Six months have passed since the April 3 earthquake that killed 18 people in eastern Taiwan, and AAR Japan (Association for Aid and Relief, Japan), in cooperation with a local partner organization, The Mustard Seed Mission (MSM; Headquarters: Taipei), has been distributing emergency supplies, repairing damaged houses in mountainous areas, and providing livelihood support through “Cash for Work” program to tourism-related workers whose income has been cut off.

The area around Hualien Station, where the earthquake struck, appears to have regained some of its liveliness with the presence of domestic tourists, but many stores in the city are still closed, and some buildings are still in disrepair. The Nine-story “Uranus Building” in the center of the city, which suffered the most damage, was demolished immediately after the earthquake and the land has now been cleared.

While the government is clearing away the rubble and rebuilding the buildings with major damage, the houses of indigenous people living in the mountainous areas have not been able to receive assistance. A man (82) who is Ami tribe living with his wife in Shuilian Village, Shufeng Township, County, had his house damaged in several places and there were landslides around his house, but he could not receive any assistance because the extent of the damage was not up to government standards.

MSM, on behalf of the government, installed a water tank and repaired cracks inside the house and the handrail on the second floor balcony that had collapsed. The man said anxiously, “I was at a loss at first with so much broken down in the house that I couldn’t deal with it by myself. Fortunately, MSM helped us with the repairs, but I don’t know what we should do if another earthquake like this happens again.”

After experiencing two major earthquakes in Taiwan, one in 1999 and the other this year, the government is now concerned about earthquake preparedness in large cities like Taipei. Mr. Jeffrey Li, CEO of MSM said, “We would also like to cooperate with organizations like AAR who has expertise in disaster response in Japan to expand our international activities.”

MSM has distributed cash and supplies to 111 households, accommodated 77 people in their residential facility used as a shelter so far. They also have repaired 56 damaged houses, and provided employment opportunities to 38 people who lost their jobs due to the earthquake. AAR plans to repair damaged houses in isolated mountain villages, together with MSM.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to your support for AAR’s assistance for the Eastern Taiwan Earthquake.