Taipei, Oct. 5 (CNA) Students from National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) who took part in an international volunteer program said Friday that it expanded their visions, changed their perspectives on the world and helped them cherish what they had back home even more.
The program, launched by NTHU this summer for the first time, sent 32 students to five countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Nepal and Poland -- to do social and educational work from July to September.
"Now I know that even electricity and clean water are blessings, "said Tseng Chia-hsing, one of 15 students who helped teach basic medical knowledge, hold an English summer camp and a garden party in the remote village of Jugedi, Nepal during a 45-day stay.
Kerwin Cheng, a material science and engineering graduate student, taught computer operation in eight training camps in Medan and Aceh, Indonesia, which were hit by a tsunami in 2004 and are still recovering. Cheng said he was inspired by the bright and passionate spirit of the Indonesians, who lost almost everything in the disaster but never gave up.
Liao Ching-yi spent more than two months in Poland living with drug addicts under treatment. The program was a collaboration with the Monar Association, one of the largest non-government organizations (NGOs) in Poland and Europe.
The other two groups went to Qinghai, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to teach high school students.
The program is a variation of the school's mandatory course on labor services, which in the past usually required students to help clean the campus, said Hocheng Hong, dean of student affairs. Judging from the results, the program is a good learning experience for students, he said.
NTHU will collaborate with organizations in Haiti, Nigeria and China next year, Hocheng said.