World Vision Taiwan will partner with The Red Cross Society of The Republic of China to help indigenous communities affected by Typhoon Morakot to rebuild. These two leading relief agencies in Taiwan will soon be determining how to coordinate and share resources to build sustainable communities that maintain the integrity of indigenous cultures.

Hank Du, Executive Director of World Vision Taiwan, has reached an agreement with Taiwan Red Cross President Chen Shih-kuei to observe the following principles:

1. World Vision Taiwan and Red Cross will collaborate to help indigenous communities affected by Typhoon Morakot to rebuild their homes and livelihood.
2. The two agencies will ensure effective coordination and openly share information to avoid duplication of work or waste of resources.
3. For hardware infrastructure reconstruction, World Vision Taiwan, based on over 40 years of experience working with indigenous communities, will be responsible for coordinating with affected communities. The communities’ voices and cultural values will be fully respected. Considerations will also be made for safety and security concerns.
4. Flexibility is required in rebuilding hardware infrastructure with emphasis on the following factors: sustainability, cultural and religious values, livelihood, child education and development, environment, disaster risk reduction, and social customs. Community participation will be incorporated in the process of reconstruction.
5. The two agencies will cooperate in software infrastructure rehabilitation. Based on identified needs, local church resources will be sought to deliver service and care. Other partners of the Typhoon Morakot Service Alliance will also be invited to help rebuild livelihoods for affected indigenous communities.

As many communities have been completely or partly destroyed by Typhoon Morakot, World Vision Taiwan announced two days ago that sustainable indigenous community development was one of the six major focuses of its rehabilitation work. Issues regarding indigenous peoples’ cultural values, employment, schooling, land management and security, as well as community-based disaster preparedness and risk reduction will all be incorporated into its rehabilitation programs.

According to Executive Director Du, World Vision has partnered with different entities in past relief and rehabilitation experiences. He believed through such alliances, more affected people will benefit and the recovery process can be completed with increased effectiveness and efficiency.

As the road to recovery is lengthy and full of challenges, Mr. Du calls on the public to continue to care for the affected people and pledge their contributions for the long term.