When foster mother Sung Kan-mei (
However, it was not as easy as she had thought it would be.
Sung said that the child hid in her room and attempted suicide numerous times.
One day, Sung and the child were grocery shopping when they saw a disabled person selling gum on the street. Sung gave the person some money and then seized on the opportunity to tell her foster child: "See how that person, even without arms and legs, cherishes his own life and strives to survive?"
Now, many years later, although home with her real mother, the child still contacts Sung and her family because she believes that they taught her about love and life.
Sung has taken in 20 foster children to date and has been a foster mother for more than 15 years.
It started when she was a babysitter, taking care of a child that belonged to a single-parent family.
The Taiwan Fund for Children and Families found out that the child was being neglected and decided to temporarily remove her from that environment. Since Sung was the babysitter at the time, the child was sent to her.
"I treated every foster child like a part of the family and I still keep in touch with them," Sung said. "I'm so happy to see that they are leading better lives and that we had provided them with few happy years during their childhood."
But of course, it is not only about changing the lives of foster children. The lives of foster families have also been changed.
Another foster mom, Huang Su-chu (
Huang's second son, who was very rebellious in the past, suddenly realized how well Huang treated children.
"My second son has become a new person because of the foster kids," Huang said. "He has realized through watching me take care of other kids, how much I care about him."
Huang Pi-hsia (黃碧霞), director of the Child Welfare Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior, told the Taipei Times that the bureau has been helping child victims of physical and sexual abuse to be relocated to foster families or agencies.
The nation's foster family system was modeled after the US system and has been operating since around 1983, Huang said.
"There are currently 1,398 foster families, which is quite a lot, but we are hoping to find and train more families," Huang said.
Usually social workers try to place an abused child in the home of a close relative, but if not, a foster family is the second choice, Huang said.
She said it was better for a child to be in a familiar environment, but usually younger children fit in better with a foster family.
Teenagers usually have a harder time getting used to a new family, so are often sent to foster agencies, she said, adding that the agencies are also always available in case of an emergency in which a child needs immediate protection.
Chou Su-ching (周素卿), a social worker who has worked at the Ta Tzu Children's Home in Kaohsiung County for almost 23 years, said that foster agencies offer a long-term "home" for children -- up until they are in college or graduate -- while foster families are temporary.
Many former foster children from the home who are now adults still go back and help with charity events and take care of other children, Chou said.
But foster mom Sung said that some children's homes allow family members to visit, and oftentimes mothers take their kids away.
The selection process for foster families has been tightened since an incident three months ago in Hsinchu County in which a family abused a foster child.
Foster parents must have stable jobs, no criminal records and undergo personality tests and training, Huang said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it