GREAT LOVE ACROSS THE TAIWAN STRAITS

#Food, clothing and comforters were provided for flood victims in the five counties of Jinjing, Pingshan, Zanhuang, Linchen and Wuchan. Jiehshan Tzu Chi Secondary School was built in Jinjing County, Tongkao Tzu Chi Elementary School in Zanhuang County, Ruanshui Tzu Chi Elementary School and Tuan Tzu Chi Elementary School in Pingshan County.

#Education subsidies were provided to students in Changchiako. New villages for typhoon victims were constructed.

In the summer of 1996, Typhoon Herb ravaged both sides of the Taiwan Straits, causing the worst casualties and losses in thirty years. In addition to providing emergency assistance to victims in Taiwan and helping in post-disaster construction work, Tzu Chi also extended a helping hand to the mainland Chinese people across the Straits. The foundation sent a fact-finding team to seriously affected disaster areas in Hebei Province, to assess the damage and the needs.

The hardest-hit areas in Hebei Province were mostly located in impoverished farming villages. Countless tracts of fertile farmland were covered with stones and gravel. It was estimated that it would take three to five years for the lives of local people to reach the standard they used to have. Abiding by the principle of respect for all life and timely assistance to the needy, Tzu Chi sent relief teams to five counties-Jinjing, Pingshan, Zanhuang, Linchen, Wuchan-to distribute flour, quilted coats and comforters to more than 19,000 victims. It was the first time that Tzu Chi relief teams had gone to five counties in a province at the same time to deliver relief items.

"We will always remember the timely assistance you gave us," a local official said. "With your encouragement, we will work harder to rebuild our homes so as not to disappoint the Taiwanese people who had given us so much love. It must have been hard for you to come all the way here to see us." Cheering words and a cordial response from survivors warmed the hearts of Tzu Chi volunteers and supported them along the way. The foundation hoped that by providing relief materials to needy areas, they could help minimize the victims’ most urgent needs and soothe the pain caused by natural disasters.

Because houses in the city of Changjiako had been seriously damaged in the typhoon, Tzu Chi decided to build new villages for survivors there. In 1996, the new buildings were completed and turned over to the victims. In order to help students in the disaster areas get back to school, the foundation not only provided them subsidies, it also helped construct Jieshan Tzu Chi High School in Jinjing County. The school, completed and inaugurated in October 1999, breathed new life into education in Jinjing County.

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