Typhoon Morakot that ravaged southern Taiwan with flooding and landslides and many casualties. To help the disaster relief work in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot, a total number of 110 TKU teachers and students had traveled to southern Taiwan to help rebuilding schools and cleaning the typhoon-stricken environment. These efforts were done in response to a project launched by the Ministry of Education that asks college students to take part in disaster-relief.

Tamkang University has decided to help 7 elementary schools in the worst-stricken Pingtung County, recruiting students and students clubs to serve as volunteers to engage in campus reconstructions. Also, 15 students from the Graduate Institute of Educational Psychology and Counseling went to the disaster area to conduct young student counseling. Dr. Ko Chih-en, Dean of student affairs, said that Tamkang University endeavored to help victims of the disaster with the help of the university’s experience and specialties in student counseling. “We will also launch a program to subsidize TKU students from the disaster area,” Ko noted.

Meanwhile, Pingtung High-school Alumni Association has also launched similar disaster-relief project to help three elementary schools in the county. They are Jiouliao Elementary School, Taishan Elementary School and Qiangyuan Elementary School. According to the head of the Pingtung High-school Alumni Association Pan Yen-jui, a junior in the English Department, a total number of 50 members of his association went to the three above mentioned schools in Pingtung to help. Chen Hsin-yu, a second year graduate student in the department of Civil Engineering, who also took part in the schools cleaning at both Jiouliao Elementary School, Taishan Elementary School, said he believed he was doing an important thing. “I am glad that I can help my own hometown in reconstruction. When I see these victims saying ‘thank you’ to me, I feel all my hard work is well-paid,” he said. ( ~Yeh Yun-kai )