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).
Rachid Hami didn’t think he’d have one more chance to bring his younger brother back to life. Especially in Taiwan, where Jallal, who died during an initiation ritual at France’s prestigious Saint-Cyr Military Academy, spent a brief part of his life as a National Taiwan University student. The Algerian-French director’s feature film For My Country, which is based on the tragedy, was partially shot in Taiwan and made its Asia premiere at the Golden Horse Film Festival last week. But through the new Taiwan Pitch initiative, he was able to further explore his brother’s journey by creating Aissa (Jallal’s fictional name),
Surrounding Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) there are a multitude of activities suitable for all the family that can be enjoyed on a day or weekend trip. On a recent visit, I hiked to a peak, rode a ferry across its emerald waters and a visited a pagoda with outstanding views. Located in Nantou County’s Yuchi Township (魚池) at 748m above sea level, Sun Moon Lake it is an excellent destination in summer or winter with a year-round moderate temperature. The lake is the largest body of water in Taiwan with a circumference of 27 kilometers. The east side of the
Nov. 28 to Dec. 4 Samuel Noordhoff was in the final year of his medical residency when his colleague showed him a life-changing letter from a faraway land. Clarence Holleman, then-director of Taipei’s Mackay Memorial Hospital, was looking for a medical missionary to join him in Taiwan. Although Samuel and his wife Lucy were devout Christians, they never considered overseas mission work, writes Liang Yu-fang (梁玉芳) in Noordhoff’s 2000 biography. The family had been living frugally for years as Noordhoff completed his training, and was looking forward to a more comfortable life. Holleman was already
After Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895 the government of Japan, always interested in proposals to increase its economic independence, began exploring the possibility of growing tropical drug plants on Taiwan. The leader in such experiments was Hoshi pharmaceuticals, founded in the second decade of the 20th century. In the 1920s and 1930s, Hoshi was a leader in cinchona cultivation in Taiwan, and of cocaine, then used as an anesthetic. TAIWAN’S COCAINE PRODUCTION Hoshi’s cocaine production grew quite large, and after better anesthetics were invented in the 1920s, Japan’s problem became disposing of all its production. Taiwan’s production was particularly useful. The
RSS