Residents of E-Soul Rehabilitation Center gives insight into traveling to Macao for Eden. Aaron hopes to allow the disabled to share his experience through photos. He hopes to bring them to another world through simple imagination.

Article | Ciou Cing Yi   Photo |  Li Hua Su

Aaron, a junior in Nankai University, majors in Finance and is also a volunteer from Macao. He came to National Taiwan Normal University as an exchange student at the second semester of junior year. After Aaron learned about Eden’s service opportunities, he immediately signed up to be a volunteer of Eden.

Aaron said that he had seen the public service of Eden in Macao, and therefore had some understanding of it. He now reflects with a smile,“My understanding of Eden was one-sided. I only knew that Eden is an organization that helped physically-disabled people and its founder, Liu Xia, is a famous writer. After being a volunteer, I have a better understanding of the services of Eden.”

Volunteer Experience Sharing

Aaron shared the experience of being a volunteer at a Land-mine workshop in which he was the note taker at the activity. He said, “I was surprised that the activity was taking place in Taiwan. It made me realize that Taipei is an international city which many different cultural activities and forums can happen. Although I was merely a note taker, I also learned a lot from there.”

In addition to participating in anti-landmine activities, Aaron was the volunteer of E-Soul Rehabilitation Center in which he went to the rehabilitation center to share information about his hometown and to introduce the traditional culture. He also assisted residents with feeding. Aaron reflects on the process of helping boys ten years younger than him eat. He realized that both of the boys he serviced needed others to assist them in society, but there are obvious differences to the extent of the help required. He said that we need to pay attention to the different situations and circumstances of each resident and utilize skills that would benefit each fully.

As a boy whose interest is serving others, doing charity work in his hometown was common. Aaron said that he also went to a nursing home to take care of the elderly in Macao. Because he had the experience of being a volunteer, he signed up immediately to become a volunteer of Eden.

“If I were a resident of E-Soul Rehabilitation Center, I would break down. I learned to be courageous from those residents because it needs lots of courage to live there. They were never pessimistic about their bodies’ disabilities. Instead, they are resolute and optimistic. If given another opportunity, I would serve others at Eden again.”

Volunteer's Reflection

During the six months of being an exchange student in Taiwan, Aaron saw many barrier-free facilities. He found that there are lots of facilities in Taiwan such as the bus which gives wheelchair users great accessibility that cannot be found in Macao. Aaron believes that it is unfair to the less-fortunate to have a lack of good infrastructure in a seemingly prosperous city. He reflects that being a volunteer at Eden allows people to see different faces (there are numerous volunteers all over the world at Eden), different scenes, different cultures, and different traditions, allowing you to feel that you are not just in the Chinese world.

The process of planning with people from different countries allows you to learn more things and discover your own weaknesses by making friends. He said, “I will study hard and give my best to serve others. I realized how important it is to give than to receive.” The optimistic spirit of Aaron is admirable.

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