Love in the South, Loss in the North
Love Is the Universal Language
(Translated by Lilian Lee,
Santa Barbara, California)
It is the first
weekend since Typhoon Nari hit Taiwan. Over six thousand volunteers
are now assisting residents of the greater Taipei and Keelung
region with their recovery projects. Volunteers, many of whom
were also disaster victims, traveled from the central and
southern regions of the island. There is no discrimination
between regions or religions when it comes to disaster relief.
The number of hot meals served has risen to over 500,000.
People are gathering in northern Taiwan to spread mutual love
during disastrous times, provide help in quickly rebuilding
homes, and assist in the recovery process.
Volunteer units have been mobilized from
Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taichung, Pingtung and Yilan. The areas
receiving aid include the following: Tunghsing and Tengming
communities in Nankang, Taipei County; Hsichih Elementary,
Hsichih Middle School, Peifeng Elementary, Changshu Middle
School, Changan Elementary, Hsichih Catholic Church, Tatung
Road, Chunghsiao East Road, and Chunghsing Road in the greater
Taipei region; and also the city of Keelung, Juifang town,
and Shuanghsi village.
After arriving in the early morning on
chartered tour buses, 380 volunteers from Kaohsiung went straight
to Chunghsiao East Road, from Fuan Street to Alley 337, in
Hsichih to assist residents in cleaning the streets. This
group of volunteers brought trucks, bobcats, and other heavy
machinery from Kaohsiung to help the cleaning process. Organizer
Cheng Wu-nan stated that back in July when Typhoon Trami flooded
Kaohsiung, many volunteers from other regions came to help.
In return, in order to give back what they had received, volunteers
from southern Taiwan are paying for their own trips. Amongst
them, the oldest is seventy years old. Everyone is taking
the opportunity to serve their fellow citizens. Entrepreneur
Lin Ching-yu and his wife even turned off their cellular phones
in order to focus on disaster relief. Upon seeing the severe
damage in Taipei, one volunteer from Tainan, who himself was
a victim of the typhoon, signed up and came north to support
the relief efforts. Another volunteer left his flooded home
for his children to clean up.
A touching moment was seen at Hsichih Catholic
Church, when 120 Tzu Chi volunteers showed up to clean the
flooded church in silence, along with the priest, nuns, and
parishioners. Eye contact was the mutual language. Everyone
hoped to quickly restore the church to its original state.
Father Lin Chia-lung stated that when the
typhoon hit, the river slowly rose over its banks and flooded
Hsichih. Situated directly next to the Keelung River, the
church could not escape the disaster. The entire first story
was flooded, and two walls in the entrance area collapsed.
After the water receded, the church was left with thirty centimeters
[12 inches] of mud on the floor. It was the Tzu Chi volunteers
who provided prompt assistance that enabled the church's speedy
recovery.
Chen Sheng-hsiung, the current director
of volunteer efforts in Juifang County, stated that during
the typhoon, his home in Sanchung was also flooded with over
a hundred centimeters [40 inches] of water; however, the flood
passed through quickly. After doing some preliminary cleanup
at home, he came straight to help with Tzu Chi's relief efforts.
In the past few days, he has gone from Keelung and Juifang
to Shuanghsi, and he is still moving forward to assist residents.
Realizing how lucky he was compared to many of the victims,
Chen works even more diligently to help others rebuild their
homes.
Since the typhoon, Tzu Chi has already
provided over 500,000 hot meals for disaster victims. We hope
that those who were not victimized in this catastrophe can
help their neighbors recover and let Taiwan resume its daily
life.
