Tsunami Relief Support - "A Gift of Wisdom"

by Ajahn Pasanno, from the Abhyagiri website, January 31, 2005

Concerned people worldwide now have the chance to support a respected Buddhist nun?s tsunami relief work in southern Thailand by donating to her community?s ?A Gift of Wisdom? project.

Maa Chee Sansanee is a well-known and highly regarded Thai nun who has a center on the outskirts of Bangkok.(www.sansanee.org). After the tsunami struck Southern Thailand on December 26, 2004 she went with members of her community to see the situation first hand. Touched by the suffering survivors were experiencing, she determined to find a way to help.

She has decided that the best way would be to adopt one of the villages, Ban Nam Khem. This small fishing village had a population of 2,000 people before the disaster; now just 200 are left. With every person affected, Maa Chee Sansanee will try to help the villagers rebuild the fabric of their homes, livelihoods and families. She is looking to the long term to give the villagers the support ? material, emotional and spiritual ? that they will need. Members of her community will regularly visit and monitor the needs of the village. This should also create a model which will hopefully provide a standard for other relief assistance in the area. By making a long term commitment, she is hoping to guide the villagers in rebuilding their lives and creating a web of support for them and the nature that surrounds them.

In order to support this endeavor, Maa Chee Sansanee has invited her Thai followers to help with donations. In addition, she has pledged that any proceeds from a new film documentary of her life will be donated to the new Ban Nam Khem project, which is named ?A Gift of Wisdom.? (The film documentary ?A Walk of Wisdom?? is currently featured in the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, January 28 - February 6, 2005 and is also available online as a DVD.)

Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery is lending a hand by informing people of the opportunity to support ?A Gift of Wisdom.? At this time of suffering, any assistance is appreciated. It is heartwarming to be able to provide help to a trustworthy spiritual leader like Maa Chee Sansanee, who will be trying her utmost to look after each person?s needs in this village. This example will surely plant the seeds of goodness for the efforts in other places in the South of Thailand to take root as well.