Their homes used to be fragile assemblages of branches, plastic sheets, and cardboard. Nineteen months after the earthquake, they moved into the solidly built Tzu Chi Village. Inside the village are a clinic, school, community center, soccer field, and playground--l things they dared not dream of in the past.

I revisited El Salvador a year and a half after the earthquake struck. The first time I came with a grave heart, but this time my heart was full of blessings.

In January 2001, two earthquakes measuring 7.6 and 6.6 on the Richter's scale hit El Salvador, killing 1,200 people and destroying 220,000 houses. One fifth of the population, totaling 1.2 million people, were made homeless.

Most of the affected regions were in remote villages surrounding San Salvador, the capital. Even before the 2001 earthquake devastated them, the majority of the victims were already living a hard life. In 1986 a major earthquake ruined many homes, and the protracted reconstruction forced many to live in shacks. Then in 1988, Hurricane Mitch swept across the nation. The two mega-earthquakes that struck in 2001 were to the impoverished people like fuel added to the fire.

Tzu Chi dispatched volunteers five times to carry out free clinics and relief distributions. In sum, 20,730 people received a month's relief supplies, and 3,900 people obtained medical care. Furthermore, Tzu Chi built Great Love villages in Sacacoyo and Chanmico.

All residents of the Great Love villages were destitute people. They had lived in illegal shacks situated on unstable mountain slopes or next to railroad tracks. Their so-called "homes" were assembled from building materials such as branches, plastic sheets, or cardboard. How could such houses, which leaked in the rain and lost their roofs in gales, stand up to the earthquakes?

In order to give these displaced victims real homes, Tzu Chi built two villages: Tzu Chi Village One in Sacacoyo with 340 houses, and Tzu Chi Village Two in Chanmico encompassing 910 houses. All homes, thirty-six square meters [389 sq ft] in area, have two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen. Made of cinder blocks, cement, or steel, they are safe shelters. The two villages are equipped with clinics, schools, community centers, soccer fields, parks, playgrounds, and wastewater-processing stations.

The residents of Tzu Chi villages own titles to their houses, so for the first time in their lives they can proudly tell others, "This is MY home."

Thriving vitality in new communities

Tzu Chi Villages One and Two are situated in the arms of rolling hills. As I looked around, I saw field after field of coffee plantations.

In the past, villagers woke up at two in the morning to harvest coffee. Groping in darkness, they walked for five hours to the coffee plantations and worked for eight hours. By the time they reached home, it would already be nine at night. These nineteen hours only brought them a daily income of US$3.

The excess production of coffee drove down the commodity's export price. Because the revenue from exports could no longer pay the workers' wages, many plantation owners stopped harvesting--is year was the third year. Many villagers, put out of work, could not find other means to sustain themselves. After the earthquake, the exacerbating unemployment problem pushed some people to commit suicide. Volunteer Tsai Chang-chuan said that in the Tzu Chi villages over 80 percent of the residents had no steady employment.

In order to forever remember the day the tremor struck, the Salvadoran government renamed January Thirteenth Street, the main street of Tzu Chi Village One, as Tzu Chi Boulevard.

Miguel, 42, lost his father when he was little. He and his mother had lived in a shanty made of mud and bamboo stalks. After the earthquake, they continued to live in the partially collapsed shack. Fortunately when the government was about to tear down their shelter, Tzu Chi gave them a home.

Miguel said he would have left his hometown to find a job if he had the money. But as a permanent resident in the Tzu Chi village, he no longer wanted to leave. He believed that a few odd jobs should provide for the family's basic living expenses.

Miguel's mother, wife, uncle, and cousins sat in front of his house, enjoying the breeze. His 67-year-old mother said in Spanish, "You Tzu Chi volunteers are angels sent by heaven."

Tzu Chi volunteers have often visited Sacacoyo and Chanmico to provide relief distributions, free clinics, and housing construction since the earthquake struck one and a half years ago. The villagers were therefore well acquainted with Tzu Chi volunteers' blue-and-white uniforms. Although the villagers did not know me, they recognized the uniform I was wearing. At that moment, I was very proud to be a part of Tzu Chi.

The construction of the Tzu Chi village in Sacacoyo was completed. The village has a community center, soccer field, clinic, and school. Tzu Chi truly built the earthquake survivors not only houses, but a whole town. With homes they could call their own, residents started to work for a brighter future. Vitality filled the village.

The day was blazing hot. I saw some villagers selling Popsicles in cardboard boxes lined with Styrofoam; some put stools outside their houses and ran barbershops; and some turned their homes into grocery stores.

Now and then, a person holding a basket of corn would walk next door to borrow a neighbor's blender. When mixed with gypsum and water, the corn powder became an ingredient for tortillas. I was told that grinding a small basket of corn brought them 60 centavos (US$0.07).

The locals' skill in baking tortillas was amazing. They could knead the dough into the same thickness, shape, and size without the aid of any equipment. Three tortillas were sold for 1 colon (US$0.11). According to the villagers, when business was good they could earn around 40 colons.

The villagers lived easily contented lives. All they asked for were a home and food to sustain them. No money? No problem, they would find a way to provide for themselves. Vitality and potential were thriving in the Tzu Chi villages.

A girl holding a basket of homemade tortillas on her head walked past us. Her name was Lissette. The nine-year-old first grader was selling tortillas made by her mother from door to door. We went home with her and met her mother, Maria.

Maria was twenty-four years old. Originally from the northern region, she moved to Ateo, near Sacacoyo, after she was married. "My life was simply horrible..." Maria was unwilling to speak more about her past. Probably the new home had rekindled her hope in life, so the future was the most important issue to her.

Villagers build their homes

El Salvador's 12-year-long civil war (1980-992) wounded and killed many of its young men. Today the nation's ratio of male and female is still 1:7. In Tzu Chi villages, it is not uncommon to see a mother of a single-parent family raising five to six children on her own.

Elementary education is mandatory in El Salvador. However, over 80 percent of the parents in Tzu Chi Village One are illiterate. Most children do not attend schools because their families cannot pay the 25-50 colon registration fee. Some cannot even pay for the transportation.

Daniel, 19, and Elmer, 18, work as volunteers in the Tzu Chi village, keeping vendors and cars from entering the village. Since they have had to help their families, Daniel had no chance to receive an education and Elmer only studied until grade four. They did odd jobs on farms such as weeding. But even finding a farming job was difficult, and they were worried about their future. For the time being, they are proud to serve the villagers and wear the Tzu Chi volunteer vests.

Salvadorans are talented in landscaping. Whether they live in adobe shacks or Great Love houses, they have a way of bringing greenery to their homes. The whole landscaping of Tzu Chi Village One was the result of the joint efforts of 350 local villagers. In front of each house, there is a small garden. Some residents grow flowers or vegetables, some decorate their doorsills with bricks, and some build fences with branches. Wherever a tiny space is left in a garden, the residents grow corn in it. Salvadorans have natural green thumbs.

Although all houses have electric power, many families still use candles or kerosene lamps for lighting because they cannot pay the monthly electricity bill of 75 colons. Since the residents have no money to buy furniture, their living rooms are usually empty. The only piece of furniture is a hammock attached to two sides of the room. The hammock certainly is a cool place to sleep and to stay away from crawling bugs.

El Salvador has a severe shortage of construction workers. In order to train villagers, Tzu Chi invited villagers to help with the basic construction and landscaping of Village One in Sacacoyo. Now this same group of people can utilize their acquired skills at Tzu Chi Village Two. Their new skills will also give them an edge in finding jobs.

Village Two, which is still under construction, is three times the size of Village One. If each unit houses five people, the whole village will be able to accommodate 4,000 earthquake victims.

These victims originally lived in a village 45 minutes away from here. After the earthquake, the government built them a batch of corrugated metal houses. Each unit was only 11.5 square meters [124 sq ft] in area. The accommodations were a tight squeeze, with no window, water, or electricity. With two beds and one table, moving around in the room was difficult. When it rained, the occupants would be deafened by the loud drumming on the roof, which also leaked. Because the houses were built on very open land, it seemed like each gale could tear the houses apart. No outside help came until Tzu Chi arrived.

When I walked into one of those old houses, a foul smell greeted me. The bedding was extremely dirty. All the clothes and family possessions were piled in a corner. During the day, no one stayed in the house, which was hot and full of mosquitoes and flies.

The living conditions in the metal houses were not good. However, villagers were content because their lives used to be even worse, and they waited patiently for the completion of Tzu Chi Village Two.

Over 800 villagers volunteered in the basic construction and landscaping project of Village Two. Under the hot afternoon sun, Emerson, 23, and other villagers were clearing the land. Emerson said that volunteers were put into groups, and every day a hundred people, young and old, would bring shovels and help clear the land. They were eager to see the day that Tzu Chi Village Two would stand on the land.

Activating care

The construction of the two villages amounted to millions of American dollars. Tzu Chi volunteers in the United States took to the streets to solicit funds. Realizing that every cent bore the love of the donors, Tzu Chi volunteers hoped to give the earthquake survivors not only houses to live in, but also encouragement to care for each other and the community. For example, after learning that a villager could not buy a coffin for a deceased family member, Tzu Chi volunteers asked village officers to visit villagers door to door and collect money to buy a coffin. Although the funds gathered were minimal, the mutual care the villagers showed was significant.

Salvadorans were not accustomed to cleaning up the environment. Volunteer Hou Jung-chao, a businessman from Taiwan who set up the local Tzu Chi liaison office, decided to help local residents care for their environment. He started with children. Last May, he began to invite children to a 'game' of picking up garbage. Gradually, the adults followed the children's example. Now Hou visits the village every week to promote recycling. Over time, villagers have grown accustomed to putting litter in plastic bags. A special culture of garbage recycling has begun to form.

Through the media, President Francisco Flores of El Salvador told the nation that the Tzu Chi villages were a role model for the nation's recovery. "Tzu Chi not only brings us much needed relief. It also brings to each family a message of hope, compassion, Great Love, a sense of identification, and respect. The interaction of Tzu Chi people with each family is a force that will change the world."

August 17 marked the inauguration of Tzu Chi Village One. A few days before the ceremony, villagers divided themselves into groups to sweep the streets, weed the soccer field, and wipe the windows of the clinic and school. During those few days of cleaning, a festival atmosphere filled the village.

On the morning of August 17, every family happily hung a ribbon ball in front of their house. All the villagers dressed up for the occasion--en children wore socks and shoes. A food distribution and a free clinic were carried out simultaneously. The village clinic and school were officially transferred to the local government. The head of the local health bureau said the government would station medical personnel in the clinic to serve the villagers. "This used to be sugar cane fields and ranches," said architect Hsu Hui-hsi from Seattle, tears glistening in his eyes. He had lived in El Salvador for three months in order to design Village One.

We handed out candy to children at the inauguration ceremony. Hsu Chien-hao, a member of the Tzu Chi Collegiate Association from New York, said that he had a two-year-old sister who loved candy. Every time they passed by a candy shop, she would look at him with her innocent eyes and plead, "Big brother, I want candy." Now as he handed pieces of candy to little villagers, he saw their faces beaming with smiles and thought, "What would I feel if my sister lived here?"

Children's laughter from the swings, slides, and carousels in the playground, the long queue in front of the free clinic, and villagers carrying food bags containing red beans, cooking oil, rice, sugar, and cornmeal seemed to help answer Hsu's question.

On our way back to San Salvador, the capital, we passed by Las Colinas, the worst hit region in the earthquake. One and a half years ago, Tzu Chi volunteers accompanied members of the Search and Rescue Association of the ROC to help retrieve victims buried in the landslides. Today, most of the mud and stones from the landslides have been cleared away, and cars run on the streets as if nothing had ever happened. Eighty percent of the once bare mountaintop is covered with turf. At the foot of the mountain, some remnants of the earthquake still remain. On the wall of what used to be a house is a line written in Spanish: "I shall rise again."

I do believe that villagers of the Tzu Chi Villages shall rise again.