After resettling, melancholy
We visited the new home of Zhang Huizheng, director of the Nansalu Village Benevolence Association. His family of seven resides in a two-story, four-bedroom house with separate living and dining rooms. The layout is clean and simple and has excellent natural light. A retired policeman, he is now focused on fighting for villagers' rights. "Our fields up on the mountainsides have all been washed away; only some extremely steep slopes are left. We had no choice but to leave the mountains." Up there, agricultural harvests were shared among all families, he explains, whereas down here money has to be spent for everything, so if you don't work, you can't eat. That's the biggest difference in their lives. Originally they hoped that the government would provide every household with about 2000 square meters of land so that they could plant crops and save on expenses. But the plan fell through.
In the evening, Mrs. Zhang is barbecuing pork in the alley behind her house. The mouth-watering scent carries on the wind. Several neighbors and children sit on the steps, eating and chatting. "We Aborigines always eat this way!" She complains about only being able to find softer pork from pigs that are only "half" mountain boar. There's much that requires getting used to down here, she says. When the situation in the mountains becomes more stable in two or three years, she plans on going back.
Mrs. Zhang's adopted sister Wu Lizhu grabs hold of this reporter to explain a grievance. Originally her family had been renting a home in Minzu Village, which was washed out in the Morakot floods. The Tzu Chi Foundation told them that if they moved here, the family would able to obtain rights to live permanently in one of the homes it was constructing. They agreed to come and be reunited with their fellow villagers, but when they applied for a residence, they were turned down.
"If they had said clearly that ownership of one home would be swapped for one home, we would have made other plans." Currently, she and her husband each have taken one child and are living with friends and relatives. It's a very unfortunate situation.
Zhang Sufang is a young mother who was among the first group that moved in, arriving before the lunar new year. Apart from finding it difficult to cope with the heat in the lowlands, she is gradually getting used to life here. When asked if she likes it, she replies: "Of course I would still prefer to be up in the mountains, but it's safer here!" She says that one main consideration is the children's education, and the other is that she and her children are scared by the mere sound of rain and thunder. How could they live in the mountains? But when the weather is good, they often return to have a look at their old home and fondly recall their old lives.
In numerous interviews with refugees from Namasia Township, Taiwan Panorama heard a lot of resignation-comments such as "We had no choice but to move down here" or "We have to get used to it whether we like it or not." Many mentioned going back to their mountain homes to have a look or do some planting. Their expressions and tone of voice conveyed a sense of melancholy at being away from home.
Currently, many residents of the village are participating in workfare projects sponsored by government agencies, such as the Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Council of Labor Affairs. Work includes making security patrols, keeping the environment tidy, providing eldercare, producing handicrafts and so forth. Participants receive NT$800 per day in wages for six months. The program will end two years after the typhoon hit.
"I know that many people are pretty worried about the future," says He Ruyuan, a former resident of Minzu Village, who teaches a bead-stringing class in Great Love. There are no factories in Shanlin, so when the workfare jobs end, what will residents do? Qishan is more than 10 kilometers away, so commuting there for work-let alone to Kaohsiung, 40 minutes' drive away-will mean spending a lot on gasoline. Otherwise, families would have to put up the cash to rent a flat there.
Villagers are studying traditional handicrafts, such as woodcarving, beading and weaving. According to plans developed by the government and the Tzu Chi Foundation, tourism and cultural industries will be used to jumpstart the economy here.