First day of school without uniforms,
schoolbags and textbooks

While many children in Taiwan were reluctant to end summer vacation, the students of Laiji Primary School were eager to return to school and reunite with their friends.

Before the end of the summer vacation, Typhoon Morakot ravaged Laiji Village of Alishan Township, Chiayi County. This small school had 29 students last semester, of which seven have been forced to leave the village and transferred to other schools because of the typhoon.

The remaining 22 students are continuing at Laiji Primary School, but had to return without uniforms, schoolbags and textbooks.

On the first day of school, these students helped their teachers clean the campus that still lacked access to water and electricity. At the close of the day, a teacher apologized to the students, "We hope we will restore the campus soon, so your studies will not be affected."

In another village of Alishan Township, Xiao-Yo is attending Daban Primary School. With water and electricity supplies cut off and roads still damaged, it takes him 30-40 minutes by motorcycle and a muddy walk to go to school. It used to be just an easy 10-minute trip.

After school, Xiao-Yo has to finish his homework before sunset or he will have to do it by candlelight.

Before the typhoon struck, many affected families already struggled to make ends meet. Now under the financial pressure of rebuilding homes, parents are further burdened by school tuition.

World Vision will continue to support these families through Child Sponsorship in the affected areas and tuition aid programs.

On the day when Xiao-Yo received the tuition aid for the new semester, his single and unemployed mother showed her first smile in two weeks. She said, "I was so desperate. This tuition aid is helpful now that I don't have to borrow money to pay my son's tuition."

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