Taiwan-born, California-raised social activist Daisy Lin (林黛西) is all heart and smiles as she explains her organization, the Bright Side Projects’ (臺灣嚮光協會) next workshop in Chingchuan (清泉), an Atayal village nestled in the mountains of Wufeng Township (五峰) in Hsinchu County. Tomorrow morning, in celebration of Bright Side’s two-and-a-half year involvement in the community, there will be tie-dye and arts and crafts stations, as well as a specially-prepared vegetarian feast with apple sliced lollipops dipped in melted chocolate and vegan caramel sauce for dessert.
For nearly a decade, Lin worked in global marketing and branding for luxury goods. Disillusioned, she quit her job one day and volunteered in several local non-profits throughout Taiwan.
“My job was to recreate what ‘needs’ were to a social being and then sell this packaged lifestyle,” Lin tells the Taipei Times. “However, the problems in the real world still existed and things were not getting better for people or the environment.”
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Burke
Drawing from her various passions such as healthy eating, as well as a focus on lifestyle, animal welfare, and environmental and social activism, Lin founded Bright Side Projects, a non-profit which strives to foster long-term community involvement in underprivileged communities.
Bright Side holds regular monthly events in places like Chingchuan where they match up a volunteer with one or two children from the Atayal community. Their activities include anything from yoga and modern dance to writing and directing screenplays. In addition, there are cooking demonstrations where children learn about nutrition and are introduced to healthy eating. Lin also makes sure that the children are aware of other cultures and customs around the world. As such, Bright Side organizes events like planting marigolds for the Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday which brings together family and friends to remember the dearly departed.
“It’s a huge diversity of lessons that are being taught,” Lin says, “but one of the consistent themes encouraged is that we can make our own decisions.”
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Burke
SELF-EMPOWERMENT AND SALADS
One of the most successful events, Lin says, was their “Love Dogs” workshop, during which the children were split into groups to discuss how they would take care of dogs. The children were asked to illustrate their ideas and those drawings were then transferred onto silk screens to create t-shirts. A portion of the proceeds from the sales are currently going to helping stray animals in Taiwan.
This cyclical approach to self-empowerment has been very effective. As Lin says, “the kids create art, gain knowledge and are empowered to see how to turn that into a tool to help others.”
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Burke
In the summer of 2012, Lin became a vegetarian and has since been imparting her love for healthy eating to the children.
“When our meals are created, everyone gathers around so they know what ingredients are in the dish and who made it. It’s a bonding experience to give thanks, share the food and clean the dishes together,” Lin adds.
Saladay, a vegetarian restaurant, has sponsored many of their workshops since 2013. Fresh Bakery & Cafe, Taipei’s first vegan bakery, also caters delicious vegan pastries for Bright Side events. Finally, as a result of their recent gift drive, Bright Side has been able to provide families in Chinghcuan with access to organic food planted by local farmers.
While Lin admits that it can be quite a trek out to Chingchuan, do not fret the two-and-a-half hour commute (on a good day). Most importantly though, Lin says that “falling in love with Chingchuan and the kids is not difficult and occurs organically.”
GETTING THERE
Take the south-bound high speed rail (HSR) from Taipei Main Station to Hsinchu. From there, take a train or taxi from Hsinchu HSR to Siagongguan bus stop, transfer to the bus up to Chingchuan (last stop).
Taiwan, once relegated to the backwaters of international news media and viewed as a subset topic of “greater China,” is now a hot topic. Words associated with Taiwan include “invasion,” “contingency” and, on the more cheerful side, “semiconductors” and “tourism.” It is worth noting that while Taiwanese companies play important roles in the semiconductor industry, there is no such thing as a “Taiwan semiconductor” or a “Taiwan chip.” If crucial suppliers are included, the supply chain is in the thousands and spans the globe. Both of the variants of the so-called “silicon shield” are pure fantasy. There are four primary drivers
The sprawling port city of Kaohsiung seldom wins plaudits for its beauty or architectural history. That said, like any other metropolis of its size, it does have a number of strange or striking buildings. This article describes a few such curiosities, all but one of which I stumbled across by accident. BOMBPROOF HANGARS Just north of Kaohsiung International Airport, hidden among houses and small apartment buildings that look as though they were built between 15 and 30 years ago, are two mysterious bunker-like structures that date from the airport’s establishment as a Japanese base during World War II. Each is just about
Two years ago my wife and I went to Orchid Island off Taitung for a few days vacation. We were shocked to realize that for what it cost us, we could have done a bike vacation in Borneo for a week or two, or taken another trip to the Philippines. Indeed, most of the places we could have gone for that vacation in neighboring countries offer a much better experience than Taiwan at a much lower price. Hence, the recent news showing that tourist visits to Pingtung County’s Kenting, long in decline, reached a 27 year low this summer came
The female body is a horror movie waiting to happen. From puberty and the grisly onset of menstruation, in pictures such as Brian De Palma’s Carrie and John Fawcett’s Ginger Snaps, to pregnancy and childbirth — Rosemary’s Baby is the obvious example — women have provided a rich seam of inspiration for genre film-makers over the past half century. But look a little closer and two trends become apparent: the vast majority of female body-based horror deals with various aspects of the reproductive system, and it has largely been made by men (Titane and The First Omen, two recent examples
RSS