Emoo'u This is not my Home

Incoming Editorial Team·Verified October 21, 2026

emoo'u means "my home" in the indigenous Cou language. In 2009, Typhoon Morakot hit Shanmei Village in Alishan. The storm destroyed our roads, bridge, and homes. Using old and new videos, this documentary shows how our village rebuilt itself after the disaster. Originally, the government planned to move residents from the high-risk zone down to permanent housing outside our mountains. Eventually, we were allowed to stay, and the government built permanent housing for us on a safer site inside our village, which was completed in 2011. In this new neighborhood, life went on—people talked to each other, and a bread van visited from the city. For my mother, the new house was a fresh start and a real home where she felt free. But for me, it did not feel like home.