Taipei exhibition pays tribute to family fund

2015/08/18

An exhibition highlighting over 65 years of foster care and family support development in Taiwan is currently underway at National Taiwan Science Education Center in Taipei City.

Featuring artwork and accounts of those who received help through Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, the event also documents the good deeds that make paying it forward a thriving practice nationwide.

“Since TFCF began in 1950, a total of 235,833 children from underprivileged families have benefited from our foster care and one-on-one sponsorship programs,” Chairman Chao Li-min of the Taichung City-based organization said.

“These include those suffering from domestic violence and poverty, as well as school dropouts and abused teenage girls,” he said, adding that the fund’s charity services have extended in recent years from Taiwan to countries like Mongolia and Swaziland.

One of the cases featured at the exhibition is that of Pan Li-chuan. The eldest of three sisters, Pan’s family lost its footing when her father died. The family was held together and saved from a cycle of deprivation thanks to the financial and material assistance provided by TFCF.

“I was enrolled in the child sponsorship program and received my first coat in life when my American sponsor sent me a US$5 bill as a birthday gift,” Pan said. “This human warmth sustained me through life’s hardships, and I vow to pass this feeling along to my daughter and help other people in need.”

Another figure spotlighted at the show is Ma An-na, one of the very first foster care volunteers in Taiwan. Over the last 31 years, she has tended more than 60 foster children, some with cognitive disabilities and rare diseases.

“It is a labor of love,” Ma said. “After all these years, many still come back for our family reunion on New Year’s Eve. I am proud to be a mother to all these youngsters.”

The life stories of the exhibition’s cases are narrated by a stellar lineup of celebrities, including pop singers Chang Hui-mei and Fan Wei-chi, as well as nature writer Liu Ka-shiang. This is expected to ensure high attendance figures until the event wraps up Aug. 23, according to TFCF.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=233878&ctNode=413)