Every Tuesday and Thursday, Mrs. Valdez, wife of Paraguayan Ambassador Ceferino Adrian Valdez Peralta, spends at least eight hours at the Taipei Zoo working as a volunteer.
She has done so for the past two years, according to a local Chinese-language newspaper.
Growing up in a rural village in Paraguay gave her a special interest in animals. Being a veterinarian, she has sought to maintain that contact with animals while in Taiwan.
She has assisted animals in need at the zoo's veterinarian department, where her unpretentious manners have made her known as a model volunteer.
When asked why she works as a volunteer when she can enjoy the social life in Taiwan's diplomatic circles, she laughs loudly and says that, in those situations, she is working.
If her husband needs her to participate in an official function, she fulfills the duties pertaining to the wife of an ambassador, but that doesn't mean that she cannot find the time to do the things she enjoys.
She says that she decided to become a veterinarian as a young girl. As her childhood dream came true, she developed a special feeling for animals and, wherever they may live, she always tries to put her education to good use.
Valdez says she receives the full support of her husband, and on the few occasions when she may have wanted to stay home for a lazy day, he has encouraged her to keep up her work.
Zoo veterinarian Wang Pao-jung (王寶榮) was quoted by the local newspaper as saying that Valdez is very giving and never demands anything in return for her work. Wang also says Valdez was one of the people working to save Malan the elephant when the animal's foot was infected two years ago. It was only through Valdez's contacts that the zoo was able to send personnel to Thailand to study how to treat Malan.
RSS