With the goal of spreading Tzu Chi’s mission of humanistic culture more widely, the Tzu Chi Writers Group was formally established in 1989. Tzu Chi Writers volunteers diligently wrote detailed records of the process of promoting Tzu Chi’s mission. They recorded the work of other volunteers to bear witness to the goodness of our times and also undertook the vital responsibility of compiling and writing Tzu Chi's history.
In 1996, the “Tzu Chi Audiovisual Volunteer Association” was established. In order to assist Tzu Chi’s Da Ai TV station in producing programs, volunteers across Taiwan brought their own equipment and took advanced studies in videography and production skills. Many media professionals also made use of their leisure time to work as volunteers.
In 2003, Tzu Chi humanistic volunteers combined the Writers Group and Audiovisual Volunteers to take part in not only text, image, and audiovisual training and integration, but also take the responsibility of achieving the goals of recording the “truth, goodness, and beauty” of people, matters, and principles.
As a result, the name of the team of volunteers who participate in recording the culture and history of Tzu Chi was officially designated as the “Truth, Goodness, and Beauty Media Volunteer Team.”
Do you know who the first Truth, Goodness, and Beauty Media Volunteer was?
If we turn the clock back to 1970, during one of the biennial trips around Taiwan to follow up with care recipients, Master Cheng Yen captured a photo of volunteers pushing a bus on the riverbed of the Liujiebi River in Hualien’s Fenglin Township. This image stands as a testament to Master's leadership in guiding volunteers to do charity work in impoverished areas. Furthermore, this photo is the first documented photo in Tzu Chi’s history.
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