Taiwan is located on the 'Pacific Ring of Fire', the zone where most of world's earthquakes occur. The frequent earthquakes have caused widespread damage to old school buildings. In order to provide a safe environment for students in Hualien, the Tzu Chi Foundation and the county government are working together to carry out a Project of Disaster Risk Reduction for six schools. The goal of the project is to rebuild or repair buildings that have structural damage.
On February 19, a joint ground-breaking ceremony for the six schools was held in Ming Yih Elementary School. Mr. Lai Jing-Kun, the speaker of Hualien County Council, Ms. Liu Mei-Chen, the commissioner of department of education of Hualien County Government, Ms. Lin Bi-Yu, vice president of the Foundation, and many guests attended the ceremony. They all gave their best wishes to the students and staff of Ming Yih Elementary School, Chung Yuan Elementary School, Jia-Min Elementary School, Yuli Junior High School, Guo-Feng Junior High School and Huaren Junior High School.
Dharma Master Cheng Yen once said: "To have a safe learning environment for students, it is important to take preventive measures to prevent any crisis." The project to reduce the risk of disaster is not only to provide a secure school campus in a remote area of Taiwan but also to be friendly to the environment, functional and take into account local cultures.
The Tzu Chi Foundation has started Disaster Risk Reduction projects in 21 schools at Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County, Taitung County and Hualien County. In addition to building and rebuilding, Tzu Chi also provided assistance to repair over 300 lavatories in 59 schools in Hualien County. It is the goal of every Tzu Chi volunteer to provide a safe campus to nurture among students their hopes of the future.
