After an exciting and eventful first day in Taiwan, the grade 7s were excited to continue their adventures on the second day of experience week.
The students spent the day learning about various social welfare groups in Macau. We spent the morning with Caritas Taiwan and Good Shepherd Sisters, learning about the charitable work they do for various groups of needs in Taiwan. The students got a chance to explore the workspace and discover a little about the activities that are run through these organizations. We also met a very special gentleman, Philip, who has been blind at birth. He shared with us his story and how he later on decided to study Chinese Literature in a university in Hong Kong. He also showed us and let us keep some science notes that he now makes, along with volunteers, in braille.
Lunch was spent at a very creatively designed restaurant in the heart of Taipei
. The students enjoy good food and a unique dining atmosphere.
In the afternoon we paid a visit to Long Shan Special Education Center to tour their facilities and learn about all the neat projects the center had developed for the students there. Our students even managed to get in on an intense yoga session to help burn off all that energy that came from stuffing themselves during lunch. Before dinner, our group also managed to stop by St. Anne’s Home for the Mentally Handicapped and pay a visit to a group of special students. The grade 7s were very eager to lend a helping hand to the kids from St. Anne’s but it turned out to be a case of too many helpers for the situation. Regardless, many of the grade 7 students confessed the experiences of the day to be a very eye-opening experience, and served as an opportunity to appreciate how lucky are to be in a situation to learn from these experiences.
Just before coming back to the hotel for the evening, our group stopped for dinner at a Monglian barbeque restaurant. For many of the students, it was the first time they had an opportunity to try out this unique brand of cooking. It seems that the students packed down quite a bit of food and were slowly succumbing to the effects of lots of delicious food and a long day on our way back to the hotel
.
We found out we had a birthday in our midst, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!
Tired as the students may be now, they will sure to be ready for another exciting day of adventures tomorrow as we say farewell to Taipei as we migrate down to central Taiwan and Taichung.
