This
is the first of a number of posts which will be describing Rangi Association's
typhoon relief trip to 清泉, from July 20-21.
A few
days before making the trip, I had been in touch with several of the families I
knew in 清泉, or
one of the nearby villages, such as 白蘭, checking on them to see if they were ok, and asking if there
was anything in particular we could bring. A number of the kids replied to my
Facebook messages; 王林, 詹欣, 羽喬, and 芷晴 all
told me their families were ok, having moved down the mountain to the nearby
towns of 竹東, and 竹北,
either before or after the typhoon. Peggy Gao, one of the mothers with a little
boy attending school in 清泉 (and who attends the Presbyterian church in 清泉),
told me she and her family lived in 雪霸, close to 清泉, and had recently been evacuated by helicopter to Zhubei. One
of the mothers in Bailan (also with children attending school in 清泉),
told me her family were ok there, though the power was still cutting out
intermittently.
前往清泉前幾天，我和幾戶我認識的人家聯絡，他們有些住在清泉，有些住在鄰近的村落，像是白蘭部落。我想確定他們是否安然無恙，也順便問他們需不需要我們帶什麼上去。幾個孩子回了我的臉書訊息，王林、詹欣、羽喬和芷晴都說家裡沒事，因為家人已經在颱風前後下山避難，暫時待在竹東和竹北附近的鎮上。Peggy
Gao 的小男孩在清泉上小學（他也會去清泉的長老教會），她說她家住在雪霸，就在清泉附近，他們剛被直升機救下來，載到竹北。另一個白蘭部落的媽媽（她的小孩也在清泉上小學）跟我說他們沒事，只是家裡還在停電。
I was
concerned for the family of 珍萍 and her husband, who had posted photos of the house they had to
evacuate, as it was flooded with mud and water, damaging furniture and
appliances, and ruining clothes. 芷晴, the oldest of the four daughters in the family, told me they
had moved down to stay with relatives in 竹東. When
I asked if they needed anything we could bring up, she told me that they had
picked up some diapers and milk formula from an airdrop in 清泉 but
their baby couldn't digest the formula and they still needed more diapers. They
also desperately needed clothes for the three older girls, who had little more
than a single change of clothing each.
我很擔心珍萍一家人，她放了幾張家裡被土石淹沒的照片，傢俱、家電用品和衣服都毀了。芷晴，他們家四個女兒最大的一個，說他們全家搬到竹東的親戚家住。我問他們需不需要什麼，珍萍說他們在清泉撿了一些直升機空投下來的尿布和奶粉，但小寶寶沒辦法消化這種奶粉，尿布也快不夠了，而且另外三個比較大的女兒都沒有衣服可以換洗。
On the
Thursday night before our planned trip to 清泉, my
friend Vivian and I drove to 竹東 and met the family, dropping off several boxes of clothes, some
diapers, some baby formula, and several photos of the kids which I had printed
out to give to the parents. The family was delighted to see us, and thanked us
repeatedly for our help, as well as for our care for the people of 清泉. I
had a great time chatting with them, playing a little with the kids, and cooing
over the baby.
星期四晚上，我和Vivian開車到竹東去看他們，帶了幾箱衣服、尿布、嬰兒奶粉和幾張之前替孩子們拍的照片。他們看到我們好高興，一直跟我們說謝謝，也謝謝我們這麼關心清泉。我跟他們聊天聊得很開心，看了小寶寶，然後又跟孩子們玩了一會才離開。
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