The food team

Choosing vegetables
(Source: photographed by the team)

When everyone else is still in their sweet dream world, we were on our way to the bridge work site. Time passed and we reached the location. After getting out of the car, the volunteers walk to the makeshift tents for breakfast to supplement their strength. At this time, Mr. Lo Chenhsing drove his small truck to the work site, with various foods in his car, such as vegetables, ribbon fish, chicken, rice noodles, taro, and turnips.

After praying to the gods for blessings, everyone took their tools and began helping. I helped with hauling vegetables, and chatted with the elderly women. I found that the food team not only prepared meats, but there were also vegetable dishes! They are so considerate. After moving the vegetables, we found that no one was in the dish-washing area, so we helped there. The vegetables arrived, basket after basket, and the pans came one after another. My shoes and clothes all got splashed, but we did not have any complaints. This is probably because we were doing our job happily; we were willing to bear the side-effects!

Washing the fish heads
(Source: photographed by the team)

The grandmothers saw our devoted help, and happily told us, “Things are much easier with you here today.” We only helped a little bit but we could help so many people – it is all worth it.
Around 10 o’clock, everyone walked into the tents and ate, and the volunteers of the food team also began cleaning up. They talked and made the dishes, and it was very hot inside the tents. If it had not been winter, those without “heart” may not have been able to stand it.

 

Hopping foods
(Source: photographed by the team)

The food team was established in 1995; it was established because food costs for the bridge-building volunteers amounted to over 100,000 NT dollars, and villagers felt that this was too much. Also, sometimes there was too much food, other times there was not enough. Under such considerations, Lin Kunshan, Lo Chen-hsing, and the director general decided to establish the food team. However, at the time most people were opposed to this, because they were concerned that there was not enough manpower and money, and did not have confidence it would work. However, with the insistence of Lo Chen-hsing, the food team has begun to function.

A view of work
(Source: photographed by the team)

For thirteen years, all costs of the food team have been sponsored by Mr. Lo Chen-hsing. On each Sunday morning, he would go to the market to purchase the food needed for that day. Every month, the bridge-building costs to Mr. Lo Chen-hsing would amount to over five thousand dollars. After the years, it has amounted to as much as 780,000 dollars, but he has never complained. All of this is due to the thought of “do something happily, willingly bear consequences.” Other than the devotion of Mr. Lo Chen-hsing, some volunteers would also bring fruits or rice dumplings from their homes to be shared among everyone. Even though it is not much, their thoughts still count.

Tools of the food team
(Source: photographed by the team)

The food team is an indispensable part of the bridge-building activity. Without the food team, bridges may not be able to be built! Each Sunday, the truckloads of foods have never been missing. There are no preset menus, but delicious dishes are cooked according to what materials arrive. After typhoons hit Taiwan, prices would rise, but Lo Chen-hsing has never requested more funds to help him or to decrease the amount of food materials.。

 

 

Ships the food material
(Source: photographed by the team)

Are bridge-building volunteers the same as the food team volunteers? Not necessarily. In fact, in the beginning everyone comes to build bridges, but later when the food team was established, the mothers would do what they are familiar with; they would kill fish or cook vegetables, do whatever they are good at, and divide the work. With the passage of time, they also seem to be familiar with the jobs; they would build bridges or make food. They would divide the work amongst themselves and complete the work with great effort!

(Reference resources: The narration of Chief secretary, the book“憨人造大橋”and written by our group after the research)