A Taiwan Typhoon Tale
Fr Edmund Ryden, is a member of the Chinese Province who is working in Taiwan. He tells us of the havoc caused by last autumn痴 typhoon A Taiwan Typhoon Tale
On 24th August 2004 continuous heavy rain broke out over the indigenous district which had been entrusted to the Jesuits in Taiwan since 1955. That evening and the next morning I was involved with a funeral, but the rain caused so many landslides that we couldn稚 take the coffin to the grave. In the afternoon of the 25th I returned to my own church, climbing over fallen rocks in six places, and found that the soil between the church and the concrete retaining wall by the river had completely disappeared, leaving a gaping hole. On the 26th I heard that the situation was worse in a higher village, Ch段ng Ch置an, and set off there on the 27th by walking and hitching a lift on a motorbike for part of the way. The road had completely disappeared in three sections. In and around Ch段ng Ch置an, landslides caused the death of about 20 people, whilst others were left homeless. The army was organising evacuation by helicopter.
That evening I said Mass in the church and spent the next day with our Filipino assistant, clearing the main road to help the soldiers take out the sick. However, the government ordered us all to leave so I had to get on the last helicopter too. A similar situation took place throughout the more remote districts as roads were washed away and communications cut. Two weeks later a further typhoon caused more damage, making my own church buildings partly unsafe. In response an appeal was launched. Within Taiwan we have collected over ｣15,000 sterling, largely from small contributions made by school pupils and the like. Fr General sent a sum and Jesuit Missions in London supplied ｣5,000. The money collected locally was mainly used for immediate relief as a supplement to government support. For instance, it enabled us to do emergency repairs to my church; it provided funds for those rebuilding their houses and paid weekly bus fares for children who had to spend a month as boarders in lowland schools; it paid for milk powder for young mothers and their babies. The funds from the UK and Rome are being used for longer term help.
A local indigenous Catholic has been hired to work for one year to help local people fill in forms to apply for government help (many older people are illiterate in Chinese), to help the unemployed find jobs and generally to keep track of where everyone is. This is important because, although, by now, most roads are semi-repaired, tourism has stopped, restaurants closed, even washed away, and fruit trees destroyed. There is an inevitable exodus of people. In Ch段ng Ch置an the primary school had 100 pupils, but now it has only 80, owing to the lack of employment opportunities. The pupils who have moved to the plains will also need special tuition, again supported by Jesuit Missions funds, because their overall level of education and cultural tradition is very different from that of the Han Chinese majority.
Compared to the recent tsunami, our plight is much less severe, but our experience here can help me to see that the long term depreciation of a region is something which should not be neglected. The people of Ch段ng Ch置an have asked me to thank all the readers of Jesuits and Friends who have helped us in our hour of need. Many, many thanks.
That evening I said Mass in the church and spent the next day with our Filipino assistant, clearing the main road to help the soldiers take out the sick. However, the government ordered us all to leave so I had to get on the last helicopter too. A similar situation took place throughout the more remote districts as roads were washed away and communications cut. Two weeks later a further typhoon caused more damage, making my own church buildings partly unsafe. In response an appeal was launched. Within Taiwan we have collected over ｣15,000 sterling, largely from small contributions made by school pupils and the like. Fr General sent a sum and Jesuit Missions in London supplied ｣5,000. The money collected locally was mainly used for immediate relief as a supplement to government support. For instance, it enabled us to do emergency repairs to my church; it provided funds for those rebuilding their houses and paid weekly bus fares for children who had to spend a month as boarders in lowland schools; it paid for milk powder for young mothers and their babies. The funds from the UK and Rome are being used for longer term help.
A local indigenous Catholic has been hired to work for one year to help local people fill in forms to apply for government help (many older people are illiterate in Chinese), to help the unemployed find jobs and generally to keep track of where everyone is. This is important because, although, by now, most roads are semi-repaired, tourism has stopped, restaurants closed, even washed away, and fruit trees destroyed. There is an inevitable exodus of people. In Ch段ng Ch置an the primary school had 100 pupils, but now it has only 80, owing to the lack of employment opportunities. The pupils who have moved to the plains will also need special tuition, again supported by Jesuit Missions funds, because their overall level of education and cultural tradition is very different from that of the Han Chinese majority.
Compared to the recent tsunami, our plight is much less severe, but our experience here can help me to see that the long term depreciation of a region is something which should not be neglected. The people of Ch段ng Ch置an have asked me to thank all the readers of Jesuits and Friends who have helped us in our hour of need. Many, many thanks.