Good news, a new beginning! Guangfu Dental Clinic 光復牙醫診所 at No. 8, Dunhou Road, Guangfu, Hualien is open! The mud’s gone, everywhere’s freshly painted, there’s new furniture, dental chairs, an X-ray machine, computer equipment, and a very happy Dr. Kuo 郭導天 and his wife, Ms. Hsu 徐克洋!
It is very moving to hear their story (for much of it, please see my previous blog post here). Just over a month ago, on September 23, 2025, Dr. Kuo’s dental clinic was completely inundated with knee-high, horrible, thick, stinky mud, described as a ‘tsunami of sludge’. Everything and everywhere was covered in mud; a total disaster. After serving in Guangfu for 42 years, for most of that time as the town’s only dental clinic, it must have been devastating for Dr. Kuo and Ms. Hsu. As a young man, Dr. Kuo, originally from Hong Kong, came to Taiwan to study dentistry, and he met his wife while working at the Mennonite Hospital in Hualien. Guangfu is Ms. Hsu’s hometown, and on January 2, 1983, they opened the Guangfu Dental Clinic, only a month after they were married at St. Luke’s Church, Hualien. They soon became known for their friendly manner, compassion, and kindness, particularly towards the elderly and those of limited financial means. On September 23, everything changed; their dental clinic was destroyed, along with many other businesses and homes in Guangfu. These photos below show the town the weekend after the disaster, debris piling up in the streets as people cleared the mud out of their ground floor homes and businesses…
Back in July, a landslide up in the mountains above Guangfu led to the formation of a barrier lake high up in the Matai’an river. Over 80 barrier lakes have been recorded in Taiwan since 1979, although most are temporary and disappear within a year. They are formed by landslides that block rivers, with significant events often triggered by earthquakes or typhoons. Hydraulic engineer experts assessed this one as too remote to try to intervene to prevent its overflow; instead, it was constantly monitored for overflow risk. Torrential rains from Typhoon Ragasa in September led to warnings and some evacuations, but they were clearly not taken seriously enough – the disaster response is now under great scrutiny. The barrier lake burst its banks on September 23 and tragically overflowed into the town of Guangfu and surrounding villages, many of them belonging to indigenous people of the Amis Tribe. Those nearest the river fared the worst, especially the elderly who were trapped in single-storey buildings, unable to escape. Nineteen people lost their lives, and six are still missing. Relatively unaffected were buildings at the top of the town, including the railway station, Fata’an Presbyterian Church, and the old sugar refinery. In buildings like Dr. Kuo’s dental clinic, situated about halfway between the railway station and the river, the water reached about 170 cm; that’s above head height. Like most of their neighbours, Dr. Kuo and his wife managed to escape because they live on the upper 2 floors above their clinic. These photos below were taken a day or two after the disaster…
The days and weeks that followed the disaster saw the people of Taiwan respond by donning their Wellington boots, picking up their shovels, and making their way by train to Guangfu to help. Tens of thousands responded; everyone was welcome, and it was all fairly amazing. Dr. Kuo and his wife are devoted members of St. Luke’s Church, Hualien, located 50 km north of Guangfu. The Rev. Joseph Wu, vicar of St. Luke’s, was one of the first people to arrive at Guangfu the day following the tragedy, checking to see if Dr. Kuo and his wife were OK. Along with a team from St. Luke’s, they went every day for about a week to help clear out the mud. A group of about 6 of us from the Taiwan Episcopal Church joined them for the 3-day Teacher’s Day weekend at the end of September, followed later by Rev. Joseph Ho and his wife, Angel and family, plus church members from Keelung, and others too. All of us remember the hard work, the mud, the dirt, the dust, and the smell. It was awful, but it was also wonderful to join in the relief effort; the sense of camaraderie among us, men and women, old and young, local and international, individuals and groups, of different faith groups, backgrounds, and jobs, all brought together to clear the mud from the dental clinic. By the time we left, the clinic was being washed with high-pressure hoses, and after a few days of drying out, the clinic was then plastered and painted. The Ho family took their children along to help with the painting; they are all good friends with Dr. Kuo and his wife since their time serving at St. Luke’s Church, and the kids could get into small spaces to paint, like under the stairs. Age was no barrier to helping! This is a small selection of photos showing the progress of our work over that September weekend…
Much has happened since then! On Saturday, November 1, at 10:30 am, we were all invited back to Guangfu Dental Clinic for a Thanksgiving Service and a Grand Reopening, the service led by Rev. Joseph Wu, and attended by all these people you can see in the group photo below (permission granted to publish here), many from St. Luke’s Church, Hualien – others of us came from Taipei, Keelung and Taichung. It was so good to see so many who I’d got to know during those 3 days digging out the mud.
It was very moving to see the transformation at the clinic. When we left on September 30, nobody really knew Dr. Kuo’s plans for the future. We knew he hoped to reopen, but wasn’t sure it would be possible. Dental chairs are notoriously expensive, as is an X-ray machine, and all dental equipment. But his friends and dental associations have donated equipment, and the result is amazing. It looks like a beautiful new clinic, and so it was appropriate to hold the Thanksgiving Service in the clinic itself. The readings were given by Angel Wen and Teresa Wu, both of whom had spent much time helping with the relief effort. The atmosphere was warm, friendly and full of praise and gratitude to God.
Rev. Joseph Wu led prayers of blessing in different areas of the clinic, at the main entrance, the registration, and in the treatment area, while Dr. Kuo held the lighted candle; there were also special prayers for Dr. Kuo and his wife themselves. The prayers included these words (translated), “May the Holy Spirit fill this place. May God guide Dr. Kuo and his wife to serve their patients with love, faith, and skill, so that this clinic may once again become a source of blessing to the community and a testimony of His grace.” During the service, we also had Holy Communion. After the service, we all received a box of cakes and bread for our lunch. Dr. Kuo’s wife, Ms. Hsu, shared how when she had gone to order the cake boxes, the lady had asked her if she was buying cakes to mark the closing down of her business, and Ms. Hsu was delighted to tell her, no, they were, in fact, reopening. Their enthusiasm to reopen has become infectious. Across the road, the doctor’s surgery is reopening soon, and next door, the pharmacist told us that with the doctor and dentist reopening, and people coming to these clinics needing medicine, how could he not reopen?
At the end of the service, both Dr. Kuo and his wife were full of thanks to everyone for coming, and for all the support that they have received. It was all very heartwarming, and difficult for everyone to hold back the tears. In all my life, visits to dental clinics are not something I’ve ever looked forward to, and I never ever thought I would be one day digging out mud from one, and then attending a Thanksgiving Service for the reopening only a month or so later. At the end, Rev. Joseph Wu presented Dr. Kuo and his wife with a framed photo. I was very honoured to be invited to help make the presentation. Oh, that photo, what a reminder of that September weekend!
The framed photo presented to Dr. Kuo is the group photo that we took on Sunday, September 28, at the end of our first day digging out the mud at the clinic, shown below. Most of the people in the photo are from the Taiwan Episcopal Church, but there is also one other man – I remember he was a man from Kaohsiung who had just decided to take the train that day to Guangfu and arrived with a shovel – to help anywhere that needed help and found himself digging with us. He fitted right in! The muddy line above our heads shows where the water came up to on that fateful day, September 23. It also shows just how disgustingly dirty we all were – even the facemasks are grubby, and it was really, really hot, 30°C all day, so we were all hot and sweaty. In contrast, this past Saturday, November 1, temperatures were down to about 23°C; autumn is here. In the photo, we are standing in the clinic behind the remains of the dental chair, which we couldn’t move; we assumed it was bolted to the floor. Not so! In fact, Ms. Hsu told us that they requested the army to come and help move it, and 4 soldiers came along and got it out.
This is the road outside the clinic, when we visited in September (below left) and the scene on Saturday (below right)…
Saturday, November 1, was an overcast, dull day, and it rained as we were finishing the Thanksgiving Service. After the service, I walked around the town, including down near the river, where I had walked on my visit at the end of September. Grey sky, grey mud, grey buildings everywhere. Although the mud is cleared from the buildings, there is still a lot of mud around. The main things I noticed in the town are all the sandbags, piled up at entrances, and the yellow drainage trucks, clearing out drains and sewers. Many ground-floor businesses and homes are standing open, bare and empty, though in some buildings, there are signs of painters and carpenters at work, putting in new doors and walls. The thousands of volunteers have long since gone, though there were some volunteers in evidence, and others were handing out soup near the station. Very few businesses have reopened so far. Nearby, the only shop newly opened is the 7-Eleven, now doing a roaring trade. Family Mart, across the road, is not yet open, while the post office and many government offices are all closed up. Guangfu has been much in the news recently with angry confrontations over ongoing post-disaster recovery efforts, official investigations into the flood response, and political disagreements over the handling of relief and reconstruction funds. A dull day added to the heavy atmosphere; in contrast to the joyful atmosphere in the dental clinic, the rest of the town is still struggling.
Having said my goodbyes to everyone at the dental clinic, I walked 15 minutes to the old sugar refinery, which I had not visited before. During its years of operation, from 1913-2002, it was a major employer in the town. During last month’s relief work, a lot of donated goods were stored at the sugar refinery. On Saturday, there were coachloads of visitors there enjoying the shops and especially the famous ice cream. It’s an interesting place, full of old, derelict industrial buildings, restored sugar trains and ancient machinery, and oozing with atmosphere. The Japanese-style buildings built for staff housing are beautiful; some are used for guest houses, others await repairs. Even on a dull overcast day, it was nice to visit Guangfu’s main tourist attraction and see it in action.
And so back to Guangfu Railway Station for the train back to Taipei. I had traveled to Guangfu with Vicky from our diocesan communications team, but she had returned home on an earlier train. Having started out well before 6:00 am that morning, it was a long day! I was booked on the 3:15 pm train from Guangfu, arriving in Taipei at 6:38 pm. A day trip from Taipei to Guangfu is quite a journey, over 3 hours each way, but it’s possible, and well worth it.
It was certainly a day to remember, a day of giving thanks to God for the transformation of the Guangfu Dental Clinic in these last few weeks, and for the contribution and support of so many family members, friends, church members, volunteers, and well-wishers. Inundated with mud, then overflowing with compassion, and now blessed with reopening, there is much to be thankful for. As Dr. Kuo shared on Saturday (translated and quoted in the media report below), “The road to recovery has been hard, but seeing the mutual support in our community and the strength of faith has given me even more determination to keep serving in Guangfu. We thank everyone who has reached out — your kindness has rekindled the light of Guangfu Dental Clinic, allowing us to keep protecting the smiles of this land.”
Chang Hsiao-ching, in this report, writes (translated), “This reopening is a symbol of rebirth and hope for Guangfu Township after the disaster. The reopening of Guangfu Dental Clinic represents more than the return of medical services — it is the continuation of the community’s spirit: even after disaster, we smile; even after hardship, life still shines.” Please do pray for Dr. Kuo, Ms. Hsu, and the Guangfu Dental Clinic as it reopens. And thanks be to God for this new beginning in Guangfu! ❤️
Catherine Lee 