Hundreds of university students spend summer vacation as volunteers abroad

For Liu Yi-shin (劉宜鑫), a junior at National Taiwan University, the past few weeks were perhaps the most unforgettable part of his summer vacation.

Liu spent two weeks at the Home for the Dying in Kolkata, India. a charity founded by Mother Theresa that houses some 40 homeless people of all ages with physical disabilities.

"I found the hygiene conditions there unbearable right as I stepped out of the plane," Liu said. "A lot of modern urban infrastructure is absent. Piles of trash just pile up along the roads and smell horrible."

In addition, Liu and 16 companions arrived in Kolkata during India's monsoon season. But the group was not discouraged by what they saw.

"You have to personally experience poverty to be able to help these people," Liu said.

During their two-week stay, Liu and the others did house cleaning and laundry and helped physically challenged residents in their daily lives, he said.

"Because of the lack of modern equipment, things as simple as doing the laundry are not as easy there," Liu said.

Liu was among 300 Taiwanese university students who spent part of their vacation as volunteers abroad.

With help from the Ministry of Education and the National Youth Commission, these students from 17 universities nationwide worked in a variety of projects in developing countries such as India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malawi and Cambodia.

Although Liu doesn't speak any Indian languages, he didn't feel communication was problematic.

"You know what they want if you look into their eyes and pay attention to their gestures," he said.

Liu said he is more confident now about facing life's challenges.

Lee Chia-ju (李佳儒), a third-year student at Taipei Medical University, spent part of her summer doing volunteer work in Malawi.

Lee said she helped with filling prescriptions, teaching Malawians about health issues and doing administrative work.

One of the most unforgettable moments during her stay there was when her team ran short of several medicines, she said.

"All we could do was give medication to the most seriously ill patients. We could give the others only vitamin pills," Lee said.

Lee said she was saddened to see the enormous gap between the health care available in Taiwan and that in Malawi.

"How can there be such a big difference when we're all living on the same Earth?" Lee asked.

Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) lauded the students' contributions to humanitarian work on Friday.

"When I was a kid, Taiwan was a poor country with terrible hygiene conditions and medical care," Tu told the students at an event held to recognize their volunteer work abroad.

"Back then, we received a lot of international aid," he said. "Now that we've passed that stage, it's our turn to help."

Most of the volunteer programs only lasted a few weeks. Tu said the Cabinet would discuss extending the service period and promoting overseas volunteer programs as an integrated part of the country's education.

Tu said that the amount the ministry offers in subsidies to college students serving as volunteers overseas during summer and winter vacations would increase to NT$9 million (US$273,000) next year from NT$4.6 million this year.