2026-10-16
Article courtesy of International Bodhisattva Sangha


Flood washed homes; love filled hearts.


On August 26, 2026, a high-altitude glacial collapse in the Nepalese Himalayas triggered catastrophic flash floods and landslides. Rasuwa District, located upstream, bore the brunt of the disaster, with damage spreading downstream along the Trishuli River for at least 72 kilometers. Wherever the torrent reached, villages were submerged, roads were severed, and power, communications, and medical infrastructure suffered severe damage. Overnight, countless people lost their homes, and many were tragically separated from their loved ones forever.


According to an official statement by UNICEF, more than 17,000 children are facing severe survival crises, including loss of schooling, homelessness, and a total lack of care. The Nepalese government declared Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading districts as major disaster areas, issuing high alerts for communities along the riverbanks to prevent secondary disasters.

 

Venerable Master Huei Guang leads the relief team deep into Nepal’s hardest-hit flood zones.
Venerable Master Huei Guang leads the relief team deep into Nepal’s hardest-hit flood zones.


On August 27, just one day after the disaster struck, Taiwan’s International Bodhisattva Sangha (IBS) immediately launched its emergency relief mechanism. Led and coordinated by Venerable Master Huei Guang, the relief team—comprising local young novices and Nepalese community leaders—ventured deep into the three hardest-hit districts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading to deliver emergency medical assistance, distribute essential supplies, and assist with post-disaster relief.

 

Young novices venture deep into the severely affected districts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading to distribute essential supplies.
Young novices venture deep into the severely affected districts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading to distribute essential supplies.


When roads were blocked, they found detours around the mountains; when bridges collapsed, they found alternative ways to carry supplies inside. For those waiting in desperate anticipation, as long as love exists, no place is ever truly too far.


The IBS relief team entered affected villages to distribute food and daily essentials, helping survivors erect temporary shelters. Facing a severe shortage of medical resources in the disaster zone, IBS donated emergency medical equipment and supplies to local hospitals, assembled professional medical teams to establish mobile clinics, and provided on-site consultations, medications, and gastrointestinal disease prevention. When destroyed power and communications severed villages from the outside world, IBS provided solar power equipment to restore basic lighting, power, and communication links for the community.


From handing bags of rice and warm blankets directly into the hands of disaster victims, to a light turned back on, to a phone call finally going through—these moments of warmth allowed suffering residents in deep despair to feel deeply that they had not been forgotten by the world.


From Cared-For Children to Messengers of Love

 

Young novices enter flood-stricken homes to clear thick mud and help families rebuild.
Young novices enter flood-stricken homes to clear thick mud and help families rebuild.

 

Among the relief personnel, a unique group stood out: the young novices of the IBS Sramanera School of Nepal. Wearing rainboots and gloves, they held shovels and cleared heavy mud from villagers' homes, shovel after shovel. They waded through the disaster zones distributing supplies, comforting affected families, and chanting prayers for blessings along the flood-struck riverbanks.

 

Young novices chant prayers along the mid-to-lower reaches of the Trishuli River in Nuwakot and Dhading, offering blessings for all affected lives.
Young novices chant prayers along the mid-to-lower reaches of the Trishuli River in Nuwakot and Dhading, offering blessings for all affected lives.


Twelve years ago, these young people now standing firmly on the front lines of disaster relief were young children held by the hand and tenderly cared for by Venerable Master Huei Guang.


The bond between Taiwan's IBS and Nepal began in 2014. Over the past twelve years, IBS established International Bodhisattva Sangha Nepal and IBS Sramanera School of Nepal, long dedicated to educating vulnerable children, supporting divorced women and marginalized caste groups, and conducting mobile medical missions in remote mountain areas. Looking back at the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Master Huei Guang took young novices deep into the mountains for relief work. Back then, the children watched adults deliver supplies into the hands of those in need, watching love from Taiwan cross mountains and rivers to reach them.


Twelve years have passed, and those children have grown up. This time, they took hold of the supplies with their own hands, shouldered the responsibility, and walked toward another group of people awaiting help. Children who were once loved have learned to love others; lives that were once cared for have now become lights that illuminate others.


This, as it turns out, is the most beautiful form of education. We provide children with warm meals, clothes for winter, and classrooms to seek knowledge; most importantly, we plant a seed of compassion in their lives. As they grow up, that seed bears good fruit in the world, becoming a comforting force against human suffering.


Letting Love Reach Farther Than the Flood

This flood relief effort in Nepal gathered the compassion of Taiwanese society, channeling it into a cross-border force that reached devastated villages at the foot of the Himalayas.


Taiwan and Nepal are geographically far apart, but when we choose to see another person’s suffering, people come closer through compassion, and nations meet through goodwill.


Rebuilding homes is a long journey, and injured lives require long-term companionship. The floodwaters will eventually recede, but we hope love remains forever. From Taiwan to Nepal, from one extended hand to another willing to keep extending, the compassion planted twelve years ago has now grown strong in young lives. We believe this cross-border strength will continue to endure.