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Famous doctor goes on US tour

A Taiwanese doctor who performed his alternative military service in Burkina Faso is currently on a speaking tour on the US east coast to share his personal experiences while serving in the western African nation.

Lien Chia-en (連加恩), a graduate of National Yang Ming University's medical school, is touring New York and New Jersey.

The son of a dentist and a devout Christian, Lien, 29, has been helping heal the sick and clean up the countryside in Burkina Faso since October 2001.

During his 20-month period of alternative service, he helped drill a well and build an orphanage, in addition to providing medical service in Burkina Faso.

Lien, who mounted a clothes-for-garbage drive to help the people and environment of Burkina Faso that has turned him into something of a legend on the Internet, began the drive by only trying to solicit the Taiwanese people for donations of unwanted clothes.

However, he has received over 1,500 bags of clothes from people around the world who learned of his drive on the Internet.

Many Taiwanese have responded to Lien's drive, which was launched by him and a Christian group in Burkina Faso to help rid the countryside of discarded plastic garbage bags that pose a danger to cattle and other animals. People who gather and hand in such plastic waste are handed a bundle of the donated clothes in return for their efforts.

Lien returned to Taiwan to marry and then returned to Burkina Faso with his new wife in March last year for another year. During their stay, he focused on an orphanage, hoping to teach the locals to run the orphanage smoothly without his presence.

Lien returned to Taiwan in March for a short break of 20 days, and then headed back to Burkina Faso. During his most recent stay in the country, he mainly focused on helping Taiwan's Public Television Service to shoot a documentary series based on his story, which is scheduled to air at the end of this year.

Before his departure from Burkina Faso in March, Lien also bought a piece of land on which to build an office, a soap factory, an AIDS counseling center and a library, turning them over to a local church for management.

Lien said he hopes that more young people will go to Burkina Faso for volunteer work.

As for himself, he said he has decided to start work at the Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan in August.
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