Taipei City Government

On the morning of April 10, the Taipei Municipal Yingqiao Elementary School received a delegation of 11 teachers and students from the Philippines under the 2019 Youth Exchange Student Program of Rotary Club of Taipei Toa Tiu Tian.

A Taipei City Campus Construction Model School Quality Award recipient and a 2018 Rice Education School under the eponymous program of the Council of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Agency, the school offered a two-day immersive program to familiarize their Philippine guests with Chinese culture and language and to help them get to know their fifth-grade hosts and their teachers.

The project, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Taipei Toa Tiu Tian in the international organization’s spirit of service, consisted of a two-day program at Ying-Chao Elementary School, a visit to the Bread of Life Christian Church in Guting accompanied by Rotary Club of Taipei Toa Tiu Tian president Danny,club members, and school principal Liu Hui-mei.

The elderly residents of the community around the school were pampered with the simultaneous treats of traditional Philippine dances by the visiting teachers and students and massages by the Ying-Chao principal, teachers, and students, after which everyone shared a meal and a good time together. This was intended to give the students the opportunity to undergo a care and service learning experience consisting of knowing, getting close to, and respecting the elderly, supporting, and caring for the elderly, among other subjects. Linguistic barriers were shattered in the process, and the loving service spirit of Rotary Club was palpable!

On the morning of April 11, the Philippine children participated in the school’s morning assembly flag-raising ceremony, which signified the start of the second day of their immersive learning experience at a Taiwanese elementary school. In this packed two-day trip, the young guests from the Philippines experienced an all-Chinese learning environment and learned the art of calligraphy by learning how to write their own name in Chinese, experienced small-plot gardening by helping plant vanilla seedlings, brew and tasted vanilla tea, enjoyed a traditional Taiwanese lion dance, played a game of tee-ball, and practiced papercutting the character for “spring,” and much other good fun.

On the afternoon of April 12, the unforgettable international exchange activity concluded with gifts and handshakes. The youngsters and teachers from the Philippines have certainly felt the thoughtfulness of Taipei Municipal Yingqiao Elementary School in its arrangements. We trust that the experience of this Ying-Chao—Philippines Immersive Chinese Language Experience and International Exchange Activity will have a deep and lasting impact on the Ying-Chao students.