(Photo provided by Chow family)
December 2017 marked the start of one of California’s largest wildfires, the Thomas Fire.
The Thomas Fire first started in Ventura, a city about an hour north of Los Angeles. With rapid progression, the fire soon spread to my hometown of Santa Barbara, a scenic city located along California’s central coast. In total, the fire burned across a thousand square kilometers, scorching any and all vegetation on the mountains. Over 100,000 residents were forced to evacuate, including my family.
After burning for several weeks, the fire eventually was contained enough for my family to return to our home, almost a month after we had hurriedly fled with our pets and important belongings.
However, it wasn’t over. All the vegetation on our mountains had been scorched and burned to ashes. With the hills bare and denuded, there was no resistance when on January 9th, 2018, heavy rains caused an enormous mudslide in what is now known as the Montecito Mudslides. 23 people, many of whom were people I knew personally, classmates, neighbors, and close family friends perished in the mudslide. More than 100 homes were destroyed by the heavy flowing mud and tumbling boulders. No one in our city had anticipated anything close to what happened.
My family made a split decision to evacuate the night before, a precaution that spared our lives. On the morning after the mudflows, my family discovered that our house had been completely destroyed and we lost everything we owned. Natural disasters are common in California, but I never expected such a tragedy would affect me. It’s a feeling that’s difficult to process, losing everything you owned overnight. In the first few hours, I was in shock, completely disconnected from everything. As the previous night’s events finally set in over the next few days, I felt hopeless and unimaginable grief for my friends and neighbors.
My mom stood in line for hours seeking assistance from various aid agencies. At the relief center, my mom was introduced to volunteers from the Tzu Chi Foundation. My family was given a cash donation along with a grey fleece blanket. In those early days following the disaster, my family faced immensely challenging times and every little bit of assistance helped. Our road to recovery was a difficult one. We didn’t know if our lives would ever return to normal and we faced many uncertainties in starting over.
Three years later, we continue to mourn during the anniversary of the mudslides. Eventually, we were able to recover from our loss and continue with our lives. My family is incredibly grateful for the help we received from Tzu Chi. The grey fleece blanket gifted to us rests on the front of our living room sofa to this day.
(Photo provided by Chow family)
In the spring of 2021, we came to Singapore to visit our grandmother. We decided to show our appreciation to Tzu Chi Foundation by making a small donation. Visiting the Tzu Chi temple where we were welcomed by Sister Chwee Lian, we learned of the Tzu Chi foundation’s community outreach. I hope our donation can impact others in the way that it helped my family.
(Photo provided by Chow family)
Share 
