Imagine waking up one day to find that ofyour ten neighbors only two remain.

On October 8,2009, Flood 88 ravaged Taitung, drenching the land and washing away many of thehouses of Tai Ma Li township. St. Mary’s Hospital was immediately on the scene,providing aid and relief to disaster survivors. However, we soon realised thatthere is a great difference between simply rebuilding houses and rebuildinghomes. To rebuild a house, you have to set some foundation and lay some bricks,but to rebuild a home and the lives which once filled it, requires much more.

Half a year afterFlood 88, the Yeh family decided to provide their home to St. Mary’s Hospitalto use –not only for the physical needs of disaster victims, but also forspiritual support. Filled with emotion the eldest sister of the family,Shuang-Tao said, “I originally thought that we were just providing our yard forthe hospital to use, but I didn’t realise that they would go to such greatlengths to make the project perfect. This is the place where we grew up and inmy heart it’s still hard to let go. But if you experience the love of God, thenyou will be willing to give up everything.”

Now the Yeh familyhome has become a home for the entire community. Three times a week, hospitalemployees come to Jialan Health Center to teach dance, singing, aromatherapymassage and provide company to aboriginal elders and the victims of Flood 88.Through small acts of kindness, the events at Jialan Health Center encouragethose from which everything was so heartlessly taken during Flood 88 to love,cherish and take care of each other.