showed many pictures of children in pain and agony parents waiting for their child, since it slowly became a well-known fact that many schools collapsed during the earthquake and hence many children were injured or killed.

聚集在餐厅之前，教师们已发给每位同学一张一元纸币。短片之后，许校长谈了谈四川地震灾民的困境。之后金满师姑告诉同学们，他们可以选择使用手中的一元买零食。不过，观看了四川儿童正在经历的痛苦及苦难，十分希望同学们能捐出那一元。到最后，我相信所有的同学都把他们手中的一元投入劝募箱里。可喜的是，有几位同学向父母要求多点钱投入劝募箱，而家长们除了本身的捐款外，也都乐于答应孩子那小小的要求。

Before this session, our teachers handed out to each student a 1-dollar note. After the powerpoint was presented, our principal Xu SB talked about what happen in Sichuan, followed by Vickie SG who told our students that they can choose to use that 1-dollar to buy tidbits for themselves. But after viewing the pain and suffering the children are experiencing in Sichuan, we hope that they can donate the 1-dollar. In the end, I believed that all the students donated their 1-dollar. There are a few who asked for more money from their parents for donation and many parents contributed their part as well.

所有的一元纸币都来自昨日在唐人街的劝募。在很多人的眼里，捐款是左手出右手进，善款并没有增加。的确是这样，但是我们的同学上了一堂宝贵的人生课。我们在同学们的心田里种下了一颗善的种子，希望日后会萌芽，茁壮。此外，把纸币投入劝募箱里的行为本身就是种善因，并期许日后助缘够时，会产生善的果报。了解这两个原因，这看似愚蠢的行为，其实充满着智慧。

All the 1-dollar notes came from yesterday donation at Chinatown. To many, it would look like giving out the money for our students to hold them for a few minutes before returning the money back into the donation. There is no addition donation. This is very true, but we gained something more, our students did. By doing so, our aim is to cultivate the seeds of compassion in our students. Furthermore, their very act of putting the money into the donation box is the act of giving and will generate positive karma for them. Understanding these 2 reasons, it will no longer look like a foolish act by our Chinese School volunteers.

慈济劝募，不只募款，还募心。

It is an act of wisdom.