Juan Carlos Tamarez - V. YMD Zone Leader

Ever since I was young I have been working, but all my jobs were labor intensive and offered little pay. I would always wonder if this was my destiny. My friends would tell me “just accept it or sell drugs”, so I chose to accept the fact that due to my circumstances these were the only jobs that I could get. In 1998, I started supporting youth division meetings with 100 percent effort. I would help coordinate, and participate in a variety of SGI-USA activities. At our community center I would help setup before meetings and cleanup after. In 2000, I determined to go to school for digital graphics. I was starting to get so busy with school, work and Gakkai activities sometimes I didn’t have enough time to even sleep. I still moved forward side by side with President Ikeda. Quoting a passage from Nichiren Daishonin’s writings, "Where there is unseen virtue, there will be visible reward," which began to apply to my life.

I got an offer to be a technician with a big computer company and my situation became better. I had no doubt that I was doing the right thing and that my ongoing efforts were beginning to be rewarded. In 2004 I was unemployed, but I continued to do SGI activities and with the hope to get the best job I could, but after 6 months and I still had no one call me. One day I received a call from the SGI-USA, Florida Nature and Culture Center, and was offered a position with the FNCC staff. I could not believe it, I was so excited, I was able to change my circumstances through the power of contributing through activities. I am determined to fight even harder than before side by side with President Ikeda and my fellow SGI members

Muchisimas Gracias!
Juan Carlos Tamarez