More than 60 Filipinos yesterday attended a team-building event at Bihu Park in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) to promote communication, solution finding and teamwork as part of a caregiver program.
The event, planned by the Migrant Workers’ Concern Desk of the Catholic Archdiocese of Taipei, divided the 68 participants into groups in which they were required to work together to find solutions to problems.
The activities included one that divided participants into groups of five as they competed to make the tallest and sturdiest structure out of marshmallows and chopsticks.
Other activities included a race in which participants lined up with balloons in between them and raced to reach the finish line without dropping a balloon.
The activities aim to teach participants how to work with others before they start weekly on-site practical training this month at an orphanage and center for disabled people in Taipei, program coordinator Leoni Pascual Ngo said.
The program is to run through December, Ngo added.
Some of the more practical skills taught included changing diapers and bedsheets, and cleaning patients and their living space, said Marlyn Co, course instructor for practical demonstrations.
Communication is very important when participants start their practical studies, because they could be working with people of other nationalities, said Perla Lupo, course instructor for interpersonal relationships and personality development.
Judy, a caregiver, said she enjoyed the course and is happy to be learning things that she can put to use in her work.
“We learn new skills to take care of and help other people, especially those who can’t look after themselves,” she said.
Ludy, another caregiver, said that the course would help her improve and possibly find better opportunities in other countries.
The program started in 2010 under the guidance of the nursing department of Cardinal Tien Hospital in New Taipei City before the concern desk organized three courses from 2012 to 2014, the group said in a report.
Some of the participants have taken what they learned to other countries, including more than 20 who now live in Canada, and several others in New Zealand and Poland, the report said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
RSS