◎ Category：
士中Local Leaders

◎ Description of Our Community
Taiwan, as a small island, lies in the western Pacific Ocean, To the west is the Taiwan Formosa Strait, which separates Taiwan from the Chinese mainland. As to Taiwan’s climate, it is mostly subtropical. Taiwan has many indigenous species and every year, the warm currents bring us plenty of fish. Also, with a variety of local unique cultures, Taiwan is an ideal destination for international travelers. Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, is the largest city and many government organizations are located here. For people living in Taipei, they have easy access to all kinds of public transportation including metro. Our school is located in Shilin District of Taipei City, and we have Shilin Night Market, National Place Museum, Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, Taipei Astronomical Museum, and Science Museum nearby.

◎ Summary of Our Project  
Since we got into junior high, we have been encouraged to take part in all kinds of voluntary work. Because of the precious experience, we enrich our learning outside the classroom and make contribution to our community. Thus, we are getting more and more interested in voluntary work. Once luckily we had a chance to interview Vivianna Lin, who used to work as a volunteer in a a children’s home in Eswatini, and we also listened to her speech. From the interview and speech, we get to know how Vivianna’s dream of working as an international volunteer in Eswatini came into shape. Being enlightened by her contribution to homeless kids in Eswatini, we start collecting voluntary work information, join the charity sale, interview the staff from Youth Development Administration and invite Taiwan Starlight Charity Association to have a fundraiser at our school fair. Through these activities, we have an insight of international voluntary work and its influence. Our members in this project also seize the chance to work as volunteers in school, reception in Taipei Astronomical Museum, recycling drop-off stations and community clean-ups. We hope that we can make a difference in the world through voluntary work.

◎ Our Computer and Internet Access
Our school lab provides computers and internet for us to search for information on the topic. On holidays, we use our computers at home to organize materials. Line, Facebook, and emails are useful and time-saving media for our teamwork.

◎ Problems We Had To Overcome
The biggest challenge we had was how to squeeze the project in our tight schedule. To attend some seminars and interviews scheduled during school days, we inevitably missed some classes at school. Therefore, we had to make up the time on our own. Besides, in order to collect information, we had to visit somewhere or interview someone on weekends. However, it was not easy to set a time that worked for everybody. Also, because of COVID-19, our parents didn’t feel safe to let us visit public places. Other challenges were like how to digest, organize and type in tons of information we collected. Another thing that made us disappointed was that kids in Eswatini originally planned to hold an exhibition of their art works here in Taiwan. However, the event was cancelled because of the pandemic. But in the end, we had a video conference instead so that we could meet each other on line. Before the on-line conference, our project members spent some time working on our self-introduction in English. To be honest, it was not easy for us because some of us didn’t feel confident speaking English.

◎ Our Project Sound Bite
Through interviewing Vivianna Lin and the staff from Youth Development Administration, we gain a deeper understanding of voluntary work and Africa. We are surprised to find out that there are so many young Taiwanese working as volunteers abroad and they are now making effort to make a difference in this world. They are our role models and we hope some day we can be like them doing something meaningful with love and contribution.