First lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) appeared as a “mystery guest” at a World Vision Taiwan rally at Linkou Gymnasium in Taipei County yesterday to lend support to the charity’s 30-Hour Famine campaign aimed at raising awareness of global poverty.
More than 13,000 people participated in yesterday’s event, which was opened by its ambassadors — entertainers Elva Hsiao (蕭亞軒) and Stanley Huang (黃立行). The 30-hour fast ran from noon Saturday to 6pm yesterday.
During the rally, Chow talked about a visit she and a group of children, who were sponsored by World Vision Taiwan, made to children in Typhoon Morakot-ravaged Pingtung County a day before the storm’s one-year anniversary.
Chow said she was pleased to see that the children were so optimistic and had not given up on their dreams and hopes despite the difficulties they face.
Other participants at the event yesterday included residents and children from areas in southern Taiwan devastated by last year’s destructive typhoon.
Lin Yiu-chen (林宥蓁), a nine-month-old baby girl, was the youngest participant at the poverty awareness campaign. The girl’s mother, Hsieh Hsiu-feng (謝秀汾), who was participating in the event for the first time, said she hoped to instill in her child the concept of “helping others and helping yourself” by participating in charitable activities.
A series of activities were held throughout the day, including a donation event, film screenings and a forum for the discussion of natural disasters, wars, food crises and HIV/AIDS.
The campaign was to culminate with a concert by pop singers including Rachel Liang (梁文音), Fan Wei-chi (范瑋琪) and Drifters (浪花兄弟).
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