Typhoon Hits Southern Taiwan

On August 7, 2009 a typhoon struck Southern Taiwan with torrential rains that triggered massive mudslides in the mountains where many small villages are located. The rains continued for several days dumping more than 80 inchs of water on the countryside, the heaviest rainfall in Taiwan in 50 years. Taiwan is one of the countries we are assigned for disaster and welfare work. We visited Taiwan in June (see June blog), but we did not get to the southern area. The towns that were hard hit included Kaohsciung, Tainan, Taitung, (all on map), and Chisan, a town north and est of Kaohsiung. The church has stakes, branches and wards in the affected areas.

The extent of loss was not immediately recognized by the government, but as the reports came in, the loss of roads, bridges, houses, and even entire villages became known. The great amount of water triggered mudslides that wiped away houses and even villages. Our welfare missionaries in Taiwan became immediately involved with Elder Chung, the Area Seventty with responsibility for Taiwan and Carl Liang, the Taiwan Service Center Manager. Trips were made from Taipei where these leaders lived to the destruction area. No damage was felt in Taipei and the rainfall was much more moderate. The church leaders in the south immediately worked to account for all members, missionaries, and assessed the damage to meetinghouses and members' homes.

Although over 200 fatalities have been identified after two weeks, no members have been identified as casualties. President Hoer of the Kaohsiung Mission immediately mobilized his missionaries and they were out shoveling away the mud from member's homes and assisting members and nonmembers alike as they sought to overcome the water and mud. Yellow vests with the church logo were worn by missionaries and members alike. Trucks with sprayers and generators were rented and the work force cordinated with Government officials and other relief agencies as food and supplies flooded into the affected area. Our immediate supervisor here in Hong Kong, Stanley Wan, traveled to the area to help coordinate the Church relief efforts. We have agreed to work with Tsu Chi, a buddhist charitable organization well know throughout the world for its environmental and compassionate charity work. We will help furnish homes that are being constructed to house those who lost everything. The pictures that follow try to capture the destruction and some of the relief efforts that the church is involved with. We have been working with coordinating the efforts with Salt Lake and communicating with the Sparrows on their needs. It has been an eye opening experience to see how rapidly destruction can hit but also the kindnesses of people as they reach out to help each other.


The southern tip of Taiwan took most of the water.

The streets were littered with refuse, mud and water.

Lots to clean up. The military brought in trucks, frontloaders, and other equipment to open roads and clean out the front of homdes.

The force of the water can be seen in this picture where cars were rolled onto a bridge.

Many houses near the rivers had their foundations washed away. One family of Church members were trapped on the 2nd floor of their home for two days before rescuers were able to bring them out. The first floor was completely covered with mud and water.

Bridges fell, roads crumbled, and many of the mountain villages were completely cut off. These villages are usually occuped by the indigenous people of Taiwan who suffer from poverty and lack of communication facilities.


This truck was rented to help the missionaries after they shoveled out the mud from a home. Then it was time to power spray the houses and inside before the mud cakes.

Misionaries donned their yellow helping hands shirts and played in the mud. They were featured on Taiwan TV and identified as American University students. The Church name was prominently displayed on the back of the vests.

This was the inside of a member's home that was covered with water.

Stanley Wan is visiting with Sister Weng, a member who spent two days with her family on the 2nd floor of their home before they were rescued.

The youth in northern Taiwan assembled 3,000 personal hygiene kits for delivery in the South.

The Northern Stakes assembling goods for the survivors.

Our special visit to the Country of Laos

The major destination for our July trip was Laos. After we spent three days in Thailand, we flew in a two prop plane to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. You can see its location in the center of the map right next to a border with Thailand. The eastern border country is Vietnam and part of the Northern and Western border is next to Myanmar (Burma)and China. It has no seaport, and thus has many economic challenges. It is considered to be one of the poorer Asian countries.

It's history is one of tribal warfare and more recently, great devastation from the Vietnam War. During that war, many military supplies came from China through Laos. The trail that brought the goods became known as the Ho Chi Minh trail. Laos had declared its independence from the French after World War II. A great civil war ensued between the Communist Pathot Lao Party and the Royalists with its historic royal support. The North Vietnam government supported the communist counterpart and this led to great bombing by the United States. Laos is said to be the most bombed country in the world. It is estimated that between 1964 and 1973, every 8 minutes an American B-52 bomber dropped a load of bombs on Lao. About 1/3 of the bombs dropped did not explode leaving a dangerous legacy on the ground even today.

The original Laos people came from China. There are many different ethnic groups in the country. One of these, the Hmong, were driven out in large numbers as refugees at the end of the war. 69% of the Lao people are Buddhists. Christians make up only 2% and are regulated by the Government. Muslim populations are centered near Myanmar in the North.

The plane ride took less than two hours from Bangkok. We flew on the Laos Airlines. This beautiful Laos woman on the airline folders has the traditional colorful scarf over her shoulder

We stayed at a lovely hotel in Vientiane know as the Parkview Suites. We were on the 2nd floor. The currency is the "kip". The current exchange rate is 8500 kip to a dollar. The largest bill is 50,000 kip, or about $6 US. They do not use coins, only bills. Our suite was $75 US, a real bargain compared to other countries. The couples live across the street from the hotel in apartments. The road is one way, but 4 lines wide. No stop lights, just watch for a break in traffic and move quickly. There are many motorcycles and motorcyle taxis known as "tuk tuk's"
that can take up to 15 in the bed of the motorcycle. There are no tall buildings in Laos. The law indicates that no building will be taller than a government monument in town of about 10 stories.

The Missionary couples live in apartments to the right of the picture.

These are the wonderful couples serving in Laos. The middle couple are Scott and Jolene Riser from Roosevelt, Utah. They have been in the country a year. The other couple on the two ends are Edward and Joy Fountaine from Veloy, Utah, near St. George. They replaced Elder and Sister Oldham in June. These two couples are the only LDS missionaries in the country. The Church is known here as Deseret International Charities, or DIC. That is the name on their badges. They are allowed into the country to teach English and do humanitarian work for the people. There is one branch of the church in Laos with about 200 members. No proselyting is permitted by their visas. We spent several hours in their apartments training them on the new computer humanitarian database systems and helping them to know how to develop new projects. We were able to visit some of the ongoing projects. (See separate blog on these projects,) We stayed over Sunday so we could attend the branch. It is part of the Thailand Mission. (See separate blog on the Church visit.)

We enjoyed a delicious dinner and entertainment one night. The couples are helped greatly by a native member who is the branch president and a driver and interpreter for DIC in Laos, President Khamphee. He knows many influential people in the country. He speaks English well. He is on the left above with his wife who joined us for evening dinners.

President Khamphee is retired and is an extremely valuable asset to the Church. He was converted from Buddhism five years ago, and was called to be branch president 3 months later. The DIC has been in Laos since 1994.

Another dinner visit. The bill at a nice restauarant for 8 came to about$65 US.

These are rice fields. 80% of the agricultural farmland is devoted to growing rice. It grows in flooded fields as shown above.

There are many vendors on the streets with their carts. We purchased some delicious pineapple from this vendor. for 10,000 kip ($1.15)

We were able to meet with two members of the Laos Government that work with our DIC projects. The man on the left is Sayamang Vongsak. He has a Ph.D. in agronomy from Moscow University in Russia. He speaks very good English. The other gentlemen second from the right is Khampheuy Vannasopha. We discussed the clean water projects and the goal the government has to diversify its crops more. We had an enjoyable hour long visit with these men.

The man second from the right is the Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister in the Laos Front Government, Phayvanh Chandavong. His interpreter is on the left. This was a more formal visit. I sat next to him in the front of the room. His background is Hmong and he wanted some help with a school he is helping build with donations for his people in the North. We didn't promise anything, but said we would consider some project to help. Normally, we keep the projects closer to the center of church strength.

Notice the truck bed on this motorcycle. An example of the Laos busses.

A motorized three wheeler on the highway.

The most ornate Buddhist shrine in Vientiane.

Our visit to Laos is over. With the two blogs that follow, we hope you now know a little more about this distant land.

Our airplane meal. Sure beats Southwestern Airline's peanuts!!

One of the large rivers from the plane.

Attending Church in Laos

Today was a very special day. We attended the Laos Branch of the Church. It is a converted mansion leased by the church and renovated for branch use. We were picked up at 9:00 a.m. in a Tuk tuk that the missionaries use each week to take them to church. The driver comes back at 2:30 p.m. to pick them up. The vehicle is an open truck with a top and benches on each side. We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, fruit and juice before we left. It took about 10 minutes to get to the church from our hotel. The chapel had 100 chairs set up in the large hall. I had a meeting with President Khamphee for a few minutes. He was made branch president about four years ago three months after joining the church. He has two counselors. One is younger and went with his family to Hong Kong in October to be sealed. The other one seldom comes, though he did come today.

Sister Smith and I were the speakers in Sacrament Meeting. We each had young interpreters. Hers was a young high school girl who had learned her English from the missionaries. Mine was Bro. Tiengsack, a young missionary who went to Thailand on his mission. In between we had 8 young women and 6 young men sing the song “If the Savior Stood Beside Me”. Sister Smith introduced her family, showed the family calendars, and referred to the Welfare Principle of Service and King Benjamin’s Address. I spoke about our Area Presidency, Mormon pioneers and their attributes (it was July 25), Christ’s admonition to serve others as a way of serving Him as found in Matthew 25. I was able to bear my testimony and urge them to be faithful and keep the commandments. We had headphones with Bro. Tiengsack interpreting for us as he does each week for the couple missionaries. We were able to hear President Khamphee’s introductions. He speaks pretty good English.

The tuk tuk is a popular taxi in Laos. When it rains, they have a canvas side that rolls down to keep the passangers somewhat dry.

This is a closeup of the tuk tuk. Notice the benches on the sides. We sat facing each other.

The Church is not yet officially recognized in Laos, so we meet under the Deseret International Charities name. We hope to be able to be registered soon. This is the only branch that meets in Laos. Our couple missionaries are the only missionaries in the country. They are great shadow leaders to the branch members.


The building is very spacious and works well for the Saints. The grounds have fruit trees and some play area for the children.

Although members are scattered around Vientiane, the capital city, there is a grouping of members about an hour away. This bus is rented for Sunday to bring about 35 members to Church. Otherwise, many of the members would have a difficult time attending.

The young girl on the left with the "Roxy" shirt was Sister Smith's interpreter. The mothers carry their children in slings so that the young ones can look out more than if they were tight against the breast or back. The children were adorable. They loved to dance for us.

This sister was a Laotian refugee to America that is now living in West Jordan, Utah and who is visiting friends and relatives here in Laos. She was so excited to meet us.

The children loved to pose for us. Not too different from children all over the world.

After meetings, they cleared the chapel of chairs and put out long cloths on which they put their plates for dinner. The sisters cooked rice and noodles in large containers and served them on serving plates. Everyone took off their shoes and sat on the ground to eat their noon meal. This is done each week. We had our share of the food and enjoyed the friendship of the group.

It takes a large container to cook enough rice for such a large group of members.

Everone has shoes off and kneels. We were offered chairs, but Elder Smith sat on the floor and joined in.

The little girl in glasses in the middle is almost blind, but she was clearly the leader of these dancers. We have her on video as well. They use their hands to tell stories and dance.

It's time to wash dishes assembly-line style. A dish goes through each of the bucket stages.

We appreciated the love and hospitality of these wonderful Saints. We will never forget this experience

Laos Humanitarian Projects

TEACHING ENGLISH

A major reason for our visit to Laos was to observe first-hand some of the humanitarian projects that have been conducted by our couple missionaries. In order to obtain visas to enter Laos, our missionaries agree to teach English to Government employees on an ongoing basis. Both couples teach in the mornings on Monday and Wednesday, and then have an open enrollment class for anyone who wants to attend on Tuesday and Thursday evening. Elder and Sister Riser have been doing this for over a year in Laos. Elder Riser was an elementary math school teacher for over 35 years and Sister Riser also has a lot of teaching experience. Elder and Sister Fountaine have only been teaching here for a month, so it is more challenging for them to prepare. Each couple teach separately a beginning and an advanced class, so there are four classrooms going each Monday and Wednesday at two different locations. President Khamphee helps provide the transportation to the more distant location. One school is within walking distance of the couples apartment.

Elder Fountaine works to get class participation (about 20 students). He is very animated and gets the students involved in learning their grammar and vocabulary.

Elder Riser is using the overhead to help teach verbs and their meaning.

Sister Riser is working on personal pronouns. We think the language of these Asian countries is difficult, but we are told by experts that English is more difficult in many ways because of the many exceptions to the rules and the different tongue, lips and palate positions that English requires.

The age of the students vary. They are government workers and are apparently in their 20s and 30s. They receive certificates at the end of their training. The missionaries work under the name of Deseret International Charities in Laos, or DIC. We are working to be recognized as a church, but that has not yet been achieved.

WHEELCHAIRS AND PROSTHETIC LIMBS

One of the Church humanitarian projects that is very popular around the world is wheelchairs. We have been surprised to see how many disabled and elderly must do without wheelchairs because of their poverty conditions and lack of chairs. A majority of wheelchairs are manufactured in China for shipment to many countries. Some countries produce their own. This reduces the freight costs and customs duties. This is the case in Laos. We visited the manufacturing facility that we partner with for these items. They are known by two acronyms, AAR and COPE. They are recognized by the Goverment as NGOs and work with many of the poorer segments of the country. Laos has had a long history of war and hardships. During the Vietnam War, the United States sent thousands of air strikes on the Ho Chi Min trail that went through Laos, almost obliterating the countryside. Many of the bombs resulted in the loss of limbs for people living in the area being bombed. Even today, farmers and children find unexploded bombs in the fields and often experience tragic accidents when they explode. The factory has a museum that shows a map of the bombing and artifacts depicting the hundred of round bombs that dropped out of a large bomb after it was released from the plane.

This is the building that houses COPE and its museum and prosthetic labs. Every Tuesday, citizens may come to this building and apply for assistance with limbs. Doctors will interview and examine them, and if they qualify, fit them for an artificial limb. When they receive their limbs, they may remain at the center for a few days for training in how to use their new device.

The wheelchairs are not mass produced, but made to order in this facility. DIC provides 250 wheelchairs each year for the country.

This tricycle is powered by a lever that enables handicapped users to move more on their own. I tried it out, but didn't pull back quite right on the lever so almost crashed. I think I would need an extra week or two of training.

Each wheelchair has the DIC label on its side. Although blurry, you can see the traditional charity label. In most countries, we are registered as LDSC, or Latter-day Saints Charities.

A bench has been made out of two large bomb casings from the Vietnam era. (Dismanteled of course)

This is a graphic example of the cluster bomb. Each little ball is a bomb filled with explosives and shrapnel to inflict major damage on persons. Hundreds of them come out of a large bomb after it is released from the plane. Thousands of the large cluster bombs were dropped in the 1960s and the smaller bombs are still being found in the countryside.

COPE symbol for its prosthetic activities.

A panorama of limbs. What a wonderful service COPE provides. We fund about 250 limbs each year as part of the wheelchair projects.

Each casting is individualized for specific beneficiaries.

RURAL VILLAGE SCHOOL CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION PROJECTS

One of the great needs of the many rural villages in Laos is help providing clean water and restroom facilities for their students. Existing wells are often just open cisterns with the water very contaminated. The bathroom is the bushes surrounding the school. DIC has been going into 14 schools each year, digging a new well with a pump, building a pump house and a holding tank, and providing a modest restroom facility that provides privacy and water buckets to flush the toilet. It is still primitive by our US standards, but a great improvement to what they have had for generations. The students are taught hygiene so they can reduce the effect of disease on their lives. After each facility is finished, the school and village have a ceremony where the missionaries are invited. The missionaries "hand-over" the well and restrooms and the village residents honor their guests with entertainment, food, and recognition. We were able to attend one of these turnovers for a Village that has had two schools improved this summer; a primary and a secondary school. Although school was out for the summer, over 100 students attended the ceremony and after the speeches and recognition, each age group danced for us. We took some videos as well as the still pictures, but as yet, we haven't been able to include the videos on the blog. We will keep working on it.

President Khamphee rents this van to DIC. Three couples and Presdent Khamphee plus some branch members and government officials attended the ceremony.

Our trip took about an hour and a half from Vientiane. We went through many rice fields and across many rivers. This is one of the longer bridges we crossed.

Many villages and homes are build along the rivers. These are not the villager's huts. We did not visit these homes. This view is closer to Vientiane, but shows the size of the rivers and the buildings on stilts above the water.

We saw several water buffalo in the rice fields. They are used by the farmers to plow their fields.

The Government built schools are often very sparse, but this school is very attractive. This is the Village Primary School. The ceremony was held in the trees outside of this school.The Secondary School is about a mile away.

This is the new rest room. There are four rooms; two for girls and two for boys. It is very well built.

Throughout Asia, the "squat" toilet is still very popular, even in airports and public places.
We experienced this when we visited our daughter Kristy and Jason while they were in Mongolia teaching English for the Peace Corp. This toilet is a great upgrade to what Kristy and Jason usesd in their seatless"outhouse". Notice the faucet and bucket to "flush" the toilet after use.

This was the former water supply well. Open, and a rope and bucket to draw water that was often far from clean.

The water tank that holds the water pumped from the well and the sign recognizing DIC and the Church for its contribution.

The pump house with tank above.

The children were adorable. They sat quietly through the ceremony and then danced for us by class. Their costumes were colorful. They use their hands a lot when they dance. They learn as youngsters to bend their fingers way back and move them in a graceful pattern. When we get the video on the blog, you can see how talented they are.

We were honored by the village chief. Notice that the men have a colorful sash tied around their waist and the women are holding a box that contains a beautiful piece of material for a Laos skirt. Both Sister Fountaine and Sister Riser are wearing these skirts. Sister Smith used her fabric to order a skirt while she was there. We should be receiving it within a few weeks.

This picture shows the graceful way the young girls hold their hands as they dance. Their hands go in circles with their fingers taking many different positions. They all danced barefoot. These are the younger Primary students.

The music is a rythmic beat that leads the dancers to their graceful movements.

Here some secondary students, both young men and young women, show their steps and hand movements working together. Notice that each girl wears the special Laos skirt and the young men a colorful sash.

Several of the young girls had their long black hair pulled up into a cone and held with a colorful cord. They were very attractive.

This was one dance in which the older girls held their hands still in a clenched fist. Now the attention was diverted to their rythmic hip and feet movements. The dancing went on for about thirty minutes and we thoroughly enjoyed the time.

After the dancing, the students and their parents headed for their homes. Many walked, but many older ones had their scooters. Multiple riders was common as demonstrated by this mother as she takes her children home.

A very proud mom.

Now it was time to eat. Tables were set up for the village leaders and their guests. Lots of rice, fish with heads and tails, vegetables and some things we didn't know what they were (and we didn't ask). We enjoyed sharing the food that many women prepared for us.

Another view of the food.

Since this will be the last of three blogs about Laos, we'll conclude these blogs with this beautiful air shot as we left this picturesque land and headed back to the very different city of Hong Kong.