생생후기
대만 Siluo, 잊지 못할 여름날의 봉사
Heritage Houses in Siluo
참가 전 준비와 마음가짐
SILUO WORKCAMP 2013 REPORT
This summer 2013 I worked two weeks as a volunteer in Taiwan, between the 21th of July and the 3rd of August. I participated in a workcamp for international young people, in Siluo (西螺鎮), a small township located in Yunlin County, in the middle of the island. The cultural project “Heritage Houses in Siluo” was organized by Louyoung Culture and Education Foundation in cooperation with a Taiwanese Workcamp Association named Vision Youth Action (http://www.vya.org.tw).
To arrive to destination I took a plane from Incheon to Tao-Yuan international airport. Then I went to the capital by a shuttle bus. There was a direct bus from Taipei to Siluo, which took about 3 hours. Weather was hot and humid, since it was raining season. The information I got from the provided info-sheet was good, useful and precise. That was my first time visiting that tropical country. I was very excited at the beginning, willing to cooperate actively, to learn about other cultures and to meet new people from all over the world.
There were a total of eighteen volunteers, half of them Taiwanese and half international (from France, Spain, Russia, Hong Kong and South Korea), aged between 18 and 33 years old. They are very nice people, with high motivation, and all of us we worked hard together, exchanging and sharing many wonderful experiences that I will never forget. Although local people spoke in Taiwanese, the official language was Mandarin Chinese. However, all the participants communicated each other in English.
During the first week we did gardening in a traditional Taiwanese house, in the number 92 of Yenping Old Street. In that street is preserved the local heritage of Siluo: there are 142 classical and elegant houses, most of them built 80 years ago, during the Japanese colonization period of the island (1930-1945). They have various unique architectural styles, mainly Art Deco. In the past Yenping Street was the busy centre of the town, but nowadays most of the houses are empty and useless. Unfortunately many residents already went away from this beautiful place and it became silent. That is why the local organization wanted to promote the Siluo culture and its traditional buildings. Hence, we helped to improve their condition, preserving the history. Those houses needed to keep them useful.
During the second week we made public art. This was another way to support the cultural development of Siluo Township and to contribute to the revitalisation of the streets. Two experts in metal work showed us how to create modern style statues from steel beams. The material, almost 50 years old, were the remains of the steel not used in the construction of the bridge on the great Zhuo Shui River. Therefore, by making public art we also contributed to recycle.
The work was hard and difficult but interesting at the same time. It was the first time in my life I tried to use a welder to cut and join pieces of metal. Nevertheless, the two professional artists helped us to do this, and thus we finally succeeded. Teamwork was the key. We created and painted two big decorated benches and several small figures. All of them intended to be robots, since the topic was inspired in the old steel bridge, which indeed had the shape of a giant robot. I think it was a really original idea, very appropriate to the place where the works of arts were exhibited permanently.
Our volunteer task not only included gardening in the historical heritage and artistic creation and decoration (the main aims of our workcamp), but also educational and cultural exchange (an additional activity). Thus, one day we went to an Elementary School to teach English and play games with local children. They enjoyed it a lot. It was a good experience for them, since people from Siluo rarely have the chance to meet and interact with foreigners in their town.
The volunteers stayed in Siluo International Volunteer House, a building offered by Siluo township government, a new place with comfortable beds, toilets and showers, a big common room with air conditioner and kitchen. Moreover, there was a wide yard and beautiful view. We had a great time there. Every day we went by bicycle from our accommodation to our working place. It took about 10 minutes riding. Although the organization provided us with the breakfast and lunch (sometimes we ate in the local restaurants and sometimes we had packed meals), we cook the dinner by ourselves (therefore, we had the chance to taste dishes from different countries, both from Asia and Europe).
Besides working, during the afternoons and weekends we could also enjoy of excursions, exchange parties with local people, night market, traditional puppet show, we had the chance to learn Chinese kung-fu with an expert master, and we also did eco-tourism in our free day. On the first day we had a welcome dinner and the last day a farewell party. One day every participant prepared a short presentation about their countries and introducing themselves too. It was very interesting. I shared pictures from Korea with other volunteers and with local community. They liked them and I was glad to talk about my land.
This summer 2013 I worked two weeks as a volunteer in Taiwan, between the 21th of July and the 3rd of August. I participated in a workcamp for international young people, in Siluo (西螺鎮), a small township located in Yunlin County, in the middle of the island. The cultural project “Heritage Houses in Siluo” was organized by Louyoung Culture and Education Foundation in cooperation with a Taiwanese Workcamp Association named Vision Youth Action (http://www.vya.org.tw).
To arrive to destination I took a plane from Incheon to Tao-Yuan international airport. Then I went to the capital by a shuttle bus. There was a direct bus from Taipei to Siluo, which took about 3 hours. Weather was hot and humid, since it was raining season. The information I got from the provided info-sheet was good, useful and precise. That was my first time visiting that tropical country. I was very excited at the beginning, willing to cooperate actively, to learn about other cultures and to meet new people from all over the world.
There were a total of eighteen volunteers, half of them Taiwanese and half international (from France, Spain, Russia, Hong Kong and South Korea), aged between 18 and 33 years old. They are very nice people, with high motivation, and all of us we worked hard together, exchanging and sharing many wonderful experiences that I will never forget. Although local people spoke in Taiwanese, the official language was Mandarin Chinese. However, all the participants communicated each other in English.
During the first week we did gardening in a traditional Taiwanese house, in the number 92 of Yenping Old Street. In that street is preserved the local heritage of Siluo: there are 142 classical and elegant houses, most of them built 80 years ago, during the Japanese colonization period of the island (1930-1945). They have various unique architectural styles, mainly Art Deco. In the past Yenping Street was the busy centre of the town, but nowadays most of the houses are empty and useless. Unfortunately many residents already went away from this beautiful place and it became silent. That is why the local organization wanted to promote the Siluo culture and its traditional buildings. Hence, we helped to improve their condition, preserving the history. Those houses needed to keep them useful.
During the second week we made public art. This was another way to support the cultural development of Siluo Township and to contribute to the revitalisation of the streets. Two experts in metal work showed us how to create modern style statues from steel beams. The material, almost 50 years old, were the remains of the steel not used in the construction of the bridge on the great Zhuo Shui River. Therefore, by making public art we also contributed to recycle.
The work was hard and difficult but interesting at the same time. It was the first time in my life I tried to use a welder to cut and join pieces of metal. Nevertheless, the two professional artists helped us to do this, and thus we finally succeeded. Teamwork was the key. We created and painted two big decorated benches and several small figures. All of them intended to be robots, since the topic was inspired in the old steel bridge, which indeed had the shape of a giant robot. I think it was a really original idea, very appropriate to the place where the works of arts were exhibited permanently.
Our volunteer task not only included gardening in the historical heritage and artistic creation and decoration (the main aims of our workcamp), but also educational and cultural exchange (an additional activity). Thus, one day we went to an Elementary School to teach English and play games with local children. They enjoyed it a lot. It was a good experience for them, since people from Siluo rarely have the chance to meet and interact with foreigners in their town.
The volunteers stayed in Siluo International Volunteer House, a building offered by Siluo township government, a new place with comfortable beds, toilets and showers, a big common room with air conditioner and kitchen. Moreover, there was a wide yard and beautiful view. We had a great time there. Every day we went by bicycle from our accommodation to our working place. It took about 10 minutes riding. Although the organization provided us with the breakfast and lunch (sometimes we ate in the local restaurants and sometimes we had packed meals), we cook the dinner by ourselves (therefore, we had the chance to taste dishes from different countries, both from Asia and Europe).
Besides working, during the afternoons and weekends we could also enjoy of excursions, exchange parties with local people, night market, traditional puppet show, we had the chance to learn Chinese kung-fu with an expert master, and we also did eco-tourism in our free day. On the first day we had a welcome dinner and the last day a farewell party. One day every participant prepared a short presentation about their countries and introducing themselves too. It was very interesting. I shared pictures from Korea with other volunteers and with local community. They liked them and I was glad to talk about my land.