Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) A group of indigenous youths said Wednesday they have learned a lot from a 10-day tour that focused on cultural exchanges and environmental protection and took them from aboriginal tribal villages to nuclear power plants and Taipei City.
The tour, which was co-organized by the National Youth Commission (NYC) and the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU), is part of the NYC's Youth Action Plans initiative.
Seven of the eight teenagers on the tour come from the Tao tribe, which resides on Lanyu island, located 76 km off the coast of southeastern Taiwan. During the trip, they picked up a new partner from Smangus, a Taiya tribal village in Hsinchu County.
The youths from Lanyu were especially emotional when they visited the No. 1 and No. 4 nuclear power plants, TEPU secretary-general Ho Tsung-hsun said at a press conference Wednesday, as their home is used by the Taiwan Power Co. as a nuclear waste dump, he said.
They also visited Smangus, a village that has implemented a "communist" social system that has been passed down from their ancestors, to get a feel for the culture of a different tribe.
Other locations they visited on the tour included Tainan City, Chiku Lagoon, Sandimen township in Pintung County, and the Taipei Artist Village.
The culture experience tour is one of more than 40 programs organized by NYC in cooperation with non-governmental organizations to encourage Taiwanese youth participation in local affairs, according to NYC Minister Cheng Li-chiun.