Lan, a widow that lives alone at the foot of a mountain in Hualian’s Yuli Township, has no contact with her kids, and ekes out a living by growing vegetables, dependent on the elderly allowance. Time seems to have frozen in this corner of the world. The road connecting with the outside world has never been cleared and set up. The one-story house that she lives in is now in need of renovation. The house setup seemed identical to how it was three decades ago. She had to go outdoors for her basic needs like boiling water and taking a shower by burning the wood. She seemed to be living in a forgotten time warp.

One day as she was burning the wood to boil water, she left it unattended for a moment and the stacks of wood next to the stove caught the fire. With her bad hearing, she didn’t realize the fire had spread to the kitchen. Her neighbor rushed to her rescue in the nick of time. Upon receiving the notification, our inspector quickly rushed to pay her a visit. Greeted by low visibility in the living room when the inspector stepped into the house, he was told that the lamp came tumbling down due to the earthquake last month. The elderly woman evidently could not reach high enough to fix the lamp, so she had to probe her way through the house day after day.

Feeling sorry for her, the inspector had a thorough look around the house and saw the burnt-down old fridge in the kitchen. This meant that the frugal elderly woman was not able to store foods properly and had been eating half rotten foods, refusing to throw them away. But for a lonely old woman with no one to turn to and no children to care for her, even if she wants to live the simplest life, it is full of challenges. The inspector looked around the house and was told by the elderly that she would be so lucky if the neighbor was able to fix any electric appliances that were over 20 years old, e.g., her washing machine, and if not, she just had to do everything manually, e.g., washing her clothes.

The inspector took the hands of the elderly and saw the arthritis-caused distorted fingers. Sadness welled up. Immediately the inspector replaced the lamp in the living room to restore brightness in the space, followed by purchasing a brand-new fridge and washing machine which were delivered in person by the inspector for the installation to make sure that at least her basic needs were taken care of. In the days that followed when the inspector passed through the area, he would make sure to drop by with a gift and have a chat with the elderly woman. For instance, he once came over with a honey gift pack and made a glass of honey water for her. They chatted and he listened to her tales of woes, hoping that the honey would bring her otherwise woeful life a bit of sweetness.