Weeks after the quake, a village remains cut off

Nestled high in the mountains of Nantou County, Fachih village (法治村), home to 500 Bunun Aboriginals, is the only place in central Taiwan still cut off from the outside world after the 921 earthquake.

And residents, who trek in supplies on foot everyday, have so far only seen aid from a performing arts group that sympathizes with their cause.

"No level of government has had any contact with us, and no officials have given us assistance except members of the U Theater (優1/4@3?/CHINESE>)," said Kao Ming-chung (高明忠), a 38-year-old father of seven.

For now, Kao's grandmother and others stay in nearby Puli Township in a temporary shelter built with funds from the Theater.

Between 70 and 100 Fachih residents live in the traditional Aboriginal shelter -- just over a meter tall and made of wood and canvas -- located in the village square in front of the Lingying Mountain Temple (靈隱?s|x) in Puli.

Mostly the elderly and children from the village live in this shelter while Kao leads a drive for outside help from both the government and private groups.

"In the three weeks since the 921 earthquake, our village has had no power. Young people [from the village] have to spend three to six hours and cross mountains and rivers to get to Puli Township every day," said village chief Ko Chi-yung (柯|N勇).

Over 30 Fachih residents make supply trips everyday. They used to cross the Tsuoshui River (濁?艩?/CHINESE>), a route which was shorter than climbing over the mountain, but heavy rains have made the river too dangerous.

"We carry 20 to 30 kg of necessities each while crossing the river. It is extremely exhausting after all this time," said Kao.

Even worse, however, is that medical equipment is in critical shortage. On Tuesday, Kao was forced to carry his son for four hours out of the village to see a doctor.

The U Theater, well-known for its signature piece "The Sacred Drum," (優?H神1? says it is devoted to helping Taiwan's Aboriginal tribes.

"We found that the Nantou County Government was too busy to help underprivileged groups, especially Aboriginals. So we, as a member of their cultural circle, are willing to solve problems for those who are easily ignored by the government," said Lin Yi-ching (林益慶), a member of the performing group.

Now that the temporary shelter has been built, Fachih residents can stay together.

"We were originally supposed to camp at Hongjen Elementary School (宏?秣??) -- the biggest temporary victim center in Puli -- with 2,000 other residents. But there, we felt lonely and anxious because we could not contact friends or relatives," said Chen Shui-hua (3?籅?/CHINESE>), a 60-year-old woman who said she had never left Fachih before the quake.

"Now my children and relatives can take care of each other, and that makes me feel much more at ease," Chen added.

Living conditions in their own shelter, they said, are better than on a school athletic field, where they would be plagued by mosquitoes and hygiene problems.

"We hope that we can apply for official temporary shelters. But the problem is that the government only built 200 household shelters for all the Aboriginals in Jenyi Township," Ko said.

"And according to Nantou County regulations for applying for shelters, Aboriginals whose household registrations are not in Puli are way down the priority list," Ko stressed.