101beutiful heart-final_N

CONTENTS

The Angel of Life ……………………..….……….… 2

— I-Su Chen (陳怡夙)

Computer Emergency Doctor in Tribes ………………………. 12
— Zhi-Liang Lu(盧志良)

The Ever-Generous-Till-Death Soldier ……………….……… 19
— Dyan-Jya Yin(尹殿甲)

Fifty Dollars a Meal, Million Dollars Donation ………….….. 29
— Jing-An Chen(陳敬安)

Mother Bamboo Bank ..……………………………………… 38
— Yu-Pin Chen(陳玉品)

Music Magician for Disabled Students ………………..………. 48
— Wei-Chi Chen (陳蔚綺)

A Minivan of Love for the Handicapped ……………………... 57
— Ming-Chuan Tseng(曾明泉)

A Rainbow Angel to Children ………………………………… 65
— Shiang-Shin Shen(沈湘韾)

Uncle Tofu Pudding ……………………………………….…… 75
— Wen-Jin Huang(黃文進)

The Kind Man with Charity Mirror ………………………….. 81
— Chi-Tian Xu(許枝田)

References ………………………………………………….…… 89

The Angel of Life - I-su Chen

After graduating from college, I-su Chen,41, became an indicator of
occupational therapy1. She has been devoted to the treatment of psychological
disorder, she observes and evaluates carefully and provide appropriate
treatments to different patients. She also organizes various activities and
offers courses to accompany those patients in their rough time. Moreover,
Chen has thrown herself into public welfare activities for many years and
taken care of the minority. She lights up the hope in their future. Consequently,
she obtained the award of “Good People Good Deeds2 “in Kaohsiung and in
the country.

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2

Chen made use of her weekend to join the Kaohsiung Life Line
Association3 eight years ago. Working for at least twenty seven hours each
month, she counsels the people who want to commit suicide. Also, she has
worked in the senior citizens' home and the volunteer field for a long period of
time. What's more, she donates blood and money regularly and participates in
public welfare activities actively. Through a variety of activities, she hopes to
spread happiness to the people around her.

~3~

3

Q&A

 Who is the main object of your charity now?
Most of them are disadvantaged groups, such as people who are
physically disabled with no arms and deformed legs. I am servicing in
the retirement center and elder care and rehabilitation organizations4. I
have an extensive range of object to help, for example, elder and
mentally disordered people.

 Do you have any reasons for helping others?
Actually, I don’t have special reasons
to do it. I have taken part in the
charitable organizations since I was a
teenager. I think that people live in the
world, coming empty-handed and
going empty-handed. I would do as
possible as I could and do my best.

 Did you learn or realize anything about life from helping people？
Does it change your thought or values？
When I am helping others, on the other side, I am helping myself.

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4

Working as the Life-Line operator for nine years, I would consider the
content of each call. When counseling and helping them, I learn to wear
someone’s shoe invisibly. Besides, you would consider how to deal with
this problem if you were them. In fact, human life is not a big deal. You
don’t need to be rich because you can’t take it with you when you die. If
you think you have a miserable life, then you should think there is
someone worse than you. In this way, you would feel you are happy
enough.

 Did anything change you?
I went to donate blood with friends at the age of eighteen. Both of my
friends donated blood successfully;
however, I was too thin to donate
blood for not having enough
hemoglobin. At that time, I envied
them so much, and I told myself that I
would keep donating blood if I had a
chance next time. Eventually, at the
period of internship, I could donate
blood and keep doing until now. You

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supply blood for people when they have trouble. Even though you don’t
have much money to help them, you can do as possible as you can at
least.

 Did anything interesting occur in the process of helping others?
Yes, making a lot of friends, and I won’t feel lonely. They would keep
company with me through the most difficult time of my life.

 Does your family support your deeds?
Yes, my parents and children
support my deeds very much, and
children would follow me to be
youth volunteers because I brought
them to do with me when they
were young.

 Did you face any difficulties during the process of helping others?
In 1995, I was working as the Life-Line operator. There was a call about
suicide that night. A man said he didn’t have money due to

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6

unemployment and he would rather die. I talked to him for a long time
and pacified him to sleep in the end. At that time he said, “If I could see
two bags of rice when I wake up, that would be better.” Nevertheless, we
can’t go to find the case in person because we need to protect ourselves
for not knowing his background. So, I went to the
Administration Department and requested them to send two bags of rice
to the man. My difficulty is to consider whether to cross the line when
helping others.

 Have you ever thought of giving up?
Yes, last year, I don’t know
why I was granted the award
of “Good People, Good Deeds”
in Kaohsiung. Before I obtain
the honor, I kept doing the job
of helping people. I have
stayed in psychiatric facilities
for ten years, and I got well
along with patients. I wanted
to continue studying and apply
the skill on
my patients. However, I was fired because of that. Suddenly, I was not

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7

ready for that yet. I had worked in this hospital since it was established,
from nobody to fully occupied now.
I stayed up all night for evaluation
but did not ask for pay raise, at that
time, I had a question, “Would your
charity be rewarded?” I always do
something good to others, but the
one that framed me up was my best
friend. I faced the most difficult
time in my life when I didn’t obtain
the award. At that time, I really wanted to give up, but my friends
pushed me up. After a while, I obtained the award and my life gradually
became better, and I finally understand that no matter how hard your
life is, it would become better one day, so I keep doing good deeds.
Now I am an assistant of National Science Council. I work while
studying, I follow a nice professor. I have already studied here for one
semester; during this period of time, he teaches me a lot and I am very
grateful him very much.

 Do you have any prospects for this good deed you are doing? Or what
objective would you like to achieve in the future?

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8

My prospect is to keep doing. My objective is that if I have ability, I will
establish an orphanage to take care of children who are mentally retarded
or physically disabled. It’s better to build it in the mountain. If it’s not
live in the remote mountain, it will be in a place with beautiful scenery.
Actually, my goal is being achieved gradually. While studying, I would
think I should care more for those patients, so I keep studying in the
aspect of mentality and body.

 Do you have any opinion for obtaining the award of “Good People
Good Deeds” in Kaohsiung”?
In fact, I don’t have any
opinion because I don’t
take importance on this
award. Last year was the
most difficult time in my
life. That time was my
transitional period. I lost
the job which I have had
for ten years; what’ more, my father had cancer, and then I was notified
to obtain the award. In fact, I didn’t want to go. They asked me to write
down my opinion about this award, but I didn’t have any opinion of it.

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9

Because I thought I obtained the award, so what? Good people’s charity
won’t be rewarded, and they seem to have terrible end. I took good care

of that friend when I was a teenager, and
introduced her a job but she framed me up
in the end and I lost my job, so I was
confused about my award. When I received
the award from the President in the Office
of the President, I felt happy on the stage
but felt nothing down the stage for the
award was just a name. After that, I keep
doing good deeds, because in the process
of helping others, you change the fate of
people around you. This year, my father did a comprehensive physical
checkup and found, all of his cancer cells disappeared. It was a big
miracle!! In the society, there is only a thin line between the good and
bad people. You can’t say that good people will be good people forever.
Although I am not rich, god doesn’t let me starved. I don’t have heavy
liability6, and I thank god and feel it is enough.

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10

Notes:

1. occupational therapy n. 職能治療
2. Good People Good Deeds n. 好人好事
3. Kaohsiung Life Line Association n. 大高雄生命線協會
4. elder care and rehabilitation organizations n. 安養之家
5. psychiatric facilities n. 精神醫療院
6. liability n. 負債

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11

Computer Emergency Doctor in Tribes –
Zhi-Liang Lu

Zhi-Liang Lu was
born in 1972. His
father is a veteran
from mainland china.
His mother and wife
are aborigines.
Therefore, he has a
deep relationship with
aborigines. Mr. Lu
majored in computer
science and information engineering in college. He opened a computer
company in his hometown Pingtung County in South Taiwan a few years
ago, and he found many problems of aborigines, such as the gap of

technology between cities and tribes, the
problems of drop-out, etc. So Lu goes to
remote areas in Pingtung County to fix
computers voluntarily, and set digitization
of tribes into action. Lu also helps
drop-out students with his wife.

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12

As one of the groundbreakers of the Association of Ping-Indigenous1
Culture and Education, Lu hopes to help aborigines to solve more
problems. Now Lu is the project manager in this association. He
established “ Tribal Factory” allowing women to produce handicrafts to
bring some income into the tribes.

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13

Q&A

 I would like to ask you about the process of doing charity, and how
did you make the organization bigger?
In fact, I am not the chairman of this association ,I am a member of
Aboriginal Cultural and Educational Association in PingTung. Maybe I
can help it in education or industry. Why did I do the thing? It is related to
our traditional culture. After they read this article, I hope foreign friends
would have interest in the culture of Rukai2. I think it would help our tribe.
I should not be the only one that is doing this work. It so I feel it is
meaningless.

 When did you begin the work?
Actually, I have done the tribe service for a
long time. Before that, I was engaged in
computer work. My wife is an aboriginal,
and she worked in the World Vision
Taiwan3. World Vision in Taiwan
supports and adopts aboriginal children.
She worked in the social worker system.
Sometimes I attended some activities they
held, for example, being a volunteer and bringing children

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14

out to play. From that time, I began to contact aboriginal children, and
found that the aboriginal children have some problems. Later, there was
an opportunity in World Vision Taiwan, They needed a computer engineer,
and I studies information engineering, so I went in there. Therefore, I had
more chances to participate in the affairs about Taiwanese aborigines in
World Vision Taiwan. So I realized more problems about aboriginal
children, such as single parent, domestic violence, or rape. After I worked
in World Vision Taiwan for a while, I returned to my village. I opened a
computer company in there and maintained computers.

 You have put in to many industries, have you ever encountered up
any financial problem or frustration?
Yes, the computer company
suffered a loss of over one million
dollars. We are still repaying the
debt, maybe my operation has
some problem, but I think that is a
merit, because I got acquainted
with many people. Aboriginals
rarely repair computers.
To be honest, in this area, we did
not earn any money. We are

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15

promoting the tribal industry and service. That is no money. We just take
salary from the Council of Labor Affairs. About financial state, it is ok,
but still repaying the debt.

 Not just financial problems, in doing student counseling, do you
encounter any problem or about transportation?
As many tribal schools have been abolished, the students run around in
the tribal after school, but there is a problem: where is their
competitiveness? No competitiveness. Then we called for donation of
second-hand computers and sent them to the tribes, and the first problem
is transportation. The tribes are far away, in the mountains. The humidity
caused the high failure rate. Although they have the computer, no one can
teach, except I, so this is the lack of teaching staff and equipment.

 Have you had anything that makes you deeply impressed since you
did charity?
I see many problems, but I can’t help and feel anxious. Particularly after
the Morakot4 flood, the tribe was moved down to the foot of the mountain,
but the government just solved the housing problem. In the mountain they
have some places for tribal activities, but now the cultural meaning is
gone.

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16

 What is the meaning of doing good deeds for you?
I saw my tribe’s problem, but no
one can help them to solve and I want to help
them. Now there is worry more than fun.
After the Morakot flood, there is even more
worry because there is a lot of things to
solve.

 Do you have any realize when you help others?
I see a lot of people need help. As long as I can manage, I will do
whatever I can do. Hope it will make more people identify with me.

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17

Notes

1. Ping-Indigenous n.平埔族
2. Rukai n.魯凱族
3. World Vision Taiwan n.台灣世界展望會
4. Morakot n.八八水災(莫拉克風災)

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18

The Ever-Generous-Till-Death Soldier -
Dyan-Jya Yin

A veteran serviceman,
Dyan-Jya Yin, who enjoys
doing good deeds without
being known, is 88 years old
at present, and lives alone in
a room measuring about 17
square meters on the 3rd
floor of the public retail
market of Cing Shuei in
Taichung of central Taiwan.

Mr. Yin was born in Tihwa, Shin-jang province of Mainland China, in
July, 1924. His ancestors were a family with high prestige, and built up an

enormous household business. They even
shared the lands with the neighbors in
poverty to help with farming.

At the age of 15, Mr. Yin got
admitted to the military academy of
Shin-jang. After serving as messenger for a
year, he was assigned to the air force as a

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messenger. Later he became an operations assistant. In 1948, he was
transferred to the Navy unit. Not long after December of that year, he was sent
again to the reserve unit of the Taiwan Air Force. While there, he took charge
of the generators from a sergeant to first sergeant. Achieving 45 years of
military devotion, he finally left service in 1984.

Mr. Yin has been giving away half of the 30,000 dollars’ pension he
receives every month to eleven charities since he retired from military service.
Those relief-given charities by him include Tzu Chi Foundation1, Chiayi
Charity group2, Huei-Ming School and Home for the Blind3, Huei-Kon
Medical Foundation of VGHTC (Veterans General Hospital of Taichung) 4,
Erhlin Happy Christian Homes5, Genesis Social Welfare Foundation6, etc.

For twenty-five years, Mr. Yin has accumulated a huge mass of
donation more than 7,000,000 dollars. Even President Ma Ying-jeou was
overwhelmed by such selfless love of contribution.

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20

Q&A

 Can you describe the process of doing charity? When did you start to
do this? What thing did you do?
I felt I could live within my income without taking much care of others. It
was until I was put into their place that I realized a small group of people
in this society were faced with
miseries, like suffering from
diseases, getting into trouble, or
having accidents.
I deposited all the cash I couldn’t
use up in the bank and the money
in my account was getting more
and more. However, before I took to money donation, that money was
nothing anymore but waste. In this matter of raising money for people, I
tried to save a bit more. At the beginning of the donation work, I got it
started with two or three grand. After a couple of months, I tuned in the
amount of money on that. I got paid thirty grand per month, so I gave
away half of it, fifteen grand.
Doesn’t there go a saying that “man is the soul of the universe”? Now that
we are the soul of the universe, as man, we take the guidance for this
world.

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21

It is our job to make use of the bright side
of the body and bring people happiness,
and that’s why I continue doing this
money donation. Besides that, I’ve been
doing it for over twenty years, yet I can’t
recollect how I was doing it then.
Whatsoever, I should say we’re not to
invariably make our efforts pay off, but to devote ourselves without
asking any returns from it.
There often came the staff reporters from some newspapers to interview
me about my story. One time, my story appeared at the front page of
China Times. President Ma got deeply touched while he reached to that
part of the newspaper, and came to my home to see me. I was
overwhelmed… Actually, I’d never had a dream of that before. He is a
president, the sovereign of a nation, and I am an unknown soldier. It had
not come to me that he would call on me, and deployed such manpower as
many as 50 or 60 security guards to locate the terrain.
Because all the people know the President is getting here, what if there
were a plan made beforehand by bad guys for assassination? On that point,
those security guards investigated all the floors of this building where I
live in, and then the streets around were on alert.
One of my friends who witnessed that situation told himself, “I am here to

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get the necessities, but just can’t get in there. ……Oh, this is an alert.”
Someone called out, “the President’s here.” He heard the person and said,
“What? What on earth would make move somebody to this small town?”
Shortly after that, he bumped into me and said, “After all the work on that,
it was all about you.” And I said, “I’ve never thought that he would come.”
After all, I didn’t do anything just giving away some money.

 What charities have you been dedicated to?
For now, the number of the charities
under my donation list is eleven. I will
briefly point out some of them. Take Tzu
Chi for example, I donate three grand to
it. Another example of Chiayi Charity
Group, I donate two grand. There is a
Huei-Kon Medical Foundation in
Veterans General Hospital of Taichung, to which I donate two grand as
well. Apart from those, I donate one grand to the rest of the charities I
didn’t talk of. Anyway, here it comes to a total of eleven. I change the
charities by catches, since I feel some don’t manage the fund well. Here’s
a charity nearby named Ciguang Culture and Education Foundation. I
donate money as much as usual to it monthly. In addition, I also came up
with a scholarship for that charity.

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23

 Did you encounter any difficulties when doing good deeds?
Um……, there’s nothing about frustration, but something else I’d like to
share. I went to the post office to deal with my donation procedures.
While waiting in line, I heard someone babbling around. That guy said,
“Not even to talk about giving donation money away in vain. It is
outrageous to be on time and to get in line to do that.” From that situation,
I could tell it doesn’t flatter people to do such thing. In another situation,
there were other units for donation processing I’ve been to. After the
processing, I found that I didn’t get the receipts after I gave the money to
them. Therefore, I made a phone call, and here
came the response: “There were three men at
the office, but two are away now. So, we’re
quite busy with that. ” I talked back, “that’s
your business. I gave over the money to you
without any rewards. You at least got to send
me the receipt to show me that the money
didn’t get lost.” By those things on me, of
course, I came across dozens of the similar things.
And most of them didn’t send me any receipts. Oh, by the way, another
thing else, the same that I didn’t get the receipt, and I called. The other
side on the phone spoke, “it is every time that post office informs me that

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your donation comes in. But I didn’t get informed of that this month.”
And I said to him, “I already gave my money away exactly.” Then, it said,
“I will get to the post office and make a checkup. I will deliver you the
receipt by mail as soon as the item’s checked up. ” In the end, nearly over
ten days, he mailed me the receipt, and then I got a ring. It said, “We have
found the sum of the money you contributed.” It is the post office that
didn’t inform him.

 Have you ever wanted to give up? Or what belief helps you to
continue?
Never… I got to thank God, because I finally got to know how to donate
money to people in need. Long ago, I made up my mind to do that. So, I
did try everything I could, but nothing worked though. As time went by, I
got the hang of how to get the access to charities. Then, I started to watch
TV, listened to broadcasts. Now, on getting the information I want, I write
it down, and I call them. If there is nothing wrong with the phone number,
I donate money.

 Did anything or anyone impress you during
the time you help others?
Something impressive……, I feel like I didn’t
come across anything like that, even special.
But, those charities are exactly good. They

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deal with the problem of my donation depositing well. They fill out the
remitting form for me and send it to me. Even sometimes, I can’t read
inside the inventory clearly, for I got too old and bad at sight. They know
that, and fill out the form and mail it to me. All I need to do is sign up the
number of the money. I feel it makes me quite moved. On the other hand,
I called back to some for doing so. They simply turned a cold shoulder on
me. A cold shoulder on me…… cold shoulder……I still do the donation
work.

 What is the meaning of doing good deeds for you? How does it affect
you? Do you learn something or gain enjoyment from it?
I just feel I am safe. I didn’t come down with any serious diseases as well,
on each way. A colleague I know of gets ill and stays at hospital a lot
while I am not that at all. That’s just the way I am every day. I
feel……that also…… I do the work without asking returns. I contribute
with bliss, and endure without complaints.

 Do you have any prospects for this good deed you are doing? Is there
something you think not done yet? Or what objective would you like
to achieve?
Mine, well. I got to know that I am old. I got no crushes on any prospects.

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26

I try to find pleasure in what I’m doing
all the time. Not more days in this world.
I got to catch up on what I’m supposed to
do

 Do you have any special feeling to share with others after you help
others? What is the glorious moment of helping others that you want
to appeal to people?
I just wish others would have a good will, especially on rescuing people,
for decades of life ends in a flash. We need to seize the moment and take
on the bright side out of us to bring people happiness. That’s my wish for
others. Due to the monthly salary fifteen grand I make alone, if there are
ten more people like me, it will get still easier to raise money. I also wish
others could do that to bring the good will into full play. And bring people
happiness.

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Notes:

1. Tzu Chi Foundation n. 慈濟
2. Chiayi Charity group n. 嘉義行善團
3. Huei-Ming School and Home for the Blind n. 惠明學校
4. Huei-Kon Medical Foundation of VGHTC

n. 臺中榮民總醫院惠康醫療救助基金會
5. Erhlin Happy Christian Homes n. 基督教喜樂保育院
6. Genesis Social Welfare Foundation n. 創世社會福利基金會

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Fifty Dollars a Meal, Million Dollars
Donation- Jing-An Chen

Jing-An Chen was born in Taipei in 1986. His mother raised him up
alone by doing OEM1(domestic original equipment manufacturing). Chen
used to work at cram school to support the family at the second grade of
senior high school. After graduating from National Sun Yat-Sen University2,
he became an English teacher of cram school in Sinying3, Tainan, and
Kaohsiung of south Taiwan.

Now, Chen lives in Kaohsiung. Besides working, he also joins Tzu Chi
Foundation4, Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, and World Vision5 as a
volunteer. He tries to help needy people as possible as he can. For example,

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he adopts some children from World Vision, donates 1.5 million to social
welfare organizations every year, goes to the hospital to be a volunteer,
donates royalty of the textbooks written by him, and expresses good thoughts
in the book to encourage people to do t good things to make life more
meaningful.

Chen has very little desire for materials. He always goes out by wearing
an environment friendly T-shirt of Tzu Chi Foundation, jeans, a pair of sports
shoes and a simple backpack. In addition, he spends fifty dollars on a meal
and commutes by walking as possible as he can. He saves money and donates
all of them. As he said, you can do good deeds now, and do not have to wait
until you become rich.

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Q&A

 We got the information from news that you are a vegetarian. Why do
you want to be a vegetarian？
Actually, I don’t have an exact reason. One day, I thought maybe being a
vegetarian occasionally is a good idea. Day by day, I become a fixed
vegetarian. In recent years, I started to join some vegetarian activities
because of environmental protection. It made me have a reason to be
vegetarian. At the age of 17, I started to be a vegetarian for no specific
reason, just personal preference. Afterward, one scientist said that the
costs of one steak meal can produce twenty vegetable meals. In other
words, when a person eats vegetarian dishes, another 19 people can be
fed. However, to be a vegetarian is
not an easy thing, even for me.
Sometimes, I pass by the deep fried
chicken stand and have the same
feeling as you: “what a wonderful
smell….” It doesn’t matter. If you
want to be a vegetarian, just go step
by step and try to eat less meat.

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 Life is short, so many people grasp the time to “have fun.” Why
would you like to grasp the time to “do good” instead of having fun？
I like to be a volunteer in the hospital. And I had a very deep impression
that some patients just can’t breathe a little bit and their life end. From
this example, you must feel that life is short so I have to go around and
eat around when I am healthy. Certainly, I think you can eat and go where
you want at twenty, especially in your school day. The reason is that
basically you only have summer vacation and winter vacation when you
study. After graduation, if you are a leader with good ability, you will
know that is not easy to have a week day off. On the other hand, if you
have poor ability on working, you will have lots of vacation but find that
you have no money to play around.
One of my students has finished the entrance exam recently.
He asked me, “What thing can I do
now？”and I said, “a tour around the
island. ” If you don’t go now, maybe
you will not have other chance to go
in the future. However, someday you
will find that you have been to many
places and had various funs and then
you will realize that it is enough.

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At that time, grapping the time to do good will be more important than
playing around in your mind just like me.

 Have you ever encountered any problems when you help people？
I think the more difficult thing is that somebody needs other’s helps but
he or she insists not to accept aids from outside. It is good for some of
them who can solve the problems by themselves but others cannot. If they
are not brave enough and can’t deal with problems by themselves, they
will have big trouble in their lives. After seeing lots of cases, I feel
suffering is normal in human life, so having problems is normal in daily
life. The most important thing is that you need to accept the bad thing
with joy. Once you accept it with joy, the pain will decrease by 20
percent.

 What’s the power that supports you to continue your charity？
Nothing, just do it, I believe.

 What kind of people do you help？
All kinds of people. I joined Taiwan Fund of Children and Tzu Chi
Foundation. For Taiwan Fund for Children and Families6, I help people of
all age, from children to old men. For Tzu Chi Foundation, if you find

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that your neighbor gets starved or anywhere people need help, just a call
and they will help you solve the problem.

 What is the meaning of doing good deeds for you?
To achieve world peace! I mean it. I feel if you live happily, I will be
happy, too.

 When did you start to do good things？
Since I was 17 years old, I have joined World Vision until now and I love
this kind of life.

 Do you have any new thoughts from helping people？ Does it change
your thought or values？
Of course! After helping many
people, you will understand we are
willing to give. The “giver” has a
very important concept；That is, if
you save one dollar and earn one
more dollar, then the poor will get
two dollars from you. Because of
that, I think being industrious and
thrifty is very significant.

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34

 Is anyone influenced by your good deeds？
Yes, I collect donation for the Tzu Chi Foundation and almost all my
colleagues have joined Tzu Chi. In addition, my boss in the cram school
made a rule that everyone in the cram school has to eat vegetable for two
days every month because of my advocating. Also, one of my cooperating
publishers called Lungteng followed us and made a rule to eat vegetable
twice a month, too.

 Do you have any motto？
Actually, I have lots of mottos. One of my favorite mottos is “Trust
yourself that you are unselfish” and “Believe everyone has love”- trust
love is in people’s heart. At the beginning, you have to trust yourself that
you are not selfish. And when time goes by, you understand that you can
do it because you believe yourself. You may feel it is so incredible that
you can improve your bad personality.

 Do you have any prospects for this good deed you are doing? Is there
something you think not done yet? Or what objective would you like
to achieve?
I want to be a publisher and donate
all the profit to the poor and the
victims. In my opinion, the benefit
of publishing textbooks is that
students get a chance to

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35

change themselves tremendously by reading the books. Most people in
Taiwan have a college diploma but the question is “Is it a key point for
you to exist？” The answer may not be sure. When you have a brave
heart, you will understand that no matter what a tough situation you
encounter, things will be fine. Such as this grammar book (I happened to
bring this today), each chapter begins with a well-known saying (look at
this chapter) with grammar. The sentences which have both purging
power and grammatical concept will be better, I think. If I own a
publisher, I hope all the subjects can have such a nature.
 Do you have any special feeling to share with others after you helping
others? What is the glorious moment of helping others that you want
to appeal to people?
Just do the right things and don’t wait for the time, just do it now!

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36

Note:

1. OEM n. 家庭代工
2. National Sun Yat-Sen University n. 國立中山大學
3. Sinying n. 新營，位於台南
4. Tzu Chi Foundation n. 慈濟基金會
5. World Vision n. 世界展望會
6. Taiwan Fund for Children and Families n. 台灣兒童暨家庭扶助基

金會

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37

Mother Bamboo Bank - Yu-Pin Chen

Yu- Pin Chen, born in
1961, lives in Renwu,
Kaohsiung City of South
Taiwan. Chen’s father is
a doctor, so she grew up
in an abundant family.
Nevertheless, Chen was
seriously injured in the
921 earthquake at the
age of 38, which led to
brain hemorrhage11, temporal dementia2 and half vision loss. Thus, she
realizes the disabled’s difficulties and took a vow to help them.

Chen took part in the activity, “Adopting a Bamboo Bank,” held by a
charity organization called Taiwan Fund for Children and Family3. In the
beginning, she adopted two or three banks and increased the quantity to
10, 40 and even 100. Chen has been doing good deeds in privacy,
encouraging minority groups for 20 years. Because of an unexpected

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38

chance, she got in touch with Taiwan Fund for Children and Family in
Kaohsiung. To raise fund to aid more needy children, she sent over 300
bamboo banks to her relatives and friends in eight months.

▲Bamboo bank

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39

Q&A

 Can you describe the process of promoting the bamboo banks? When
did you start? What have you done?
I tried to promote bamboo banks in 2009. Until now, I have done it for
three years. Bamboo banks were hard to promote in Taiwan Fund for
Children and Families (TFCF) in Kaohsiung City. Few people knew it. I
worked as a volunteer at TFCF in Kaohsiung County originally. After I
knew about the bamboo banks, I started to try my best to promote them. I
always put those bamboo banks in my car. If I go out and meet people on
the road, I will introduce the bamboo banks to them. Hope they can bring
a bamboo bank back. Besides promoting the bamboo banks, I also help
TFCF in Kaohsiung City and Sinying City to collect money donation, and
help them do fundraising and charity bazaar as well.

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40

 Did you meet any setback when you started your charity?
My frustration is my eyes. When I try to promote the bamboo banks, I
cannot see your face clearly. I only can feel the shape of your body from
where you stand. I also don’t know that you are a man or a woman. Look
at the burns on my hand. Because of the inconvenience of my eyes, I
frequently got burned when I made pomelo jam 4 and seasoned millet
mush 5 for charity bazaars. Fortunately, this is my house. I have lived
here for 20 years, and know the environment well. However, when I go
out, I cannot walk by myself. I need someone to accompany me.
Therefore, my charity enterprise is all done in my home.

▲ Seasoned millet mush that Chen made.

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41

 Why did you want to help disadvantaged children in the beginning?
Were you inspired by something? Or influenced by someone?
I believe in Guanyin 6. (Guanyin is a deity created by Taoism 7. Taoism is
a common religion in East Asian. ) Guanyin told me my life was going to
end 18 years ago. At the hospital, my electrocardiograph stopped.
However, Guanyin appeared and saved me back, but my eyes were
damaged. The reason why Guanyin saved me back was that she wanted
me to do charity, and Guanyin advised me to help TFCF.

 You have helped those children for a long time. You must have a
certain degree of understanding about their living, families, and
economic condition. Can you describe it in brief?
When we open our refrigerator, we can see plentiful food inside.
However, their refrigerator is empty, or they don’t even have a
refrigerator. We sleep in sofa beds, but they sleep on the floor. We have a
liquid-crystal-display TV, but they only have a second-hand TV, or even
don’t have any TV. During the Morakot Flood 8, I went to Cishan to help
those victims to clean their homes. When I saw the scene, I really wanted
to cry. Shacks were destroyed by flood ghastly. There may be disabled
people, sick people, and old people in their home. As for eating, they just
ate whatever they got. TFCF gave 1700 dollars per month for one person.

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42

Suppose we were them, could we live with 1700 dollars through one
month?

 Did something or someone impress you strongly when you do
charity?
One mother had four children. She didn’t have a husband. She had to
bring up her children by herself. Her children liked to eat the white gourd
cake I made very much. The mother didn’t know who made it. One day
TFCF convened a press conference, and I went there to send the white
gourd cake I made to those disadvantaged families. The mother knew that
the white gourd cake her children ate were made by an amblyopic aunt,
she cried on the spot. The mother said she has diabetes and weak kidney .
She also didn’t have a husband. She have to bring up four children by
herself. My white gourd cake let them save the money of one meal. She

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43

worked hard to bring her children up. Because of what she said, that day I
also cried. She said, “I don’t know the white gourd cake is made by you. I

am so sorry for you. Your eyes are
inconvenient, but you still make the
cake for us.” Actually I always keep a low
profile. Only at some press conferences
would I show up. Many people know my
name, but few people see me. Therefore,
when the mother saw me, she realized
someone who lived a harder life than her
was helping her. However, with my help
which can improve those disadvantaged
families’ lives, I think my contribution is
worthwhile.

 What is the meaning of doing charity to you? What feeling does it
bring to you?
The meaning of charity is helping people. When you help people,
improve people’s lives, you will feel happy. This sacrifice is without
complaint. I do that, but I never ask something in return. When I help
those children, I just hope them to keep living and not to go astray. No

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matter they have achievement or not in the future, once they have
capability, those children can turn to help TFCF, help next generation.
Seriously, I never ask something in return. I have no regret. I feel happy,
because after I help someone I will see one less and know one less person
that needs help.

 Do you have any new thought of life from helping others? Does it
change your thinking or values?
From helping other people, I found my life is so good. I realized there are
so many straitened people in
our society. I have never lived a
poor life. Therefore, helping
people make me become
thriftier, because I want to save
the money, and use it to help
people. Just like this chair, it
has broken for a long time. If I want to buy a new chair, I need to spend
thousands of dollars. However, I would donate the money that I may use
to buy a chair to TFCF. And I would ask my family to repair this chair.
The second time this chair broke, I also did the same thing again.
Suppose next time it breaks again, I will still donate the money and repair
it again, until this chair cannot be fixed.

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45

 Do you have any prospect about doing charity in the future?
My wish is I can do charity all the time. Suppose one day I pass away, I
really hope my children and the friends around me can take over my job.
Although I pass away, I still hope my name and spirit can last forever,
spreading the love to the world. The meaning is now I inspire those
people I help in TFCF, and when I pass away those people I help can
continue to help TFCF, or someone can replace me and continue to raise
fund to help TFCF.

 Do you have any thought of charity to share with everyone to make
everyone feel the amazement of charity? Or do you have anything to
call on the public?
If possible, can you help those
children in TFCF without
affecting your lives? You can
adopt a bamboo bank, or donate
regularly or irregularly every
month to those children to help
them live a stable life. I hope
people who see this article can
come to help those children.
People who want to help those
children can contact me.

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46

Notes:

1. Hemorrhage n 出血.
2. Dementia n.失智症
3. Taiwan Fund for Children and Families n.台灣兒童暨家庭扶助基

金會
4. pomelo jam n.柚子醬
5. seasoned millet mush n.麵茶粉
6. Guanyin n.觀音
7. Taoism n.道教
8. The Morakot Flood n.莫拉克風災

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47

Music Magician for Disabled Students –
Wei-Chi Chen

Wei-Chi Chen is a forty-three- year old teacher in Taichung Special
Education School1 now. After graduating from Department of Music of
National Taiwan Normal University2

, Chen has been a
music teacher in elementary
school, junior high school
and senior high school. She
was originally a junior high
school music teacher. In the
first four years of her
teaching period, Chen felt
disappointed when her
students did not want to
sing. It was as if that she
played and sang in the music class alone. When National Changhua Special
School3 was established, they are badly in need of music and special education
teachers. This made Wei-Chi Chen want to change her occupation.

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48

To become a competent teacher, Chen took the special education courses.
She has taught these students for 14 years, not only as a special education
teacher but also as a piano teacher. Almost all her students are physically
challenged and most of them are visually disabled. In these 14 years, she
teaches nine blind students to play piano and violin for free after class. One of
them is amblyopia, and the others are totally blind. Although she teaches them
for free, every student performs well. They won the prize in every competition.
Three of them were granted the President Educational Award4. Chen is

constantly caring and teaching
patiently without complaints or
regrets. For this reason, she won the
award of the Ten Outstanding Women
of ROC5 in 2009. In addition, she also
got the Power Teacher Award in
2010.

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49

Q&A

 Why do you want to help these disabled students?
After I graduated from National Taiwan Normal University, I was
dispatched to a common junior high school to teach music. The junior
high school still placed students based on their ability in 1990. Because of
this, I felt so powerless in teaching. For example, students in the talented
class did not take music class seriously. I asked them to sing but they did
not do that. All they could do was studying. The students on medium level
were better. They had some reaction. I think they were the best class. The
students in the low-level class totally did not want to learn anything. They
just made trouble and even had some bad behavior. It was like that only I
wanted to teach them. There was no interaction. This made me upset.
Then, I planned to study abroad. At that
time, I found the Changhua Special
School was recruiting new teachers. I
thought that maybe changing my
occupation would have a different result.
Due to this opportunity, I entered this
field.

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50