The permanent residences in Great Love, constructed using lightweight steel beams, are resistant to earthquakes, wind, fire and moisture. In them, refugees whose former homes were destroyed by the Morakot floods are building new lives. Pictured here are Great Love residents relocated from Taoyuan Township. (Jimmy Lin)	Shanlin's Great Love Village, built by the Tzu Chi Foundation, has a simple and elegant style. So far, 695 households totalling over 3000 refugees have moved in from areas of Kaohsiung County devastated by Morakot's floods. (Jimmy Lin)

So that the traumatized and home-less victims of Typhoon Morakot would have a place to resettle, the ROC government, the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and Foxconn Technology Group banded together to create the "Tzu Chi Great Love Village," at Yuemei Farm in Shanlin. This large town-building project was accomplished in 88 days. The number has commemorative meaning, since Morakot hit Taiwan on August 8, 2009, but it also is a particularly auspicious number in Chinese culture. Now efforts here are focused on finding employment opportunities for residents and laying a foundation for local industry.

Since the first refugees arrived at Great Love before the lunar new year, more than 3000 individuals comprising 695 households have come, including Aborigines from three villages in Namasia Township and eight in Taoyuan Township. Ethnic Han Chinese refugees from various townships in Kaohsiung County have also arrived. Meanwhile, basic infrastructure has been established at the Foxconn-funded Yonglin Organic Farm, which is next to Great Love Village. Crops have been planted, and the refugees have come for work and training.

Now that nearly 1000 refugees from Namasia have come to Great Love, which is being called a "model for post-disaster reconstruction," what are their lives like? And can the economic reconstruction and occupational training efforts provided by various groups truly assist these refugees in adapting to their new environment?

Now, a year after Typhoon Morakot hit, it's easy to find Great Love Village by taking Provincial Route 21 north from Qishan. The grass mounds and rock piles at its entrance create a visually arresting scene. Once you've entered, there are sweeping lawns and structures built out of driftwood. The wide, straight roads are made from interlocking pavers that allow for rainwater to pass through. The simple elegance of the gray pebbledash homes that line the roads and the small trees planted next to the drainage channels (which nevertheless seem somewhat sparse for the vastness of the space) are further demonstrations of ecological awareness. The street names-Hexi ("friendly") and Hexin ("harmonious at heart)-point to Tzu Chi's Buddhist values.

Great Love occupies 60 hectares and is divided into four zones: One each for Aboriginal families from Namasia and Taoyuan townships, one for those from Xiaolin Village, and one for Han Chinese refugees. It has three churches and three plazas for holding activities and celebrations. At the edges of the plazas are classrooms. The atmosphere combines peaceful seclusion with vast open spaces. It's very much like the Great Love villages that Tzu Chi has built overseas. Unfortunately, it lacks a little of the rough-hewn exuberance and passionate color of traditional tribal villages.