On December 17, President Ma Ying-jeou and over one hundred guests joined Jalan villagers in Jinfong Township, Taitung County to celebrate the completion of fifty new homes. World Vision Taiwan and donor HTC Foundation handed a symbolic door key to village chief Jiao-Guang Lin to mark a significant milestone for Typhoon Morakot reconstruction efforts. President Ma also helped villager Jin-Shan Wu install a doorplate for his house number 112-50 and then visited Jin-Mei Lin and Jin-Xiong Zhang at their new homes to share their joy.

“I have visited Taitung County four times since Typhoon Morakot struck. Every time I passed by this construction site, I saw these houses being built and felt very touched as these houses looked like real homes,” said President Ma during his handover ceremony remarks. “Today I am here to see them be completed. I am grateful for all those who have contributed to making this happen.”

President Ma especially commended World Vision Taiwan for having respectfully incorporated the cultures and values of the indigenous people into its reconstruction work.

He said to the beneficiaries, “I can’t wait to see you move into your new homes and enjoy a new life. I also hope all the affected in different parts of Taiwan can share your joy and strength.”

Hank Du, Executive Director of World Vision Taiwan, expressed gratitude to the many donors and partners who have contributed funds, gifts-in-kind, time, and talent to help the typhoon survivors recover from their displacement.

“Thanks to the efforts of all the villagers and partners, we have seen many stories full of blessing and gratefulness happening on this piece of land,” said Du. “Recovery is more than recovering what is lost. More importantly, it’s about sharing love, peace, and hope.

” “For example, Zheng-Xing Village so generously offered its land for building houses and accepted the Jalan villagers as close neighbors, which is certainly not an easy thing to do,” Du added. “We have seen many stories just like this throughout the process of reconstruction.”

Du also cited a passage from the Bible (Psalm 84:6) to praise the exceptional resilience and courage of the Jalan villagers, “As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs.” He believed the story of bravery of Jalan villagers would be passed on to future generations.

After the ceremony, President Ma paid a surprise visit to the family of Xin-Ming Shi and gave them a set of rice bowls as a house warming present.

The Shi family told the President with great excitement, “We are so happy to have a home again!”

Shi shared with President Ma that he made some of the furniture in their new house with driftwood he collected in the wake of the typhoon. As a handmade furniture producer, Shi said each piece of furniture has a story and he intends to share his tribal stories with buyers of his furniture.

In an earlier interview, Shi’s wife Jin-Mei Lin said, “In the last three months, I was burdened with great anxiety and uncertainty. I dreamed of my old house almost every night. We can finally settle down now. However, without the support of others, we wouldn’t have received such a wonderful house. I’m so grateful to World Vision Taiwan for giving us a place called ‘home’ that is far beyond our expectation!”

Another beneficiary Jin-Xiong Zhang will soon move into No. 112-41with his family of seven. They have lived in a relative’s home since their house was swept away by mudslides triggered by the typhoon.

Earlier this week, his wife Qiu-Hui Lu complained, “The largest inconvenience was that we did not have privacy and my four children had no place to study. They had to finish their homework in school. Now my biggest hope is for my children to quickly return to normal life just like before.” As soon as she knew which their house was, she began to paint the walls in dark brown with symbols of the Paiwan Tribe.

Zhang was also a beneficiary of World Vision Taiwan’s cash-for-work scheme and took part in the construction work to build his own house.

Unlike other housing projects that focused only on physical results, World Vision Taiwan put high priority on beneficiaries’ participation and empowerment in the process of reconstruction. These unique homes were simplified in structure and required only basic training and simple hand tools to build.

Through the “Collaborative Home Building” approach of World Vision Taiwan, the houses were constructed by beneficiaries like Zhang, professional teams, military personnel, as well as volunteers from local and overseas; at the same time, various donors funded the construction work and donated bathroom and kitchen facilities, furniture, electronic appliances, lighting and bedding products.

The construction work commenced two weeks after the typhoon struck. It took four months of tireless labor to complete the houses, transforming a wasteland into a settlement now called “Jalan 88 New Community” by its new residents.

The houses sitting on a slow slope facing the Pacific Ocean were built with environmentally friendly and recyclable materials. Each of the two-storey units has a floor area of 31.4 pins or 1,130 square feet. The first floor is divided to a living room, bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom for the elderly and has a terrace at both the front and back ends of the house. The second floor is an open area for its residents to decide how to use the space. A multipurpose community and children’s center will also be built in the future.

Over one hundred donors, neighboring villagers, church leaders, military representatives, local officials, legislators, and delegates of partner organizations attended today’s ceremony to share Jalan villager’s joy and gratitude.

Though there was much to celebrate, the ceremony is only a starting point from where the affected can start rebuilding their lives and a community full of new collective memories and joy.

In addition to the first cluster of houses that have just been completed, several on-going and planned housing projects of World Vision Taiwan aim to build around 1,200 houses in Taitung, Pingtung, Kaohsiung, and Chiayi counties. An estimated of NT$1.3 billion is required to help rebuild homes, lives, and sustainable communities. Continuing support from the public is needed to ensure a successful recovery for the affected.