After a long night of being battered by a major typhoon, weary Taimali villagers emerged from their bruised homes in the morning to survey the damage. What they saw was like scenes from a war zone. Through rain, sweat, and tears, they began to sweep up the debris. With the toughness and tenacity of farmers, they began to restore their homes.
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Villagers and Tzu Chi volunteers clean up in Xianglan Village. Photo by Yang Shun-bin |
Typhoon Nepartak left Taiwan on the afternoon of July 8, 2016, but not before inflicting severe damage on properties and crops in Taitung County. After the storm had moved on, Tzu Chi volunteers rushed into action to help victims.
According to Tzu Chi’s aid plan, volunteers would visit the homes of survivors and give NT$10,000 (US$310) to each family whose home had been damaged. If the home had been seriously damaged, the foundation would provide NT$20,000. If a family was just too poor to recover without help, volunteers would give out NT$30,000 and schedule follow-up visits to help these families get back on their feet.
This plan, however, was not as easy to implement as it sounds. There were not quite 300 Tzu Chi volunteers in Taitung, and many of them were themselves typhoon victims. How could they visit the large number of affected families in a short time and deliver timely aid?
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Inside the Taitung Tzu Chi branch office, volunteers map out routes of home visits. Photo by Huang Xiao-zhe |
Taitung volunteer Yang Ting-yuan (楊廷元), the head of the Tzu Chi relief project, pointed out that they were short-handed the first day after the typhoon, so volunteers in the county limited their home visits to those located within their usual areas of care. They visited over 300 families amidst rain and wind on that first day.
The next day, more than 300 volunteers arrived from outside of Taitung to help. They included volunteers experienced in home visits and social workers employed by Tzu Chi. With this infusion of manpower, the project shifted into high gear.
Time was of the essence. Volunteers were divided into teams of four or five people, each person performing a specific but different function in the group. This ensured that the project could progress with maximum efficiency. Each team had at least one local volunteer to help the team navigate the streets and alleyways. Once they arrived at a family home, team members recorded the damage, handed over emergency cash, and so on.
From July 9 to 17, Tzu Chi volunteers and social workers from all over Taiwan worked 2,500 shifts and knocked on more than 9,000 doors. Not all attempts at home visits were fruitful because some doors were not answered and some families declined the visits. Even so, volunteers were admitted into 5,400 homes, gave out gift packets to 4,600 families, and distributed emergency cash to 2,600 families. They covered areas including Taitung City, Taimali, Beinan, and Luye.
Tzu Chi also organized cleanups to help clear damage and debris. That project logged 2,077 shifts, with 1,717 cash gifts given out to participants.
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An old man bursts into tears as he thinks of his hospitalized wife and the damage that Typhoon Nepartak inflicted on his home. Photo by Huang Xiao-Zhe
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