Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism dispatched its third team of volunteers to share its pain and to heal and demonstrate compassion for the flood victims who are suffering greatly in Thailand, one of the well known Buddhist countries in the world,

     Thailand Disaster Relief Volunteers from the Jogye Order (lead by Ven. Jongseon) attended the "volunteer send off ceremony" on the 4th floor of the Center for Korean Buddhist History and Culture on January 2nd at 2 pm and headed to Thailand to offer free medical services from January 4-8, 2012.

     The Executive Directory of Jogye Order’s Social Welfare Foundation, Ven. Jongseon, lead the team of 18 volunteers from Dongguk Buddhist University and medical staffs from Ilsan Hospital, Korea. The Jogye Order volunteer team mainly offered medical services in Ayutthaya, Don Muang, Namco Pathom regions in Thailand.

     The team worked in co-operation with the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB), which gathered over 50 local volunteers, along with 10 volunteers from Thailand Hanmaum Seon Center, and other volunteers from the Association of Thailand Korean Residents. The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism also donated $53,000 US and Korean Council of Buddhism offered $35,000 US as relief funds. The President of Jogye Order, the most Ven. Jaseung, stated during his encouragement speech to the volunteers, "It wouldn’t be easy and you will probably have a difficult time due to the hot weather, but we hope that you will put your best efforts forward to help the victims of the flood in Thailand and we look forward to your sound and healthy return back to Korea."

     The first volunteer team werefirst dispatched from October 31 to November 3rd of last year to better understand the flood situation in Thailand, followed by the second volunteer team on November 18th-22nd to distribute emergency supplies to the flood victims. The Jogye Order also directly provided emergency funds (approximately $90,000 US) to the victims through the Friends on the Path, the Non-Profit Organization of Jogye Order.

Article and Picture provided by Buddhist Newspaper