International Network for Mutual Help

Overseas Department Holds Annual Charity Bazaar

On April 13, the 12th charity bazaar was held at the Overseas Department under the sponsorship of its International Network for Mutual Help, which collects and provides information on international aid activities in cooperation with the department’s overseas mission facilities and other followers’ groups working on these activities. The charity bazaar is intended to support these activities, and several thousand items including kitchen articles, clothes, household appliances, and furniture were donated by followers this year.

On that day, a long line had already formed on the premises of the Overseas Department before the venue’s doors were opened at 11 A.M. Once the bazaar began, the venue was lively with families and students who were enjoying shopping. Helping with the bazaar were a total of 118 people including staff members of the Overseas Department and the Young Men’s Association as well as students of TLI and Tenri University. In addition, staff members of the Boys and Girls Association organized games for children. On display at the venue were large panels showing the history of the International Network for Mutual Help’s activities and photographs depicting the international aid activities conducted by various followers’ groups. In the courtyard in front of the venue were several food booths offering international specialties such as pizza, hot dogs, Taiwanese fried rice, and Brazilian-style grilled meat. The proceeds from the bazaar, amounting to approximately 610,000 yen, will be used for future international aid activities conducted by the International Network for Mutual Help.

Relief Donation for Cyclone Disaster in Burma

In response to the devastation caused by the massive cyclone Nargis, Tenrikyo Overseas Department entrusted the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) with three million yen on May 13. The contribution came from the funds that had previously been collected by the Overseas Department’s International Network for Mutual Help.

The cyclone, which hit Burma on May 2 and 3, has devastated the country. The toll of the dead and missing could rise to 100,000, according to the United Nation’s report announced on the 12th.

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