For the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who helped out after Typhoon Morakot devastated parts of the country in August, volunteer work was an unforgettable experience.
Landslides and flooding triggered by the typhoon caused the most severe disaster since the 921 Earthquake 10 years ago, leaving more than 640 people dead and 66 missing, the latest numbers by the Central Emergency Operation Center showed two weeks ago.
While there is no official tally of how many people volunteered in relief work, results of a survey by the non-governmental research group Taiwan Thinktank showed that 3.9 percent of Taiwan’s population above the age of 20 — roughly 400,000 people — contributed to cleaning up disaster areas, deliver ng food and necessities, and helping out at shelters or by sorting donated items.
Liao Wei-cheng (廖偉程), along with two friends, joined more than 50 volunteers organized by Tsou Aborigines to carry canned food, rice, noodles, water, diesel and other necessities into the Alishan (阿里山) region in Chiayi.
While the typhoon did not cause many casualties in the Alishan area, it damaged all the roads — including the Alishan Forest Railroad — and left mountain villages isolated.
Although he is an amateur mountain hiker and a licensed class-B rock climbing instructor, Liao said the trip was harder than he had expected.
“Yet, it was rewarding at the same time,” he said.
Carrying a 20kg backpack, Liao and other volunteers hiked up and down mostly unpaved or collapsed roads.
When crossing rivers with collapsed bridges, “we just had to go down to the bottom of the valley, cross the river by foot, and go up again,” he said.
“The scariest part was when we had to cross a river of about 100m via ropeway,” he said.
Since the ropeway could only hold one person at a time, they had to wait more than an hour before crossing. Some suffered heat stroke while waiting in the midday sun.
“When I was on the ropeway, I looked toward sky and away from the river. My butt must have been less than 30cm from the water. I could feel the water raging underneath,” Liao said. “It only took about 30 seconds, but it felt much longer — it was the most frightening 30 seconds of my life.”
After five hours of hiking, the volunteers finally arrived 200m from Chashan Village (茶山), Alishan Township. But what awaited them was a steep slope, and it began to sprinkle.
“As soon as we reached the village, the sprinkling turned into pouring rain,” he said. “After five hours of hiking, I felt a sense of relief and achievement when I stood inside a house, watching the rain.”
Liao said he only saw smiles on the villagers’ faces and didn’t hear any complaints, just welcome and gratitude.
“Seeing how they managed to live normal lives and remained hopeful despite being stranded, I think I learned a new attitude,” he said. “I should be more satisfied with my life and be as hopeful when running into challenges.”
Liao said he especially admired the young Tsou Aborigines, who took the initiative to organize volunteer teams to help their communities instead of waiting for help.
“I didn’t see anyone from the government or the military along the way — everything depended on the power of the people,” he said.
Government intervention is not always a good thing, as the Kaohsiung-based wedding photographer Joe Yang (楊欣樵) experienced when he helped clean flooded homes in Pingtung City.
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