| A Hole in the Roof |
| By Qiu Yu-juan Translated by Tang Yau-yang Photo by Shi Jie-min |
They repaired a big hole in the roof of an old home
A decrepit old house stands amidst a group of modern new buildings in a corner of Beitou, Taipei. It is the rented home of 80-year-old Mrs. Cai and her 50-something wheelchair-bound son, who is afflicted with diabetes. They have lived there together since Mrs. Cai’s eldest son and husband passed away within a short time of each other. The house, though old and decrepit, provided good shelter for the mother and son—that is, until a few months ago. In August 2015, Typhoon Soudelor tore a big hole in their roof. Mrs. Cai was jolted awake that night as rain and roof debris poured through the hole. Mrs. Cai’s meager income came from a national annuity for the elderly and other financial aid, which she supplemented with a little extra money from selling recyclables she collected. To make matters worse, her son was in need of more frequent medical services right around that time. After the typhoon had blown over, she quickly sought assistance from the Taipei City Government’s Department of Social Welfare and received a grant that was equivalent to about two hundred American dollars. But it was still not enough to repair the roof. Since she had no way of coming up with the full amount of money needed for the repair, the hole remained. As the old adage goes, “When it rains, it pours.” That turned out to be true in this case as well: Typhoon Dujuan ravaged Taiwan on September 28, causing even more damage to her roof. Half of her roof collapsed this time. Though never one to bother others for help, the old woman was left with no choice. She sought help from Tzu Chi volunteers who had cared for them for a long time. “After Typhoon Soudelor, I asked Mrs. Cai if we could help, but she declined,” said volunteer Lin Xiu-ying (林秀英), who has often checked on and looked after the old woman. “Mrs. Cai always tries not to bother us, and she does everything herself whenever possible,” added volunteer Wu Xue-ling (吳雪玲). “But she knew she couldn’t possibly handle the hole in the roof herself, so she turned to us for help.”
A small team of volunteers checked in on Mrs. Cai at her home on the evening following the second typhoon. Early the next day, Zhang Zhen-ming (張振銘), Yang Lian-hu (楊連戶), and Zheng Hong-fang (鄭鴻芳) visited her home again to cover the hole with a tarp, a temporary measure to keep out the rain and buy them time until proper repairs could be made. The repair team quickly held a meeting and brainstormed ideas for fixing the problem. They decided to use two teams of workers, one for roof repair and the other for ceiling reconstruction inside the house. At about eight o’clock in the morning of October 7, nine volunteers, including masons, carpenters, and interior decorators, took time off from their regular jobs, gathered at Mrs. Cai’s house, and began to repair the damage to the house. “Those old roof tiles were very fragile and broke under the slightest pressure, so we had to be very careful when we went up on the roof,” said Xie Ming-zan (謝明讃). They put concrete in small buckets, which were then relayed to Xie up on the roof. He gingerly poured it into wooden molds that the team had set up earlier. He also patched the cracks between roof tiles. He made sure that the roof would keep any rainwater from getting through to bother Mrs. Cai and her son. Carpenters Zhang Zhen-ming and Wang Mu-cheng (王木成) took care of the ceiling reconstruction. Zheng Hong-fang, a drape maker, provided a flush-mounted light to be installed on the ceiling, which really lightened up the living room. Mrs. Cai smiled as the repairs took shape. She offered to pay the volunteers for their labor of love, but they declined. Though there are competing demands for what little money she has, she has saved her pocket change every day and donated it to help the needy, such as the victims of an explosion at a water park in Bali, New Taipei City, and survivors of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. She said that she would continue to do so. With the help of a small group of loving people, another chapter in the history of a helpless old woman came to a heart-warming end. |
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