The most devastating earthquake ever to hit Taiwan in 100 years caught me and other fellow Taiwanese students by surprise last Monday. Some of my fellow students still can’t reach their families in Taiwan, especially those who live near the epicenter. The death toll has already reached 2,000. With more than 3,000 trapped under the rubble, the death toll surely will rise.

While the international media gather in the urban areas, the remote towns in the mountians near the epicenter get relatively little coverage. These towns were hit hardest by the quake. Some of the villages were destroyed completely. The damaged roads and bridges to these remote areas make the rescue effort more difficult. Most of the residents there are farmers with limited financial resources.

Being a new mother myself, I just can’t help thinking about the children in this catastrophic quake. I am haunted by the tragic stories about how a loved child becomes an orphan overnight, how seven members of a household died — including an unborn child — and how a mother braved herself back to the house to rescue her three-year old son who lagged behind the whole family running for safety. The mother and the child both died under the falling walls.

Yet there are signs of life under the rubbles. Some victims are pulled out alive. These vicitms along with another 10,000 homeless victims need help. I hope the Daily can help us by publishing the following agencies who collect funds for the quake victims.

Make checks payable to: Tzu Chi C/O Taiwan Earthquake, Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, USA Northern California Chapter, 175 Dempsey Road, Milpitas, CA 95035.

Or Taiwan Earthquake Relief Fund, The International Commercial Bank of China- Chicago Branch, 2 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1803, Chicago, IL 60602, Account#: 541266. ABA Routing No.: 0710-0211-8

Ya-Fen Lo

Graduate Student

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies