The Peng Wan-Ru Foundation yesterday said it hopes to help women return to the workforce and elderly people maintain a basic quality of living by offering domestic services on a part-time basis.
The foundation has about 1,000 domestic helpers who have served an average of four-and-a-half years, it told the annual Golden Hand Awards ceremony for senior and outstanding domestic helpers.
Although a majority of them are women who have returned to the workforce following a break, those who are new to the workforce had joined the foundation in the past few years, it said.
The foundation’s goal is to build a “non-long-term” form of elderly care, it said.
It wants to follow the examples of some northern European nations by providing domestic services on a part-time basis to help elderly people delay the onset of disabilities and reduce the need for long-term care, it said.
Lin Yi-chen (林宜蓁), who has worked with the foundation for 10 years, said she became a domestic helper in her 40s due to financial pressure and after failing to find another job.
Her biggest benefit from her work has been meeting different people, she said.
A couple — a 90-year-old man surnamed Yang (楊) and his 86-year-old wife — she has been helping for years always asks her to stay for a meal, Lin said.
She has developed a deep bond with them, Lin said, adding that going to their home now is “like returning to [her] maiden home.”
Another domestic helper who has worked with the foundation for 10 years, Lu Yu-huan (陸玉環), said that besides doing housework, she also chats with her elderly clients.
They talk about big and small things in life, as well as about the past, she said.
Once, she saw a young girl taking illegal drugs at the residence she was working at, Lu said, adding that she tried to persuade her to quit as if she were her “own daughter.”
However, she eventually reported the situation to the foundation, she said.
When she has time, she also volunteers as a traffic warden at an elementary school, Lu said.
“Previously, other people took care of my children. Now, I can also help others,” she said.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS