Education Taiwan Project #41469

Fly High! Empower Disadvantaged Children in Taiwan

by The Mustard Seed Mission

Project Report | Mar 25, 2024
Opening Doors to Opportunity

By Denny Chou | Supervisor, International Mktg Resource Centre

Dear Friends,

We are delighted to share with you the latest updates from Agape Children's Home, for disadvantaged children in Taiwan.

Empowering Children through Self-Reliance

This summer, a group of girls from Agape boarded on a three-day journey to self-reliance in Taichung. The goal of the trip was to empower the girls to learn through experience and develop the skills they need to live independently.

The girls began planning their trip months in advance, researching everything from transportation and accommodation to food and activities. They encountered many challenges along the way, but they persevered and learned a great deal about themselves and each other.

One of the girls, Nini, had always dreamed of becoming a social worker. She was inspired to pursue this dream after meeting a social worker who helped her through a difficult time in her life. During the journey, Nini had the opportunity to visit Tunghai University, a top university in Taiwan. She was impressed by the size and beauty of the campus and the diversity of the student body. This experience solidified her desire to become a social worker and help others.

Discovering New Possibilities through Music

For another group of children at Agape, music has opened up a new world of possibilities.

Yi, a middle school student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had always struggled to find his place in the world. But after participating in a music therapy program, he discovered a passion for drumming.

Music has helped Yi to focus and express himself in a way that he never could before. He has also made new friends and developed a sense of belonging.

The journey to self-reliance and the music therapy program are just two examples of the many ways that Agape Children's Home is helping children to reach their full potential.

Thanks to your generous support, we are able to provide these children with the love, care, and education they need to thrive.

We are grateful for your partnership in building a brighter future for these children.

Sincerely,

The Mustard Seed Mission Team

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Nov 17, 2023
Adversity is a Blessing in Disguise

By Hong-En Chang | Project Leader

Xuany once stayed in Mustard Seed Youth Home, and now he is currently a first-year student at a university. In order to finish his studies, he found a job in the catering business and used his spare time to earn tuition and living expenses.

Looking back to the summer vacation four years ago when Xuany was referred by the social bureau to Mustard Seed Youth Home in Hualiene, the first impression the life counselor had of him was his thin body and weak body condition.

At that time, when other youths in Youth Home were washing their own clothes, he would stand by the sink for a long time without moving. After inquiring why, the counselor learned that none at his home had taught him how to wash clothes by hand. Under some instruction, Xuany learned to wash clothes by hand.

On holidays, when the teenagers in Youth Home usually take turns preparing everyone’s meals. Apparently, Xuany without cooking experience at the beginning could only be an assistant, helping wash and chop vegetables or watching others how to cook. After several times of learning and asking for advice, Xuany was able to cook a few simple dishes, and later even participated in the creative cooking competition of Youth Home with others.

The improvement of self-care abilities is to cultivate young people and also makes an introverted boy like Xuany more confident. During more than 3 years in the Youth Home, Xuany once took pictures of camp activities, and also often served as the chairman to host monthly meetings in Youth Home. With a lot of experience, Xuany's confidence has improved. Before leaving Youth Home, he had already been a leader among the teenagers.

In fact, when Xuany was a sophomore in senior high school, he had the experience of taking summer jobs during the holiday. He worked as a hotel housekeeper for a short period of time and was also looking for a job more interesting to him. It happened that the school has an eSport team. He likes it and participated in the team. In the beginning, his performance was not good. But, after some practice, Xuany's skills improved, and reached second place in the team. The nature of teamwork also cultivated communication skills and problem-solving abilities.

During his time at the Youth Home, Xuany also experienced the pain of the loss of loved ones: his mother and grandmother passed away. Although he kept himself looking calm, the grief engulfed him like a flood in the deep night. With the counselors' company and comfort, Xuany tried his best to get through the sad storm period, and his mood gradually stabilized.

Although there will be bad days, with the company and encouragement, the youths' abilities will be cultivated to face future challenges.

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Jul 26, 2023
Transformation

By Daisy Su | Director of Agape Children's Home

I still remember what it was like when I was posted to the Faith of Home in Agape Children’s Home to look after this group of teenage boys. They were in the middle of puberty, with endless energy and incredible power to cause major damage while still learning how to respect each other in group life. With each one wanting to be in charge, it was not usual to see the fight among the boys break out every other day.

From silent confrontation to bickering with each other, we dare not take our eyes off these restless boys for a moment. There are countless conflicts to deal with in a year, the most difficult one being inappropriate physical interaction when one party considers it merely playing, while the other sees things differently.

Now a year has passed, and these boys have learned mutual respect under the company and guidance of the teachers. Through every educational opportunity, suddenly, they seem to grow into more sensible persons and more willing to contribute to this “ home” where they are living; giving a hand when it’s needed; doing their job such as tutoring, self-study, cleaning, cooking, etc. when the teachers are busy. They do it by themselves so that the teachers need not worry.

Although the boys still get lazy sometimes, it is much better now that the teachers no longer have to keep pushing them from behind every day. At least we don’t have to keep repeating the same words like parrots, and the pranks among the boys are much less now. We are very pleased to see that they have developed the ability of self-control.

Xiaoyu, in particular, is more than willing to contribute to the affairs of the home, so he was named the deputy caretaker of Faith of Home. He is an all-round handyman doing all environmental maintenance work such as repairing electrical appliances, painting, and applying silicon. His maturity and reliability brought this little community together and also influenced other boys.

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