Like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Nantou became a rallying cry for the human spirit. Volunteers and resources flocked to the region from throughout the island. The group I work with had a volunteer team in Taipei that flew into action. After mistakenly arriving in a small village outside of the main town, the team’s leaders connected with the village leaders and a lasting relationship started. Every other weekend for six years, a team of volunteers took the 4-hour bus ride from Taipei City to work on reconstructing the village.Over time the village put brick on brick and eventually the old farming community began to look more modern. The team had to keep lively, quickly switching their role from house builders to community bridge-builders. In the fall-out of the event, families and old friends bickered over the new direction of the village. The volunteers used the skills and heart of a long tradition of trust-building work to bring the estranged parties together. Together, their efforts have built a new village.
We met some of the original group that helped with the recovery; a strong team of volunteers and villagers. I enjoyed hearing the stories of how people respond to moments of crisis. Fortunately, these weren’t only the heartwarming tales of service and selflessness, but the real stories of power-struggles and politics that arose when the money started showing up.I heard a couple stories that emerged from the rubble.
First, the story of how one family welcomed my friend Oufang without a second thought. When she showed up in their village by mistake, their was good reason to raise suspicion. But instead of going through a strenuous and suspicious trust-building process, they saw purity in her spirit. They immediately opened up their house to her and she spent many days working out of their spare bedroom to organize community efforts and volunteer work. Frequently, they cooked meals for her and her entire volunteer team. 10 years later, she still gets invited back as family.
Second, the story of how crisis presents a great opportunity for change. While the village underwent a physical change, we met a young man who transformed at a personal and spiritual level. Just 14 when the earthquake occurred, he had already created a reputation for himself as the chief rabble-rouser in the village. His parents had reached wits end with him. But in the aftermath of the catastrophe, a new spirit emerged. He told me that the need became so obvious that he realized he could use his misguided energy to provide new direction for his village. Now Chang Zheng is an important community organizer, an already successful businessman and an emerging photographer. He’s coordinating a 10-year memorial that will be celebrated in the September.
Today, new struggles face the community. In the shade of the sprawling betel nut plantations, times are good for the farmers economically. The natural stimulant in the betel nuts provides them with ample income, even as these plantation make the soil increasingly vulnerable to mudslide should the earth shake again. But now the scourge isn’t the disrepair of the buildings, but alcoholism. Our afternoon meeting with one man felt quite different when we met him in the evening after his daily drink. Oufang told me alcoholism would continue to afflict the village until villagers sensed a renewed sense of purpose. Another struggle is the loss of young people. With fewer jobs in the countryside and increasing migration to city, the youth, with bolder professional dreams than their parents, continue to ship off to Taichung and Taipei (and even abroad) to pursue their hearts’ desire.These aren’t the kind of problems that attract the aid and attention of a natural disaster, but perhaps they are as destructive and as important to address. But who will work with them – now that the crisis is complete but a steady aftershock continues?
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