wfn.org | Young victims of Typhoon Morakot remembered during Universal Children’s Day

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3013 Edition

>November 23~29, 2009

Young victims of Typhoon Morakot remembered during Universal  Children’s Day

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

November 20 is Universal Children’s Day and a time to  remember the passage of the

Declaration of the Rights of the Child. On this occasion, World  Vision Taiwan urged all

Taiwanese people to do something to protect the rights of children  who lost their homes and

>families during Typhoon Morakot.

World Vision sponsored an event for children who were Morakot  victims to express their

needs and feelings in drawing. Some of the drawings will later be  available for sale on

World Vision’s website to raise funds for rebuilding efforts.  Taiwan’s First Lady Chow Mei-

ching joined some scholars and professionals at this event to  encourage young victims to

>be strong.

Hsiao-he is a ten-year-old girl from Chiayi County’s Alishan  Township. She still remembers

what it felt like to see her village submerged in water. That is  why she hopes every child can

receive all the protection he needs, regardless of what  circumstances every child may be

facing. “I hope that every kid can have a home that’s  safe,” she said.

Hsiao-hsien is from Taitung area and she is currently 12-year-old.  Typhoon Morakot took

away her home. She said she was extremely grateful for people who  helped her family build

>a new home.

Hsiao-Che is a 16-year-old boy from Taitung as well. He said he  wanted to thank everyone

for helping him continue his schooling after the typhoon struck.  He hopes that every child in

the world can enjoy the right to basic education. He then  performed a dance routine he had

learned at his school’s dancing club and shared about how   dancing had helped him cope

>with stress.

Tunghai University Department of Social Work Associate Professor  Wu Chih-jen said she’d

seen more resolve and courage among these children, as evidenced  by their drawings, than

among many adults. However, she also stressed that young children  who are typhoon

victims need even more protection and guidance from adults because  they cannot cope

>with such a loss alone.

PCT pastor and National Dong Hwa University College of Indigenous  Studies Professor

Tung Tsun-fa urged Taiwanese people to remember these children  during post-Morakot

reconstruction efforts. She said sometimes children may not  understand what adults are

discussing, but we mustn’t ignore their feelings just because  of this. Moreover, children’s

thoughts and feelings can often be detected from facial  expressions. Tung encouraged

reconstruction efforts to focus on how to build a better  environment for all of our children.

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