Medical Mission

Medical Mission – Protecting Life with Love

In 2000, Tzu Chi volunteers in the Gold Coast chose to step into the local public hospital, guided by Master Cheng Yen’s teaching: “Walk under the same sky as others, and stand on the same ground as others; take from the local community and give back to it.” With the love of more than 130 families, volunteers donated heart monitors and blood oxygen machines, safeguarding the precious lives of children.

The Gold Coast has long maintained a close relationship with Mater Hospital in Brisbane, beginning with volunteer Julia Wu’s fortuitous encounter there in 1991. In 1992, we raised funds for a heart monitor that saved a tiny “Coca-Cola can baby” weighing just 374 grams—a record at the time. Today, this boy is 31 years old and has become a dance teacher. Through decades of support for Mater Hospital’s medical research, Tzu Chi has accompanied the hospital in protecting life.

In 2021, when we learned that the Catherine House at Mater Hospital needed assistance, volunteers held a single thought: “Money sitting in the bank cannot save lives.” Every penny of love was turned into action, supporting the emotional and mental well-being of mothers before and after childbirth.

In 2024, the Tzu Chi Room at Mater Hospital was reopened. Master Cheng Yen’s image quietly reminds all who enter: compassion can transform the world. From one monitor to a Tzu Chi Room, from a single volunteer to an entire generation, Tzu Chi’s medical mission continues in Australia, protecting life with love.