Community Projects


Natural Disaster Relief - Just before Kate’s second visit to Guizhou province late June 2000, her local contact, a primary school teacher Mr. Yang, cautioned her to delay her trip. On June 21, 2000, Rongjiang and Congjiang County had been hit by a flash flood. The extent of the damage was not clear until Kate reached Ping Yong, where the bus would go no further. Five hours on foot revealed the extensive damage, with landslides and flooding affecting thousands of households. Kate immediately responded, bought the necessary relief goods and distributed them among the people who had been affected by the disaster.


Since that time, T.K.S.S. has provided disaster relief ranging from fire disasters, floods to major snowstorms. (In January 2008 Rongjiang & Congjiang Counties were hit by a previous unknown severe winter strike, cutting transport routes and power supplies for several weeks) For T.K.S.S. the first step is to visit the affected areas trying to evaluate the scale of the disaster. Usually, there are immediate needs for food, blankets, warm clothes and temporary shelters. T.K.S.S. will obtain whatever possible locally and organize transport of the relief goods to the affected villages by which means available, be it by boat, truck or on horseback.


September 2005, a fire broke out after midnight in Ju Dong Village, Xia Jiang Township, Congjiang County. Cause of the incident turned out to be carelessness. After a private party one inhabitant forgot to put out his kitchen fireplace. In the village, housing 125 households, over a hundred houses were burned to the ground.

Traditional Dong and Miao villages are very vulnerable to nightly outbreaks of fire as the densely implanted 3 storey houses are entirely made of wood. Closely packed, utilising every bit of flat space, there is only a narrow lane or footpath between the individual family compounds. In case of emergencies eventual fire-brigades can never access in time in an attempt to control the seat of a fire blaze. Accidental fire outbreaks generally result in a completely torched village, leaving inhabitants homeless and completely penniless.


Besides natural disaster relief projects, T.K.S.S. also attends the needs for other community projects, i.e. Constructing pedestrian bridges, village water supply systems, supplying community facilities and immediate aids relief to natural disasters, i.e. flood, fire, draught.


T.K.S.S. attempts to maintain an emergency fund of 10,000 USD for use when disaster strikes. Due to a longstanding relationship with local authorities T.K.S.S. is allowed to assist independently during times of urgent needs. This "independence" guarantees that the aid is put into the hands of those who most urgently need it without further delays.