From trekking alone through the jungles of Papua New Guinea to almost drowning when his boat capsized on his way to Komodo Island, Tote Gallardo’s eyes light up when he talks about his dangerous experiences. Even in Taiwan, he managed to get lost in the forests near Tainan, stumbling across an illegal hunting ground with animal traps and reporting it to the police.
“For me, it’s totally normal,” he says in an animated voice. “Sometimes I don’t have a place to sleep. No food, no problem. Rain? No problem. I have to cross this mountain, no problem. I like risks. I like to find dangerous situations. This is my food. I’m not really afraid of anything.”
But Gallardo is quick to point out that he doesn’t do this for the thrill. A self-proclaimed “humanitarian street art performer,” he looks for disadvantaged people — especially children — to help by teaching them how to make finger paintings on glass. He carries a thick folder with pictures of him working with disabled children in Nepal, at a cancer center in Siberia and a landmine rehabilitation center in Cambodia.
Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times
His eyes light up even more when talking about the reactions of the people he’s helped, and the more fortunate ones he’s inspired to do good along the way.
“I hope to change one percent of the people,” he says. “Just one. I don’t need two.”
This is Gallardo’s second stint in Taiwan — last year, he worked with the Angel House Foundation (天使之家全人關懷協會) as well as the Mustard Seed Children’s Home (芥菜種會愛心育幼院). Starting on Monday, Gallardo will be working with children through the Childhood Cancer Foundation (中華民國兒童癌症基金會), and he hopes to find more organizations to work with during his three-month stay.
Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times
“I need help in Taiwan,” he says. “It’s very organized here. I need someone to introduce me. In Nepal it’s easy, I just go there, talk and start working. There’s not much bureaucracy.”
Now 55, he left his village in the South American jungle 25 years ago and has been on the road ever since. He won’t say where exactly he’s from — a Phuket News article says Brazil, the Fiji Sun says Peru, while the Times of India lists Venezuela. Gallardo, who peppers his English with Spanish words such as si, pero (“yes, but”), insists that it doesn’t matter.
“I’ve been traveling since I was 30. I’ve visited and lived in 80 countries... I have no family, nothing. I cannot get lost because I have no place to go back to. For me right now, Taiwan is my home,” he says.
Photo courtesy of Tote Gallardo
He will work as a street artist for a few months to feed himself and buy supplies, and then head off with his heavy backpack to look for people in need, whether through hitchhiking, trekking or scaling mountains.
“You need to be strong. It’s not an easy life. Maybe some people think my life is paradise because I get to go everywhere,” he laughs.
Why help? Gallardo says that people ask him that question a lot. His answer is simple: “I am a human being. As a human, I feel that it’s natural to help people.”
Photo courtesy of Tote Gallardo
One time, his heart broke when a disabled little boy in Nepal asked him the question.
“I said, ‘I want to give you some enjoyment, some hope in your life,’” he says. “In his mind, the society has forgotten them. When they see me, a foreigner, coming just to help them and asking for nothing in return, they feel important.”
He remembers Rita, a cancer-stricken girl in Siberia whose mother says she took an interest in art after working with him. There was one terminally ill girl in Vietnam who wanted to paint her last memory.
Photo courtesy of Tote Gallardo
“For a few days, they forget about their situation. What do you do when you’re a child? Paint! It’s a great feeling,” he says.
And there’s Angelo, the Italian backpacker who he took along to help out in the rice fields of Nepal. The next time they got in touch, Angelo was volunteering in an orphanage in India.
“I inspired one person,” he quips, beaming.
With travel uncertain due to the COVID-19, Gallardo isn’t sure where he’ll go next. But come September, he plans to head to Mexico and travel down to South America — back to where he came from, continuing to do what he does.
“I’ll keep going, keep going.”
For more information, visit www.instagram.com/newartglassrevolution
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