Council Leader - Lin Tu-fa

On Linsen E. Rd, there is a sign, which may not catch your eyes if you don’t stand in a short distance. It’s just the sign of Chia-yi Charity Organization. One Sunday afternoon, as soon as our team arrived at the door, a grey-haired elder came to greet us before we uttered any word.

Lin Tu-fa
(Source: photographed by the team)

At that time, we thought he was just one of the volunteers there. Later, we were surprised to find out that he was the person we would like to interview- the Director General of the Chia-yi Charity Organization, Mr. Lin Tu-fa. Mr. Lin didn’t act like a serious old-fashioned supervisor. Instead, he treated us with hospitality. Laid on the table was a pile of documents we needed and a lot of candies. Mr. Lin also brought us water and shared with us some mellow oranges. Beyond our expectation, we enjoyed a lot of desserts before the interview even started.

When we asked Mr. Lin about the intension and development of this organization, he slowly replied, at first their charity work was paving the holes on the roads. Until one day, a student was drowned when trying to cross a river. Knowing this tragedy, old Mr. Ho Ming-Teh, the founder of this organization, made a wish to build bridges. He explained to us in detail about the legend of their spiritual leader, Mr. Ho. Gradually we all immersed in the touching story.

When asked why they restrict the donation to NT$100 and their staff. Mr. Lin explained to us excitedly like a child who had found a treasure. Their original idea was that those who were not rich also had right to do charity work. He also insisted that they wouldn’t judge people by their vocations or by how much they donated. Furthermore, he wished to extend the group and renew the staff, or they would face the problem of insufficient followers. So far, the volunteers, who get up early on holidays to build bridges, are old people. The youngest are more than fifty years old. Some of them are even in their eighties. Each single volunteer would make much difference to the whole group. For instance, so far they can’t find anyone to take the job of engineering calculation and that has caused a lot of trouble.

Lin Tu-fa
(Source: photographed by the team)

At the end of the interview, we asked the director a question about why the organization got separated into different groups. Mr. Lin frowned at this harsh issue and thought for a while. He told us the reason in an earnest voice. In fact, he still looks forward to cooperating with the other groups. However, to his disappointment, his proposal has been turned down for many complicated reasons. He hopes there is still a chance to make up with one another.

Our interview came to an end with this sentimental conclusion. During the interview, we got a clearer picture of Chia-yi Charity Organization. Most of all, we learned a lot from this precious experience, which we could not get at school.

The interview record:

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

Q:What was your job before you joined Chia-yi Charity Organization?

A:I was the Academic Affairs Supervisor of Linsen Elementary School.

Q:Why did you join Charity Organization? Were your introduced by someone? Or for some other reason?

A:My mother-in-law took care of my children when they were little. On Sundays, she would bring my children back to me because she had to do volunteer work.One day, I asked her if my children and I could go with her. She agreed. As a result, I came to know Charity Organization.

Q:How did you take the position as the Director-general? How did you feel when you were about to take the job?

A:I was elected by the members. When the last Director-general retired, the members elected me as the new Director-general after discussion in a meeting So, I took this holy job with determination. I found it quite normal, because everyone in this organization is equal. “Director-general” is just a name for the position. The important thing is that I had to take much more responsibility.

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

Q:Have you ever thought about how to develop the organization to make it more famous?

A:As a matter of fact, we just want to do everything we can with perseverance. It’s not important to become famous. We didn’t do our work merely for fame.

Q:Did your family support your decision of joining this organization?

A:I was much grateful that they not only supported me but also joined the organization as well.

Q:You have done this work for more than thirty years. Can you share your some of your feeling with us?

A:That’s a long story. There is so much to say. It all depends on your determination. The only feedback you can get from this job is you will feel more down to the earth.

Q:What do you think of Chia-yi Charity Organization?

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

A:In my point of view, though Chia-yi Charity Organization is not a great organization, everyone does the charity work with devotion. Our organization is just like a big family. We help each other without asking for any feedback.

Q:Have you ever thought of cooperating with other charity groups?

A:Yes. Once we held an activity with other groups. The outcome was not satisfying. Therefore, we decided to do our charity work with our original intentions.

Q:Have you ever been confronted with financial difficulties? How did you deal with the problem?

After interview
(Source: photographed by the team)

A:Financial difficulties? Not really. The problem is the cost of the raw materials keeps rising. In the past, it cost NT$140,000 to build one meter. Now it was NT$160,000. The construction cost has been rising, but so far we have no financial problems.

Q:What is the biggest crisis of the Charity Organization?

A:The biggest crisis is the shortage of volunteers and technicians. Most of our members are old. If this old team can’t work any longer, we have no choice but to put an end to Charity organization. We need more young men to join us. Also, we need professionals like civil engineer, measurement engineers, and designers.

(Reference resources: Personal interview and written by our group after the research)