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Anne and Christ the All sixty families agreed, but they asked for a
King Secretarial School, month to seek another place to settle. After that
Sister Rita Larivée, month, each family received their Tzu Chi tent
St. Anne’s General and peacefully left the property. On January 21,
Superior, asked only 2012, two years after the first Tzu Chi relief team Hope Rises from the Rubble
for a pair of shipping entered Haiti, ground was finally broken on the
containers connected schools. But many new challenges still awaited.
by a tent, so that
students could have a George Tseng drew the plans for the school
place to learn. She even based on the topographical and geological
had someone draw out surveys, but as he lives in Miami, he was
the plan. unable to oversee the project personally, so
he entrusted the necessary engineering tasks
At that time, to OECC. The St. Anne schools are built on a
Dharma Master Cheng hillside where the ground level varies by up to
Yen was participating in ten feet, so OECC had to build a retaining wall
daily video conferences beside the primary school, which occupies the
with the disaster relief lowest part of the property. After starting to dig
team in Haiti. As soon as in preparation, workers discovered that a great
she heard this plan, she deal of trash was buried underground. If they
immediately refused. did not clear it out, the foundation would be
What she wanted to unstable and the building may tilt or collapse.
build for these students The workers continued to dig and eventually
were buildings that got more than three feet deep before finally
Photo: Michelle Chen would be top-quality clearing out all the garbage. Then they refilled
and long-lasting: a the void with dirt and built a six-foot retaining
project of hope that wall. This unexpected project turned out to be
would thrive for a thousand years. costly, but OECC absorbed the extra cost.

Tzu Chi chose OECC to take on this major With a dearth of quality building materials
project because of its rich experience and top- in Haiti, Tzu Chi and OECC had to import more
quality construction methods. Structures like than seventy cargo containers full of materials.
Sylvio Cator football stadium and University While even getting these containers into the
City, which had been designed by architect port could sometimes be difficult, more issues
George S. Tseng and built by OECC, survived the often surfaced after the containers arrived. As
earthquake with only a few minor cracks. When James Chen explained, “In Haiti, there are many
Tzu Chi carried out its first major distributions things that cannot be controlled. Even things
in Haiti in 2009, OECC had not only hosted Tzu that you are one hundred percent certain of can
Chi volunteers in their office complex but also turn out to be a problem. So you always have
mobilized manpower to help package relief to have a Plan B. For example,” he continued,
supplies. “the local freight company’s trucks often did
not appear on time, so OECC would have to
Once the team had been chosen and use their own trucks to move things. But they
construction was about to begin, there was a new would still have to pay the freight company. Or
challenge to overcome. After the earthquake, sometimes we would receive a phone call while
about five dozen families had moved onto the the materials were en route to the construction
school campus and established a small tent site and learn that they had been detained by
community, but the kindhearted nuns did not the police. Then David Chang would have to
know how to ask them to leave. James Chen rush over there to take care of it.”
went to speak with a community representative
and explained that Tzu Chi would like to give David Chang has both an MBA and a degree
each family a new tent to protect them from in civil engineering, but those skills were rarely
the elements in exchange for their relocation. the ones he needed in Haiti. “What I do every

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