With Mother's Day approaching on May 9, World Vision Taiwan and Taipei's social welfare department held a ceremony honoring foster mothers and called on the public to open their hearts and homes to needy children.
The Taipei City Government arranges foster care for children through World Vision. Officials said they hoped the event would inspire families to provide 40 to 50 new foster homes.
Foster parents and children who shared their homes talked about these relationships' impacts on their lives.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"I originally was scared to enter a foster home," said "Wen-lung," a 21-year-old man who lived with foster mother Chou Su-hui (
"Because of their advice and encouragement, I'm studying restaurant management," he said.
"Mother Tung," a former victim of domestic abuse, said that although it was a hard decision to place her child in a foster home, she felt it was for the best.
"I had no skills and a one-year-old child to feed. Honestly, if I had had to take care of the child myself, there's no way I would have been able to improve both our lives.
"I knew that the family my son ended up with would be able to take better care of him than I would be able to," she said.
Without the responsibility of child care, she was able to go to school and become a chef. Three years later, this mother took her son back after marrying a second time and stabilizing her financial situation.
She and her son are still friends with his former foster parents.
The number of foster children is on the rise, World Vision reports. Thanks to the establishment of the Domestic Violence Prevention Law (
More children from such families have been entering the system, with 35.8 percent of foster children last year having abuse in their background, according to organization figures. There are 176 foster children in 109 foster homes in Taipei, officials said.
World Vision works with social welfare personnel to provide training and various forms of financial and social support for foster parents.
World Vision encourages anyone over 30 with room in their home to consider becoming a foster parent.
Those interested in learning more about this program should call 02-2541-8092.
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