The Children Are Us Foundation (
The foundation is a nonprofit group that provides the mentally-disabled with long-term care and job training. Known for its efforts to enable clients to be self-supporting, the organization sponsors several restaurants and bakeries in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Hsinchu that provide clients with work opportunities.
At the organization's 10th anniversary celebration yesterday, foundation representatives said they hope the learning center will fulfill the post-secondary educational needs of their clients.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"The current education system only provides for the mentally disabled until they are 18 and graduate from special education vocational high schools. A study we did, however, indicates that 80 percent of parents feel a need for further education for their disabled children," foundation chairwoman Hsiao Shu-chen (蕭淑珍) said.
"Since there is no system in place for these individuals, our foundation is trying to set up an institution where the developmentally disadvantaged can develop living skills and get job training," she said.
"In this day and age when almost all students of average intelligence can get further education if they want it, it's natural for parents of the mentally disabled to want their children to have similar opportunities. Realistically, it would be difficult for such individuals to go to regular universities and obtain degrees, but our foundation hopes to act as a channel through which the disabled too can have the extra time and guidance to decide their life's direction," Hsiao said.
The foundation hopes to establish centers in Taipei County and Kaohsiung City by next January. It is currently in negotiations with the Ministry of Education, Council of Labor Affairs and local authorities to map out plans for the schools and their place in the education system.
"There's never been anything like this done before," Hsiao said.
The foundation said the school will hold classes in two categories: vocational training and community-college style classes in arts and physical fitness.
To raise money for the centers, the foundation is holding a 21-day auction through Yahoo Auctions Taiwan at bid.yahoo.com.tw. The auction includes autographed items from various politicians and entertainers, such as Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
More information on the foundation is available at www.c-are-us.org.tw. To volunteer, call (02) 2325-7383 in Taipei and (07) 726-6096 in Kaohsiung.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS