China
From December 2025 to January 2026, winter aid distributions were carried out across 26 provinces and municipalities. Volunteers from local or neighboring provinces organized a combination of centralized distribution events and home visits, providing winter clothing, food, and other essential supplies to 18,000 vulnerable households.
Cambodia
Working with the Samdech Techo Voluntary Youth Doctor Association and the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, volunteers held a year-end blessing ceremony and distribution on January 25 for families living near the Dangkor landfill in Phnom Penh. During the event, 707 households received aid items, including rice, noodles, cooking oil, and blankets.
Vietnam
Tzu Chi held four winter aid distributions in Ha Tinh Province on January 31 and February 1, in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs Department of the province and the Red Cross. Rice, blankets, and cash assistance (500,000 Vietnamese dong [US$20] per family) were distributed to 800 households. Tzu Chi’s work in the region began at the end of 2020, when the foundation provided flood relief in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces in partnership with a Taiwanese business association. Over the following five years, Tzu Chi continued partnering with the association to carry out poverty relief and educational support efforts.
Taiwan
Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital held a volunteer appreciation event on February 6. Among the volunteers honored, two had contributed more than 10,000 hours of service, and two others had surpassed the 5,000-hour mark. One of the 10,000-hour honorees, Yang Li-chuan (楊立川), had volunteered six days a week at the height of his service. Though now advanced in age and walking with a cane, he still faithfully serves one day each week. His service has continued uninterrupted for nearly 20 years.
The Philippines
◎On January 17, Dr. Antonio Say (史美勝), president of the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation Philippines, was honored with the 2026 Thomasian Outstanding Medical Alumni Award for Medical Education by the University of Santo Tomas Medical Alumni Association. Dr. Say is credited with revolutionizing cataract surgery in the Philippines by introducing the phacoemulsification technique. Beyond his technical contributions, he has long inspired students to serve in remote areas through medical missions. Under his leadership, the Tzu Chi Eye Center has completed over 25,000 surgeries and served more than 180,000 patients since 2007, restoring sight and bringing renewed hope to many underprivileged families.
◎In the second phase of emergency relief following Typhoon Kalmaegi, cash aid was distributed on January 31 to families in the towns of Compostela and Consolacion, Cebu, to help them rebuild their homes. A total of 160 households received between 20,000 and 30,000 Philippine pesos (US$345–$515) each, according to family size.
Sri Lanka
Cyclone Ditwah struck Sri Lanka in late November 2025, heavily impacting Colombo, the country’s largest city. On January 17, 2026, Tzu Chi distributed relief packages to 1,205 households in Gothatuwa, a suburb of Colombo. Each package contained over 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of rice and other daily essentials.
Paraguay
The indigenous Ava Guaraní people were displaced from their traditional lands, with some families resettling in 7 de Enero and Tekoha Pyahu, near Ciudad del Este. Their current settlements lie amidst swamplands close to a landfill, where 68 households rely on scavenging recyclables to earn a meager income. Following a visit by Tzu Chi volunteers, essential supplies were provided on February 1 to help sustain the families’ basic needs. The aid included rice, flour, beans, cooking oil, powdered milk, and vegetable seeds.
Mozambique
Continuous heavy rainfall in early 2026 affected over 180,000 households across seven provinces, including Sofala, Maputo, and Nampula. In late January, volunteers completed 1,567 shifts in the capital, Maputo, helping to restore disaster areas through 12 large-scale cleanup operations across five communities. In early February, food and daily necessities were distributed to 1,318 affected households in the capital, and medical teams held 15 free clinic events, serving 2,198 people. Plans are underway to provide seeds and farming tools to help families in Sofala restart cultivation, with additional distributions planned for Gaza Province.
Syria
Although the Syrian civil war has ended, homes and infrastructure remain severely damaged. In response to a request from the governor of Idlib Governorate for blankets to help impoverished families get through the winter, the Tzu Chi Foundation delivered 4,000 blankets from Türkiye to Syria. On January 12 and 13, after two and a half months of coordination and customs clearance, the blankets were distributed in two displacement camps to 2,064 households, totaling about 9,500 people.
Jordan
In December, Tzu Chi Jordan donated children’s shoes to three schools and a center for children with disabilities in Ghawr as-Safi, near the southern end of the Dead Sea, benefiting one thousand children. Six hundred low-income farmworker households also received a one-month supply of food to help sustain them through the lean winter months.
Malawi
Following heavy seasonal rains that began in late 2025, severe flooding impacted Malawi’s central district of Nkhotakota and the southern districts of Nsanje and Chikwawa. During assessments in Chikwawa, volunteers found displacement camps in desperate need of supplies. To address these needs, Tzu Chi provided two camps with 300 bags of maize flour and 350 kilograms (770 pounds) of red beans, supporting 350 households.
