Mudan School Volunteeering Program 2020
Episode 1, The One about the Meeting!
One of the major issues in Taiwan’s rural education is lacking teachers and resources. However, Eden believes that every child is entitled to receive a quality education regardless of where he/she lives. Hence, Eden launched a series of programs with Mudan School in New Taipei City to enrich kids’ learning experiences. We invite international volunteers who are studying in Taiwan to bring age-appropriate activities for kids at the kindergarten of Mudan School.
Our international volunteers dedicated their spare time not only to serve those kids but also put their efforts in preparation. On June 5th, Eden hosted an afternoon tea party for volunteers to get to know each other and to brainstorm the activities they were going to bring to the kids. In that afternoon, the sound of pens scratching on the paper and the sound of laughing and singing were filling the room. Volunteers from 6 different countries were exchanging their creative ideas and multicultural perspectives for the kids at Mudan School.
Excited to know what’s happening next? Follow up on our post closely!
Episode 2, The One about the First Day at Mudan
This is the first day of the 2020 Mudan School programs. Since most of the international volunteers had never met the kids before, our volunteers arranged a series of activities to introduce themselves as well as the countries they live in. Through the activities, the kids could get to know more about our international volunteers personally as well as to expand their knowledge about the world. Since the kids at Mudan, who aren’t like the city kids, have limited or none experience of interacting with foreigners, not to mention lacking of opportunities to travel overseas, these activities could also help minimize the gap of life experience between them and the kids in the cities. Through volunteers’ activities, kids at Mudan could still get to know more about the world without leaving where they live.
Furthermore, volunteers had also prepared age-appropriate activities to enrich the program. They are “Fruit Salad” game with song sing, Animal Charades, Toy Race and Catch the Cultural activity. What a fun afternoon! With games and songs, the kids could learn general knowledge of daily life in a joyful environment.
Each kid has great potentials. We sincerely hope that through our volunteering programs, the kids could grow and unleash their potentials without the limitation of where they live.
Episode 3, Teeth Brushing Is Actually Fun and Healthy
In our second session in Mudan School, we taught the kids one vital task that we all need to do every day: teeth brushing!
In rural areas where not only the medical and hygiene supplies are harder to obtain, but also lacks basic health information. Thus, children’s oral health is a big concern. Because of that, our international volunteers planned some activities to teach kids the proper way of teeth brushing and to help kids understand the importance of teeth brushing.
We made some posters of mouths and teeth. By doing so, the kids could know how their teeth look like and where to brush when using a toothbrush.
We also performed a short play, in which one of our volunteers acted as a kid who always forgot to brush teeth and his teeth was attacked by the bacteria, which was acted by another volunteer. Luckily, our toothbrush hero came to rescue and the boy won’t have toothache anymore! By the end of the day, the kids know the importance of teeth brushing and how to properly brush their teeth!
Sustainable Development Goals no.4 promotes inclusive and equitable quality education for all. We believe that regardless where the kids live, they always deserve the best opportunity of education. Big thanks to those international volunteers who made the information session fun, meaningful and memorable!
Episode 4, Little Kids Dream Big
This is the last session of our 1st term service at Mudan School. And this time, we talked about “Dream Job.” In the adult world, some think that dream job is about earning a fat paycheck or being offered great benefits; others believe it involves having a good work-life balance, the ability to help others, or the chance to make the world a better place.
For kids, a dream job is simply what they want to do when they grow up. We asked the kids to describe their dream jobs by creating a job hat and share their dream job with the class while wearing the hat. One of the kids shared that he wants to be a firefighter because he enjoys helping people! Such an encouraging statement!
Out international volunteers planned this activity to encourage the kids to be creative and positive towards their future! Dreams and hopes are the best nutrients for them in their life journey.
With laughter and joy, our 1st term service came to an end. With hugs that the kids at Mudan gave to our international volunteers, we know that the time we spent and the information we provided has caused some impact on their childhood. We believe kids will grow and unleash their potentials without the limitation of where they live! Best wishes to them!
