wfn.org | Rebuilding still at a snail’s pace 10 months after Typhoon Morakot

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

>      Taiwan Church News

>3042 Edition

>June 14~June 20, 2010

Rebuilding still at a snail’s pace 10 months after Typhoon  Morakot

Reported by Sam Lee, Chiou Kuo-rong, Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

Ever since Typhoon Morakot devastated Aborigine townships and set  in motion 
massive

rescue and rebuilding efforts, Rukai Aborigines living in Pingtung  have 
repeatedly

emphasized rebuilding projects must respect the wishes and  traditions of 
Aborigines.

After much effort, PCT, Seventh Day Adventist, Methodist, and  Catholic 
churches finally

secured government permission to build permanent housing units  that would be 
tailored to the

>needs and desires of Aborigines.

A few days ago, government officials agreed to let PCT be in  charge of initial 
preparations

toward building 15 permanent housing units for Rukai Aborigines.  This 
breakthrough is no

small feat for PCT, said PCT Indigenous Ministry Committee  Secretary Omi 
Wilang. Rukai

Aborigines have always wanted Christian organizations such as PCT,  World 
Vision, and Red

>Cross to help them build their new homes.

After various attempts at communicating with government officials,  including 
Morakot Post-

Disaster Reconstruction Council Deputy CEO Dr. Chern Jenn-Chuan  and Pingtung 
County

Deputy Magistrate Chung Chia-pin, responsibility for overseeing  the first 
phase of this project

was finally handed over to PCT, which will work hand in hand with  Red Cross 
and World

>Vision.

According to Rukai Presbytery General Secretary Rev. Pelenge, many  Aborigines 
have taken

part in rebuilding efforts during the past few months. The  presbytery hopes 
that many pastors

will continue to minister to these Aborigines and lead them in  prayer at the 
beginning of every

>work day when construction begins.

A few Aborigines commented that when they were working at other  permanent 
housing sites

managed by Buddhist Compassion Relief Foundation, they had to  attend morning 
classes

and sing Buddhist songs, which made them feel very uncomfortable.  However, 
they also

worried that they’d lose their jobs if they didn’t  comply with such demands 
and resignedly sang

>along.

One Compassion Relief official who is overseeing reconstruction  projects in 
Da-Ai

Community in Sanlin, Kaohsiung County, replied that his  organization respects 
every person’s

religious affiliation and incidents such as this one wouldn’t  become an issue 
again.

Forum evaluating past 10 months gives failing grade

In Taipei, public policy and social service organizations  concerned about 
Aborigines held a

symposium on June 10 focusing on the rights of Aborigine  reservations to 
determine their own

future. The symposium held at National Taiwan Normal University  discussed in 
detail the

struggles of Aborigines living in Pingtung throughout the past 10  months of 
rebuilding.

Guest speakers and participants decried reconstruction policies  that had 
ignored opinions

and feedbacks from Aborigines and pointed out that the Council of  Indigenous 
Peoples had

become a mere rubber stamp for the Morakot Post-Disaster  Reconstruction 
Council. As both

councils are government agencies under the Executive Yuan, their  objectivity 
has been

>questioned.

As it turned out, cooperation between these public agencies  culminated in a 
government

project called “permanent housing units” which so far  has only furthered 
emotional stress and

pain among Aborigines already struggling from the devastation  inflicted by 
Typhoon Morakot.

According to analysts, Aborigines’ plight intensified as they  realized their 
dilemma. Some

couldn’t leave their ancestral homes behind, others  discovered their 
reservations didn’t meet

the government criteria for assisted relocation, and still others  barely had 
enough resources to

rebuild their damaged old homes. In the end, Aborigines were in  dire 
circumstances

regardless of whether they chose to stay, move on, or rebuild.

According to Paiwan Presbytery General Secretary, Rev. Kao  Tien-hui, 
Aborigines still living

in reservations damaged by the typhoon are frustrated at the  snail’s pace in 
which government

reconstruction efforts are advancing.  Hence, reaching out to  typhoon victims 
is an important

part of the whole reconstruction process for PCT churches.

According to a report issued by Morakot Post-Disaster  Reconstruction Council on

applications for permanent housing units, there were 1,364  applications as of 
May 31, but only

>831 had been approved at the time.

When this report was distributed during the symposium, one  delegate 
representing an

Aborigine foundation pointed out that the gap between these  numbers merely 
intensified

Aborigines’ anger against the government.

Aborigines were outraged at the government for flouting  accomplishments when 
progress had

actually been unreasonably slow and contracts had been  deliberately given to 
Buddhist

organizations keen on distancing Aborigines from one another and  moving 
Aborigines away

>from their religious and cultural roots.

More setbacks reported as typhoon season nears

In related news, a few townships in Kaohsiung County devastated by  Typhoon 
Morakot such

as Namasiya and Taoyuan temporarily lost contact with the rest of  the country 
when torrential

rains at the end of May destroyed roads leading up to these towns.

At one point, more than 5 villages grappled with food shortages  when residents 
were unable

to head out to replenish food supplies. In response to this  crisis, PCT 
General Assembly,

South Bunun Presbytery, and Gabriel Internet Center teamed up to  send supplies 
to these townships.

South Bunun Reconstruction Center’s supervisor, Rev. Chu  Mei-fang, said she 
was worried

torrential rains in the past few days might destroy more roads and  prevent 
Aborigine

reservations from replenishing food supplies. She urged Christians  to help and 
pray for Aborigine villages.

Chu added that a makeshift road that had been built by a riverbed  in the 
aftermath of Typhoon

Morakot was destroyed by heavy rain at the end of May. With that  road now 
gone, the farthest

volunteers can go is a few reservations in Chinhe Village, Taoyuan  Township.

Using four-wheel drive vehicles, a team of volunteers from South  Bunun 
Presbytery and

Gabriel Center have ventured into a few reservations there to send  160 bags of 
white rice,

noodles, and canned food, as well as some meat and fresh produce.

“But it’s still very dangerous,” said Chu, who  accompanied these volunteers to 
deliver

supplies, “Some roads are too difficult even for sturdy  vehicles.”

For past coverage on post-Morakot rebuilding efforts, go to  
http://enews.pctpress.org/

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