GREAT LOVE ACROSS THE TAIWAN STRAITS

#Rice, heavy underwear, cotton jackets and comforters were distributed to flood victims in the counties of Sangzhi, Yongshun, Hanshou, Wangcheng and Huarong, and the city of Yiyang.

#Two Tzu Chi childcare clinics were built, one in Hanshou County and the other in Zhangjiajie.

#A Tzu Chi village was constructed in Hongshantou, Huarong County

In the summer of 1992, Hunan Province suffered the worst flooding in forty years. The number of victims ran as high as forty-one million. The victims in Yongshun and Sangzhi, the two most devastated counties in this province, would not be able to survive the winter unless they could obtain immediate relief.

In mid-December, a Tzu Chi relief team went to Yongshun and Sangzhi to distribute enough rice for five months, 166,000 sets of winter clothing (cotton jackets and thermal underwear) and 46,000 comforters to 83,000 victims. That was the first large-scale distribution that Tzu Chi had ever made on the mainland.

In order to get the winter clothing to flood survivors before the cold weather came, a garment factory in Quanjiao County, Anhui Province, mobilized 1,500 workers round the clock for production. Comforters were made in a factory in Changsha, Hunan Province. The county government in Quanjiao made an unprecedented request to military authorities to assign 55 military trucks and 160 soldiers to accomplish a mission that required driving 3,600 kilometers from Anhui to Hunan.

With the great love of the people in Anhui and the military personnel, the flood victims in Hunan got through the bleak winter with enough food and warm clothing.

In 1995, Hanshou County, located beside Dongting Lake, was flooded by constant heavy rain. Tzu Chi members went there to distribute rice, cotton jackets and comforters. In 1998, the counties of Huarong and Wangcheng also suffered severe flooding. In addition to distributing rice, Tzu Chi decided to build a Tzu Chi village of 63 two-story houses. The construction began in July 1999 and was completed in March 2000. The first floor of each beautifully designed house can also be used as a store or shop. Thus, inhabitants have nice homes and stores to earn their living.

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