Ending Hunger | A Community Giving Network

The disaster prevention and relief center of The Mustard Seed Mission social workers headed into the disaster areas... on the way full of dangers...
"Crossing the dilapidated road covered with muddy mud and rocks, the road is bumpy, and you have to be careful of falling rocks at any time..." The Mustard Seed Mission relief team rushed into the disaster area with supplies, and worried about the difficulties in its post-disaster recovery work.

Typhoon Kanu made landfall in Taiwan recently. Although the Typhoon warning was lifted, the mountain tribes fell disastrous torrential rain caused by the Typhoon's peripheral circulation. The rainfall even exceeded the Morakot flood record. Landslides, rockfalls, subgrade hollowing and fractures, bridge washouts, and other serious damages caused the major roads crafted and blocked. All of a sudden, the affected people had nowhere to buy their daily necessities. Ren'ai Township, which is located in the affected area, becoming an isolated island.

The Mustard Seed Mission urgently opened the disaster preparedness food storage located in the Hongxiang Tribe in Renai Township, Nantou. The supplies shipping vans along the industrial road, passing through the barely passable lanes dug by the tribal residents themselves. All the way the social workers could see the roads covered by muddy mud and rocks which almost reached their knee height. When looking back at the roads they just drove through, they even found the rain had hollowed out the roads.

When the team finally arrived in Duda Village, Renai Township, which was hit hard by the disasters, they immediately provided clean water and daily necessities to affected people and worked together with youths, volunteers, and villagers to distribute the supplies. The team divided up the other supplies to villagers by car or locomotives, many residents finally felt peaceful. 

An 8-year-old little girl ran forward to the supplies delivery team and left with only two bags of baby diapers. After interviewing the little girl, the social worker knew her father was working out of town, and only she, her mother, and her little baby sister were at home. The whole family was unable to buy diapers by the time they encountered the disaster. Fortunately, they could have brand-new diapers for the little baby during the difficulties because the relief team provided supplies immediately.

The relief team walked along the tiny small road into the tribe, there were towering mounds everywhere waiting to be cleared in front of each house. The social workers visited children's families receiving our children sponsorship program. When the trapped villagers saw the social workers were still delivering support under the terrible circumstances, one villager was moving, “Thank you for being here with us!” She said with tears because she was strangled with insomnia for several days and there was no clean water to drink. Now, there are instant supplies to tide over the difficulties.

It is still raining in Nantou, and the relief team keeps providing assistance to the affected areas. At the same time, Renai Township has kept receiving information such as "Where is another landslide and landslide, where the roadbed is hollowed out and the road is closed..."

We hope to have more support from companies and people who care about Taiwan to help us carry on the current relief work or the post-disaster recovery and reconstruction work in the future. Especially when the disaster preparedness storages have opened and the supplies have been distributed, we will need to refill them ASAP in order to quickly respond to unpredictable disasters.