For more than twenty years, Tzu Chi volunteer Tino Chu (朱金財) devoted his life to serving the people of Zimbabwe—digging wells, providing meals, supporting families in need, and guiding thousands of local volunteers to walk the path of compassion. In the early morning of February 24, 2026, he passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of seventy-one.
The news brought deep sorrow to volunteers across Zimbabwe. Tzu Chi members in Taiwan and around the world also mourn the loss of a beloved Dharma family member whose life became inseparable from the land and people of Africa.
Bringing Hope to Zimbabwe
Chu was born in 1955. He immigrated to South Africa in 1989 and later moved his garment factory to Zimbabwe in 1995, where he would live for the next three decades.
His business journey was not easy. He experienced repeated robberies that wiped out his assets and endured the country’s devastating hyperinflation, watching stacks of banknotes lose their value overnight. Reflecting on those hardships, he once said that encountering the Buddha’s teachings helped him accept life’s difficulties. From then on, he resolved to transform adversity through giving.
In 2006, Chu installed Da Ai Television at home and began listening to the teachings of Master Cheng Yen. Deeply inspired, he took refuge before the television and quietly began carrying out charitable work under the name of the Tzu Chi Foundation. Later, he connected with Tzu Chi volunteers in South Africa and formally joined volunteer training.
In 2007, when a Tzu Chi delegation first visited Zimbabwe, Chu eagerly participated in aid distributions and committed himself fully to the mission. Over time, his motivation for service deepened—from hoping to lessen karmic obstacles to simply responding to the suffering around him.
When he saw schoolchildren suffering from scalp infections, he personally cut their hair. When communities lacked clean water, he began delivering water to villages himself.
In 2008, Chu traveled to Hualien for the first time to attend Tzu Chi’s Overseas Commissioner training and meet Master Cheng Yen. In 2011, he was certified as a Tzu Chi commissioner and received the Dharma name Ji Fang (濟昉), meaning the first light of dawn—fitting for someone who brought warmth and hope to so many families in Zimbabwe.
Food and Water, Care for the Future
During Zimbabwe’s most difficult economic years, Chu established community food distribution points to provide hot meals for vulnerable families and children. What began as a single station gradually grew to 54 sites, serving 17,000 meals each day from Monday through Saturday.
For many children, these meals meant not only relief from hunger but also the chance to grow up healthy and continue their education. The program also brought local volunteers together, strengthening bonds of mutual care within the community.
Through years of visiting rural villages, Chu also witnessed the severe water shortages faced by many families. Women often had to travel long distances and risk their safety to fetch water, while children sometimes missed school to help their families.
Moved by this hardship, Chu shared his concerns with Master Cheng Yen, who encouraged him to become “Zimbabwe’s well-digger.”
Beginning in 2013, Chu organized local volunteers to form a wellrepair and drilling team. Though he had no formal engineering background, he learned through experience and shared the knowledge with others. Together, they repaired and drilled wells across rural communities.
So far, 4,715 wells have been repaired or newly drilled, benefiting hundreds of thousands of people. With clean water available, children no longer suffer frequent waterborne illness, women no longer need to make dangerous journeys, and schools can operate more regularly.
LEFT: Following the cholera outbreak, volunteers repair wells in affected areas. They replace damaged parts and add water purification tablets to ensure safe drinking water. | Photo: Tino Chu RIGHT: In Epworth, Harare, Zimbabwe, Tzu Chi volunteers repair a broken water well pump. Residents and volunteers rejoice as clean water flows again. | Photo: Hlengisile Jiyane
Food distribution and well-digging became two paths of care—one easing hunger today, the other safeguarding the future.
A Life Given to Zimbabwe
At the groundbreaking ceremony for the Tzu Chi Zimbabwe Jing Si Hall in September 2025, Chu spoke with deep emotion:
When my life ends, I want to be buried in this land. In the future, I will return and sit among you with the same skin color, giving my life for Zimbabwe.—Tino Chu
Those present understood how deeply his heart belonged to this land.
LEFT: At the groundbreaking ceremony of Tzu Chi Jing Si Hall in Zimbabwe, Tino Chu (left) was moved to tears after years of dedicated service. Right: Groundbreaking Ceremony of Tzu Chi Harare, Zimbabwe | Photos: Chin-Te Chan
The day before he passed away, Chu was still serving as always. He had traveled nearly 800 kilometers to distribute aid to 800 flood-affected households in Hwange. After the distribution, he told fellow volunteers he felt tired and wished to rest early. The next morning, volunteers discovered he had quietly passed away.
When the news reached the Tzu Chi office in Zimbabwe, many local volunteers wept openly. To them, Chu had been like a father—guiding and caring for them along the path of service.
He always reminded us, ‘If one day I am gone, Tzu Chi in Zimbabwe must not fall. It must grow even stronger.’
Continuing His Vows
When the news reached Taiwan, Tzu Chi Foundation's CEO Po-wen Yen expressed both shock and deep sorrow.
He was truly a bodhisattva among people. Quiet and humble, yet when he spoke about Zimbabwe, his sincerity and determination were unmistakable.—Po-Wen Yen, CEO of Tzu Chi Foundation
Chu once shared a heartfelt aspiration—to help raise Zimbabwe’s average life expectancy from 37 years to 60 years. Through food programs, well-digging, sanitation education, and health initiatives, he steadily worked toward improving the well-being of local communities.
CEO Yen promised that Tzu Chi will continue to fulfill the vows Chu left behind. One of Chu’s goals was to dig 5,000 wells, a milestone now within reach. He was also deeply committed to building the Jing Si Hall in Zimbabwe, so that local volunteers could have a stable spiritual home.
“Your unfinished vows are now Tzu Chi’s vows,” Yen said.
Although Chu has completed this lifetime, the cooking fires at the food stations continue to rise, and the clear water from the wells continues to flow. These acts of compassion nurture the seeds of kindness he planted across Zimbabwe.
The wells will keep flowing, and the vows will continue.
Written by Yu-Chen Pan (潘俞臻)
