Sponsoring a child from a developing nation might be common practice in Taiwan, but it is something else for sponsors and those they help to regard each other as family members and to learn each other’s languages.
Zhi Shan Foundation Taiwan has been well-supported by the public over its 20 years of efforts to help poorer Vietnamese children, and has seen many underprivileged children complete their high-school and college educations.
One such example is a female named Le Thi Thu who was sponsored by Feng Yin-lung (馮印龍) and his wife.
Photo: CNA
During a visit from the Zhi Shan Foundation, Feng and his family produced many letters from Thu, which they said foundation staff had in the beginning helped them translate, but in the end they knew enough Vietnamese to read the letters themselves.
Feng said he first started sponsoring Le Thi Thu in 2004, when she was in her second year of junior high school and he first visited her in 2005.
Feng said he had bought a basic Vietnamese phrasebook in the hope of being able to have a basic conversation with Le Thi Thu, but found that the book was in a different dialect from that spoken in Hue.
Photo: CNA
Feng said he then began to learn the dialect spoken in central Vietnam.
After completing university in Vietnam, Le Thi Thu applied to come to Taiwan in 2011 to learn Mandarin and to study a for master’s degree at Ming Chuan University’s school of tourism, Feng said.
Feng said it was regrettable that Le Thi Thu eventually dropped out of the course because she found it difficult to use multiple languages — both Mandarin and English — and family members became ill in Vietnam. However, he said that during her stay she completed her Mandarin studies and became fluent in the language.
When she returned to Vietnam, her Mandarin ability helped her to find a job at Phu Vinh Investment Building Infrastructure Co, within a month of returning to Vietnam, Feng said, and her monthly salary — equivalent to NT$10,000 — is a good salary in Vietnam.
“We have always treated her as our own daughter, and we are glad that she is not only able to take care of her family, but is also talking of getting married,” Feng said.
Separately, Hsu Ching-min (許清閔) has also dedicated himself to helping disadvantaged Vietnamese.
On a visit to Vietnam with the foundation to see the children he had sponsored, he said he learned that rural areas in central Vietnam have a severe shortage of books and disabled children face difficulties when going to the bathroom at school.
There are a large number of children with birth defects in the area, thought to be a result of chemicals such as Agent Orange dropped by the US during the Vietnam War.
Financial issues in rural areas prohibit schools from building disabled-friendly restrooms, Hsu said, adding that his desire to help motivated him to make as much money as possible in his job playing the Huqin.
Hsu said that between performing on the streets during the weekend, playing at the highway rest stop in Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西) during the week and occasionally accepting offers to play at other venues, he had saved up a considerable sum, which he donated to help buy reading materials and to build disabled-friendly restrooms in Hue.
The foundation had estimated the cost for building disabled-friendly restrooms for male and female children at a school in the area would cost US$25,000, Hsu said, adding that he donated US$15,000 and the local government met the rest of the expense.
“I hope that my donations help attract children who are disabled in central Vietnam to attend Pinglu Elementary School,” Hsu said. “My donations toward helping Vietnamese children will not stop, because for every child I help, it means one more family might be lifted from poverty.”
Hsu said his next plan is to start a school lunch program for Vietnamese children, which would cost about NT$200,000 per year for 100 children.
“If I take on more commercial performances, it is possible for me to come up with the sum,” Hsu said.
Hsu said he hoped more Taiwanese would donate resources so Vietnamese children can go to school and receive medical care, adding that such donations go a long way toward helping these children have a chance to start a new chapter in their lives.
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