At a press conference on Tuesday, August 25, Hank Du, Executive Director of World Vision Taiwan, announced that World Vision’s Typhoon Morakot Response focuses on six major areas - emergency relief, distribution of shelter boxes, setting up Child Friendly Spaces, providing living subsides to affected people and child survivor sponsorship, constructing temporary homes, and sustainable indigenous community development. According to Mr. Du, World Vision will invest over NT$ 1.2 billion on emergency relief and rehabilitation programs for Typhoon Morakot.

Mr. Du said that most of the areas hardest hit by Typhoon Morakot were indigenous communities. World Vision has worked with those communities for over 40 years and has staff on the ground.

When Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan, many World Vision staff members were stranded in the affected areas. Their homes were destroyed, but they did not forget their responsibilities. Some of them started relief work by using pre-positioned resources to help the displaced. Some struggled to climb to high mountain to contact their offices by satellite phones to report the disastrous situation in the mountainous areas.

“We have 10,718 sponsored children in the affected areas; unfortunately eight of them died in this disaster. Some other children are injured, ” Mr. Du said.

World Vision has developed long-term rehabilitation plans to help the affected people return to a normal life as soon as possible. Mr. Du emphasized, “We have worked with aboriginal people for a long time. We understand their cultures and needs. World Vision’s housing plan is particularly suitable for them.”

World Vision plans to build temporary homes that are different from commonly used prefabricated houses. The construction materials are light, environmental friendly, and can be reused.

Different local materials such as bamboo sticks and stone slates can be adopted to build the outside walls of the World Vision homes, depending on where they are built. Moreover, the temporary homes can be easily built by untrained personnel with simple hand tools. Once the land is ready, these homes can be completed in two or three weeks.

The housing project will be implemented with a cash-for-work mechanism, so the beneficiaries can participate in the construction of their own homes.

Mr. Du added, “World Vision plans to build 1,200 temporary homes for the affected in Taitung, Pingtung, Kaohsiung and Chiayi counties.”

Wu Sheng-Chuan, a former beneficiary of World Vision from Tian Hu Tribe, participated in the press conference to share his experience of working with the organization to rebuild his house.

Mr. Wu said, “Our tribe people and I are very grateful for World Vision Taiwan. After the 921 Earthquake, Typhoon Herb, and Typhoon Aere struck our village, our homes were completely destroyed. World Vision helped us rebuild houses. Now we are no longer afraid of typhoons or earthquakes because our houses are very strong and safe. I hope all the affected can get support from World Vision Taiwan.”

In addition to home construction, children will be another focus of World Vision’s response. The relief organization will provide educational aid as well as living subsides for the affected children, and continue to set up more Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) for children.

After Typhoon Morakot caused huge devastation, World Vision Taiwan has received financial support from both individuals and corporations. A total of NT $ 57,437,407 has come from 97 corporations.

Some of those corporate donors made their appearances in the press conference and listened to World Vision Taiwan’s long-term rehabilitation plans. World Vision especially recognized the generous donations by awarding Certificates of Appreciation to the donors, including 7-ELEVEN, Dayeh Takashimaya Department Store, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Coca Cola, and the Taipei Medical University.

Besides local donors, World Vision has also received support from other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Shelter Box, a UK based charity organization, through District 3480 Rotary International, has also donated 324 relief tents to World Vision to provide temporary housing to affected families.

In the press conference, Shelter Box Response Team members, David Ray, Philip Duloy, and Keith Robins, demonstrated how to set up a tent in 10 minutes.

HsiehYen-Shen, Rotary International D3480 District Governor, said the tents would provide a convenient shelter for the affected before more stable and permanent houses are rebuilt. The affected people can stay in these tents for up to 6 months.

According to Mr. Du, World Vision’s Typhoon Morakot Response will cost NT$1.2 billion. He called on the public to continue to support the affected and pledge their contributions for the long term.

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