Better Business
October 2006
Banner photo: Partially Harvested Corn Field/corbis
Supporting Young Students in Taiwan
Children at Dasi Elementary School learn to make paper
airplanes
[©Seikyo Shimbun]
In July SGI-Taiwan university students led summer camps for elementary school students in a number of regions throughout Taiwan, as part of their Soka Joy Summer Camp initiative. The initiative focuses on elementary schools in Taiwan's mountainous regions and isolated islands. Children in these areas come from families that are less affluent than their counterparts in the cities. As well as attending school, the children usually have to help support the household in some way. The aim of the initiative is to contribute to the children's education.
Fengbin Elementary School in Hualien County is attended mainly by Amis or Pangcah children, one of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Thirty SGI-Taiwan student members conducted a variety of activities at the school that were both fun and enriching for the children. They included science lessons, dance and drama classes, and activities that encouraged the children to share with one another their dreams and aspirations.
This was the second year for the camp at Maolin Elementary School, located in Maolin Township of Kaohsiung County. Children studying in the school are mainly from the Rukai ethnic group. In July 2005, Maolin Township suffered severe damage in the wake of Typhoon Haitang, and SGI-Taiwan helped in the town's cleanup activities. On that occasion, SGI-Taiwan student members also organized a summer camp for the children.
