World Vision Taiwan (WVT) yesterday launched its 16th "30 Hour Famine" campaign in a bid to raise funds for people suffering from hunger, AIDS, war and natural disasters.
"It's kind of a virtual reality. You just can't believe what you see and you can't even imagine it," said pop singer A-Mei (
"People there are really struggling to survive," she added.
PHOTO: TAI TA-SHIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
A-Mei, the "famine ambassador" of the WVT this year, just concluded a visit to southern Sudan with the charitable organization. She appeared at a press conference yesterday to launch the campaign.
The "30 Hour Famine" campaign has been held by the WVT every year in countries around the globe since 1990. Participants of the campaign fast for 30 hours to experience what it's like to go hungry, and also to raise money to help the world's needy.
Since its introduction, more than 750,000 people in Taiwan have joined the campaign and have helped millions of people in 78 countries around the world, according to the WVT.
Hank Du (
"It's truly God's blessing to have come back alive," he said.
"Some mothers had been feeding their children weeds or tree leaves for three months. The need there is so immense that we definitely have to intervene before the situation gets out of hand," Du added.
A-Mei said that while in Sudan, she saw desperate people drinking muddy water.
"There is a water shortage almost everywhere in Sudan, and people don't really have a choice," the pop singer said.
"I met an 11-year-old girl named Mary who is so clever and speaks English fluently. She told me that she can't go to school every day because it is too far away, and the school is so primitive. She wants to leave there and go to a place where she can study," she said.
This year the "famine camp" will starve themselves from Aug. 13 to Aug. 14 at National Chung Shan University in Kaohsiung, with the theme, "Saving Lives at the Front." They hope to attract 8,000 people to participate in the event and raise NT$170 million to help people suffering from famine, AIDS, war, and natural disasters, and also to support the reconstruction of Taiwanese communities that were devastated by Typhoon Aere last year.
To participate in the campaign or to donate money, visit www.30hf.org.tw or call 02-2585-6300.
People can also donate by putting spare change in the donation boxes located at 7-Eleven outlets.
DOING ENOUGH? The HPA budgets NT$1.3 billion to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but has no separate budget to fight teen drinking, a doctor said The government should step up alcohol education and prevention efforts, and allocate more of the budget to it, doctors said on Friday, citing the high consumption of alcohol among Taiwanese adolescents. One out of four 12-to-17-year-olds has consumed alcohol, said Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海), director of Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Department of Clinical Toxicology. The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) budgets NT$1.3 billion (US$43.9 million) annually to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but it has not allocated a separate budget for preventing teenage drinking or excessive alcohol use, Yen said. “There is no so-called ‘safe drinking level’ for minors,” because any amount consumed
The Fancy Frontier manga and anime expo held in Taipei over the weekend has sparked controversy, after a participant allegedly contravened the Act on Offenses Against Sexual Morality (妨害風化罪) by publicly exposing her private parts during a photo shoot. The two-day event opened at the Expo Dome at the Taipei Expo Park on Saturday, attracting numerous comic and anime creators, cosplayers, photographers and fans. Allegedly, a female cosplayer who was not wearing any underwear lifted up her skirt and revealed her private parts at an outdoor photography area near the venue. Event organizers said yesterday that to prevent indecent exposure, they have since
DREAMING OF TRAVEL: About 7,000 people applied for the experience, with about 60 chosen for the first flight yesterday, which includes boarding an airplane Starved of the travel experience during COVID-19? Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) has the solution — a fake itinerary where you check in, go through passport control and security, and even board the aircraft. You just never leave. The airport yesterday began offering travelers the chance to do just that, with about 60 people eager to get going, albeit to nowhere. About 7,000 people applied to take part, with the winners chosen by random. More fake flight experiences are to take place in the coming weeks. “I really want to leave the country, but because of the pandemic, lots of flights cannot fly,”
SOUTH WINDS: Taiwan’s southeastern region, as well as central and southern regions, would see regional showers and thundershowers, the Central Weather Bureau said Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the afternoon in the next two days might cause damage in affected areas, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday, urging people to stay vigilant. With the weakening of a Pacific high-pressure system and with a frontal system in the north moving south, the nation would come under the influence of southwest and south winds today, the bureau said. People in the nation’s southeastern region, as well as in central and southern Taiwan, are likely to experience regional showers or thundershowers, it said. Chances of afternoon thundershowers are high nationwide, and people in some regions
RSS