A group of 50 foreign students from the country's diplomatic allies yesterday visited Premier Su Tseng-chang (
"The Mid-Autumn Festival is a holiday for us Taiwanese people to get together with our loved ones. I know that most of you are studying alone here in Taiwan, and so I hope that an event like this will ease some of your homesickness," Su said at the event which took place at the Executive Yuan's office.
The group of 50 students were selected from a total of 129 foreign undergraduate and graduate students. They are currently studying in the country on scholarships from the International Cooperation and Development Fund, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
PHOTO: CNA
The fund's Secretary-General Chen Cheng-chung (
Chen said that the 129 foreign students are enrolled at 10 different colleges. All the courses they take are carried out in English.
Chadians Molengar Ngoundo and Belembaye Tongongar, both doctoral students at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, grabbed the media's attention. Chad just severed its diplomatic ties with Taiwan in August.
Ngoundo has been in Taiwan for six years. He obtained his master's degree here in 2003 and is now in the fourth year of his doctoral program in agronomy.
Tongongar has a master's degree from Morocco and is now in his second year of studies for a doctorate in water conservation.
"I really want Taiwanese people to know that both of us appreciated the chance to study here in Taiwan," Ngoundo said.
"Usually, for a program like this, the government would kick us back to our home country, but you did not do so," Tongongar added.
Both of them said they would be more than happy to stay, study and work after graduation if the Taiwanese government allowed them to do so.
"But our families are in Chad and there are a lot of things for us to accomplish back home, too," Tongongar said.
The two students admitted that the scholarship may not be enough to support their studies and living expense in Taiwan.
"It is a four-year program, but the scholarship money is only available for the first three years. Like me, I am totally on my own expenses now," Ngoundo said.
"But the good thing is that the president of our university prom-ised aid of NT$8,000 a year to us, which will help a bit," Ngoundo said.
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