More than 400 burns victims and supporters gathered at Taipei's Daan Park yesterday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sunshine Foundation, an organization for the disfigured.
Some, dressed in traditional Chinese costumes, performed dragon and lion dances, or gave bellydancing performances.
The formation of the foundation was inspired by a book called Afraid to see the sun, written by a young disfigured woman named Shen Shiao-ya (沈曉亞).
"My heart went out to her as soon as I saw her," said foundation co-founder Li Li (李立), a radio personality who interviewed Shen and subsequently co-founded the organization.
Shen was injured in a chemistry lab accident that left her with third-degree burns on her face.
"We raised funds for her cosmetic surgery but the doctor told us her burns were too severe," said Li. "Then he said, `there are so many people just like her.' It's just that we never see them because they never leave their houses."
The main goal of the foundation is to help the burns victims gain the confidence to "walk into the sunshine," Li said,
One such confident group of disfigured women braved the chilly winter air to give a bellydancing performance set to a hit Turkish pop song.
Dancer Yeh Mei-hsing (
"When I was in hospital, I felt that my injuries were really awful," said Yeh, who sustained burns all over her body in a house fire. "But at the foundation, I met people who were in the same situation or even much worse shape."
The foundation provides burns victims with work and training opportunities at its affiliated Sunshine carwash, gas station and snack kiosk.
"We have workers of eight different mental or physical disabilities working with us," said Sunshine gas station manager Chieng Jen-kai (
Many workers are encouraged to move onto conventional establishments after their training., he added.
Members of the Southstar Roteract of Chungli joined the parade with homemade signs saying "free hugs."
"It's important for people to reach out to those who are different," said said Roteract member Tseng Ting-yu.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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