Letter From Taiwan

She isn't Ukrainian, but Joelian is a personal friend who lives in Taiwan. You have all heard about the recent devastating earthquake on that island country, and we include Joelian's letter below describing the situation there. The earthquake occurred on September 20th, 1999, near the center of Taiwan, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) SSW of the capital city of Taipei, at 1:47am local time. Joelian and her family were very fortunate and survived the quake (so far) without any losses. Others were not that fortunate, as hundreds of lives were lost in the rubble of toppled buidings. Joelian sends us the name and address of an organization she feels is trustworthy for any donations you may wish to make to help restore Taiwan.

A summary on the earthquake is available at this URL: http://ghtmaps01.cr.usgs.gov/taiwan/taiwan.html

I have been feeling dizzy and unnerved all the time because of the intensive aftershocks which have now exceeded 8000 times since Sept. 21. More than 10 of the aftershocks registered over 5.0 on the Richter scale. It is as if the earth was in constant movement. We can hear the buildings cracking every time there is a minor shock. The other trouble we have is frequent power disruption, resulting in traffic chaos, interrupted work, etc. I am praying every night, hoping things will return to normal soon. The earthquake really taught us how precious a normal life is.

I was deep asleep when awakened by the earthquake. No electricity. We had had a island-wide black out on July 29, and at first I thought it was just another black-out. Then the phone rang. I didn't pick up the phone because I was so sleepy. The phone rang again at 4am. I knew then it was serious. My brother called from Touliu and said that 4 buildings had tumbled after the earthquake. It was the beginning of the catastrophe. We did not have any electricity for the entire day and could only listen to the casualty reports on the radio.  When we finally had a chance to watch TV from a certain area which has power, the pictures we saw were like a living hell. I can imagine how traumatic it must be for those who lost their loved ones.  Although my family and I are all safe, I can also feel the pain.

Right now, there are so many institutions, government and civil, pleading for donations. However, I have no idea how the money will be used. Will the central government collect all the donations and use it on reconstruction projects? How will the funds be allocated to the different counties? I will wait till these issues are cleared. I haven't made any donations yet, and I don't think there is such a rush to make one; the money will just sit there for the time being. The effort is still focused on how to get the buried out of the fallen buildings and debris. However, in addition to making a donation later on, I plan to sponsor an orphan victim of the earthquake.

FYI, World Vision Taiwan is one of the major charity groups in Taiwan. I think you can trust them with your donation. I have copied from their web site for donation:

For donations from abroad
Please make your check payable to World Vision Of Taiwan and send it to following address:
World Vision Of Taiwan
No. 30, Section 3, Chung Shan North Road, 5th Floor
Taipei 104, Taiwan
R.O.C. 

You may want to remark on the check that it's for the 921 earthquake.

Regards,
Joelian

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