Within hours of the earthquake that struck two days ago, religious and charity groups began working to provide relief to affected areas.
With dozens of shelters and goods delivery centers set up, the groups said medical equipment, water and food, as well as body bags and freezers for the dead, are still urgently needed .
They also urged people to donate material goods instead of money for immediate use in disaster areas.
PHOTO: AP
The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzuchi Association (慈濟功德會), one of Taiwan's biggest non-profit religious charity groups with four million members, began to mobilize its emergency services two hours after the temblor.
So far, the group has mobilized 20,000 people to help with rescue and recovery services. Officials said the group's leader, Dharma Master Cheng Yen, summoned the group's worldwide membership to participate. Seven service centers have been set up.
Lin Chuan-hsia (
PHOTO:AP
Tzuchi's service workers entered Chungliao village two days ago, one of the first service teams to enter the area. Tzuchi had already began to provide food and tents for survivors, while the slow work of rescuing survivors continues.
Members of the Tzuchi service team said that Shuanwen village in Chichi township, the epicenter of the quake, had still not been reached by rescue teams. According to one villager, there were probably only 200 survivors in the village, which had a population of over 1,000.
The group offered hot meals for over 120,000 people.
"Our goal for today is to provide 1,200 bags for corpses ... and the Chinese Petroleum Corp (
The group has already begun to distribute a NT$20,000 consolatory subsidy for each family with members who died in the quake and NT$5,000 for those suffering injuries.
Lin said, so far NT$80 million in cash has been given out to villagers in the disaster area.
The Buddha Light International Association (國際佛光會) has set up an emergency service center in Tsaotun in Nantou County. The group is offering 70 of their branch temples as shelters to provide free meals and accommodation for people left homeless.
The group is also planning to recruit 70 volunteers to provide long-term services in Taichung County and Nantou County for at least a month.
The ROC Red Cross in Taichung has been providing materials during the last two days ago, sending in more than 10 truck loads of goods. Tsai Pei-fen (
She said it was difficult to provide services to some villages as main roads in the disaster areas were mostly blocked.
"It is three hours to and from these villages," she said.
Tsai called upon people to donate material aid to the services center, rather than sending it directly to disaster spots.
"As Nantou is expecting rain in the next few days, we need more tents and raincoats," she said.
World Vision Taiwan currently has 12 service and rescue centers set up here and has earmarked NT$20 million for distribution to earthquake victims' families.
The group has donated US$50,000 to Taiwan disaster relief efforts and its Asia Pacific regional office has donated US$60,000.
World Vision Taiwan chairman Shao Ching-ming (
The women and children's protection group Lishing Foundation (
The group is also offering counseling programs for traumatized victims who lost family members in the killer quake.
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