English | Sri Lanka in the Ocean of Tears
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Author Jogye On22-09-29 09:08 Views1,682 Comments0Related links
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Dreaminus, the international humanitarian aid agency under the auspice of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism launched an emergency campaign on September 14, 2022, to raise money to send food aid to the people of Sri Lanka that defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history.
Sri Lanka is an island country located
southeast of India. According to the records, Sakyamuni Buddha visited Sri
Lanka three times in person to propagate Dharma to the country. The principal
religion of Sri Lanka is still Buddhism which constitutes over 70% of the
population.
But since Sri Lanka declared a state of
emergency when the government was unable to meet its debt payments in April,
the country has been mired in economic and social crisis, with Sri Lankans
struggling with daily power cuts and shortages of basics such as fuel, food,
and medicine. Huge queues of vehicles waiting for petrol and diesel have become
a common sight, snaking around the city blocks with no end in sight. Prices
have risen sharply, with inflation currently over 60%.
Dreaminus will run the emergency campaign to
help Sri Lankans in economic crisis for three months. Donations will be used to
deliver gift packages consisting of food essentials such as rice, lentils, and
salt.
“A majority of Sri Lankans are fellow
Buddhists,” said Ven. Ilhwa, the director of the standing committee of
Dreaminus. “I encourage all of you to join in this campaign so that we can help
our Dharma friends in Sri Lanka with at least some basic foodstuff.”
Individuals and temples can join the Dreaminus’s
effort by wiring donations to: Nonghyeop Bank 301-0315-9664-31. It is a special
account opened in Dreaminus’s name dedicated to the Sri Lankan Food Aid
campaign.
Contact us at: +82-2-737-9595