Shelter Box tents and temporary homes
move families forward in recovery

A guitar sits in a corner of a Shelter Box relief tent provided by World Vision. It belongs to a lively boy, Xiao-Zhe, who has just been admitted to National Taitung Senior High School. He likes to play guitar in this new private space that he and his family have waited for.

When Typhoon Morakot struck on August 8, Xiao-Zhe was only able to pack a small suitcase with few clothes, his father's medicines and the guitar before leaving his home with his parents and younger sister.

In the wake of the typhoon, the place where his house once stood is now a vacant riverbed caused by fierce mudslides. Xiao-Zhe will never be able to return home.

"The mudslides have washed away my certificates of award and graduation, as well as everything that belonged to us," said Xiao-Zhe. "It doesn't matter though, there are things that can never be washed away. The things in my head can never be washed away!"

Xiao-Zhe's family was first placed in a government-run shelter where they shared daily life with many other survivors in a crowded space. Xiao-Zhe felt sorry for his father especially, who is suffering from the final-stages of renal disease and had to sleep on the floor.

In time, World Vision provided Xiao-Zhe's family with a Shelter Box tent after assessing the family's needs. Now they have a small private space for his father to rest and the family to spend time together, for which Xiao-Zhe is very grateful.

Another child survivor Xiao-Xi has just been admitted to Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science. When she was a little child, her family benefited a great deal from World Vision and the organization's dedicated social workers. Upon entrance to the university, it was an easy decision for Xiao-Xi to choose social work for undergraduate study.

''I want to study social work to equip myself to help others," said Xiao-Xi.

As their house in Jia-Lan Village of Jinfong Township, Taitung County was destroyed by mudslides, Xiao-Xi and her family are living in a temporary shelter now.

Xiao-Xi described their previous and current housing conditions as "heaven versus hell." When hearing that World Vision will build temporary homes for the affected, she felt excited and hopeful for the future.

"With the temporary home, we will have our own house again," said Xiao-Xi. Her father has also joined the cash-for-work scheme as part of the temporary home construction project and will build their home with his own hands.

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