The revered Korean Dharma master and Buddhist activist Venerable Pomnyun Sunim (법륜스님) and volunteers from the Buddhist humanitarian relief organization JTS Korea conducted relief efforts in the northeastern Indian state of Assam on 12 July in response to catastrophic flooding that has affected the region during the recent monsoon season.
Two months of monsoon rains have inundated northeastern India and eastern Bangladesh, with prolonged heavy rains, particularly during the middle of June, causing widespread floods and landslides as river levels rose to dangerous levels. Media reports indicated that 79 people had been killed in the flooding, with more than 300,000 displaced as the flood waters submerged homes and inundated farmland. Assam regularly experiences large-scale destruction with each monsoon season due to its expansive network of rivers.
JTS Korea’s emergency relief team was dispatched to Assam on 9 July to conduct a preliminary survey of conditions on the ground and to prepare relief supplies. Among the areas surveyed, the village of Puragaon in Morigaon District was found to be in a particularly precarious situation, having received no external aid.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim established the humanitarian relief organization Join Together Society (JTS) as an expression of the compassion of engaged Buddhism, and based on the principle that helping others is the best way to enrich one’s own life. Charged with bringing hope, empowerment, and self-reliance to underprivileged communities in developing countries, JTS is run and manned by unpaid volunteers, who ensure that all donations benefit marginalized communities. JTS carries out relief work in countries suffering from humanitarian disasters, and has engaged in humanitarian projects in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. The relief organization has also earned Special Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
When Ven. Pomnyun Sunim arrived, three villages in the area were submerged beneath floodwaters, affecting 1,067 households. The displaced residents had been living in tents on an intact riverbank for a week.
▶️ Published by BDG on July 19, 2024
