An education program in Cambodia founded by a Taiwanese charity has benefited nearly 10,000 Cambodians over the past five years, which is comparable to a modern equivalent of the famed agricultural missions dispatched by the Taiwanese government to aid diplomatic allies in the 1960s.
The Cambodia-Taiwan Education Program was launched by the Taiwan Exquisite Culture and Education Association five years ago after the group, having funded a lunch program for orphanages in Cambodia with local priests, found that food relief would not lift orphans out of poverty, the program’s director, Hsu Chien-wen (許茜雯), said.
An occupational training subprogram was initiated this year to introduce 2,000 Cambodians to employment opportunities at Taiwanese businesses based in Cambodia over the next three years, Hsu said.
After emerging from the regime of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia remains the poorest and most in need among Asian countries, she said, adding that the association decided to provide aid to the country as its efforts could be maximized with minimal budget in Cambodia, while the friendliness of Cambodians toward aid workers was also a factor.
“The philosophy of the association is: ‘We do what we can.’ It is within the power of the association to support Cambodia, although there are other countries in need of assistance,” she said.
Established with a limited amount of charitable donations, the education program was selective in providing aid, starting in cities and then expanding to remote areas, she said.
The program is mainly based on English and computer courses, as English is an international language, and digital literacy gaps have led to a widening wealth gap in the 21st century, so computer education is at the heart of the program, she said.
Kenny, a Cambodian manager of the program, said that although rural areas are in general underdeveloped and poverty-stricken, everyone knows that learning English and computer skills is key to changing the future, so parents are willing to sign their children up.
The program has offered Chinese courses in some regions to help young people find jobs in the tourism industry or with Taiwanese businesses, Hsu said.
Nearly 10,000 Cambodians have taken courses with the program, and the association launched an occupational training subprogram to provide sewing training this year, with trainees having completed the training to be recommended to Taiwanese companies, she said.
The program provides Taiwanese with an opportunity to perform volunteer work, with hundreds of Taiwanese students volunteering in Cambodia and learning by helping others each year, she said, adding that the program has helped promote Taiwan through charity work.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to