The Taiwan Toy Library Association on Wednesday said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the group is still collecting secondhand toys and other items to donate to Eswatini.
For its “collect secondhand toys, send love to Africa” project, the association said it has also enlisted the help of students and teachers from Vanung University’s department of commercial design to paint a mural depicting Africa on a shipping container, in which toys would be collected before being sent to the south African nation in the middle of next month.
The mural showcases Africa’s vast grasslands and unique animals, students Liu Sheng-hsiung (劉勝雄) and Lu Chien-kuang (盧建光) said, adding that they hope they succeeded in portraying the dynamism and vitality of the continent.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Aside from furthering the nation’s diplomatic efforts, the students said that supplying the needed items, especially in such a colorful package, would hopefully help children from the two nations to understand and cherish the Earth and all of its creatures.
Due to the pandemic, the association extended the collection period for the project to gather more donations of masks, sanitary napkins, mobile phones, dry goods and other items in addition to the toys, association chairman Yeh Kuo-fang (葉國芳) said
They also plan for the items to arrive by Christmas, he added.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Donations would be collected until the end of this month either by mail or in person at Jhen Tou Elementary School in Taoyuan’s Dayuan District (大園), Yeh said.
School principal Chen Wei-an (陳濰安) said that the 40-foot shipping container temporarily housed on the school’s campus has gained considerable attention as a popular photo destination for students, and is even attracting alumni, parents and local residents to come visit.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition