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the fundraising front and on the trails.He recounts an experience in Brazilthat stopped him in his path, literallyand figuratively. After the unexpectedhailstorm, DeNoma’ s b o d ytemperature dropped substantially;he was going into hypothermia. Hisdaughter raced ahead to alert thesupport team. DeNoma explains,“Twenty minutes later [my daughter]found me running and shivering andsaid ‘Great news, when they saw theweather, the team found a familythat will let us use their house so youcan take a hot shower, change intowarmer clothes, get re-taped and keepgoing.’ ‘Who in the world would let usdo that?’ I thought.”A very kind Brazilian family, it turnsout. After warming up in their showerand re-taping in their living room,DeNoma tried to give the family somemoney for their troubles, but theyrefused, so DeNoma asked if therewas anything he could do for them.“[The mother] became emotionaland her face dropped into a deepsadness. She said ‘My 17-year-olddaughter went missing nine monthsago and because we don’t have acomputer there is no way for us topost the fact she is missing or followup any leads. Is there anything youcan do to help us find our daughter?’Such lovely graciousness andhospitality despite such terrible lossand pain put things in perspective forus,” says DeNoma.The extraordinary coincidence:DeNoma is on the board of directorsfor the International Center forMissing and Exploited Children,which has an operation in Brazil. Hehas assured the family that he will doeverything he can to find their missingdaughter.The family should rest assured thatthey are in good hands: DeNoma isknown for going the distance.Kari Schiro is a nativeCalifornian and anadoptive Seattleite whorecently relocated to Taipei.When she is not writing,you will most likely findKari watching football/soccer onthe telly.Book Workdays Saturday March 3rdOur last book workday of the yearwill take place on March 3rd in the TASbasement, from 9 am to 5 pm. We will besorting through, pricing and alphabetizingthe second-hand books that we receiveas donations. With that in mind, westill welcome donations of all books andmagazines, regardless of language.Book Sale Saturday March 10thOn March 10th we will be hostingour annual Book Sale (one of the largestof its kind in northern Taiwan) at theTaipei American School, between 10am and 5 pm. Admission is free and allare welcome to come. There are booksfor every member of the family – SATpreparation books, children’s books andalmost every other genre can be found.Also, this will be the last day to claimraffle prizes from the draw.Hunger Week March 15th -21stThe Orphanage Club offers aid tocharitable organizations around theOrphanage Club NewsTExT: JEFFREY CHEn (12) AnD TIn TIn KAO (10), OC CO-SECRETARIES 2011-12globe. One way it achieves this is throughhosting Hunger Week twice a year.Through fasting and donating money atour booth in front of the Faculty DiningRoom (FDR), members of the TAScommunity are encouraged to empathizewith and understand the plight of thehungry. The Orphanage Club also intendsto educate our students about worldhunger through an assembly prior toHunger Day (March 21st). From March15th to 21st, members will be conductinglessons with lower school studentshighlighting hunger around the world.They will also be selling ceramic bowlsin front of the FDR to further emphasizethe problem; this activity is sponsored bythe TAS Art Department. Donations willbe sent to organizations including OxfamAmerica, American Friends Service, andWorld Vision Taiwan.tCathwel Outing Saturday March 17thThe Orphanage Club will be hosting itsCathwel outing on Saturday, March 16th.On these outings members take careof kids assigned to them from CathwelOrphanage and take the time to bondwith them; the boys have darker historiesand need both time and patience. Theboys section of Cathwel will be goingrollerblading at Y-17 Youth Center andplaying sports in the gym, while thebabies section will be going to nurseryschool, sponsored by TAS alumni CynthiaHsu. We are always searching for adultchaperons for the outing. If you areinterested, please email us at the addressbelow.tChungyi Outing Sunday March 25thOn March 25th, we will be hosting ourfifth Chungyi Outing. As usual, memberswill be paired up with their guests fromthe Chungyi Orphanage in Jingmei andspend the day together playing sports andother activities. The agenda has yet tobe confirmed, but we are always lookingfor adult chaperones for the outing. Ifyou are interested, please email us at theaddress below.All questions or comments should be directed to tas.orphanageclub@gmail.com.One can also contact our club sponsors Mr. Arnold at 2873-9900 ext. 239 or arnoldr@tas.edu.tw or Ms. Koh at weehueykoh@yahoo.com24march 2012 www.communitycenter.org.tw
Taiwan YouthClimate CoalitionUpcoming events in 2012…ENviroNmENtTExT & IMAGES: SARAH CHEn LInAfter a well-deserved winter break, the youngstersfrom Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition (TWYCC)are back for another exciting year with avariety of ambitious plans. We’ve re-structuredourselves and started to execute projects designated forthis year. Believe me when I say it’s not an easy task tocoordinate all TWYCC core team members as we’re allspread throughout the island.It is also my pleasure to announce that TWYCCis finalizing its submission to become Taiwan’s firstenvironmental non-governmental organization (NGO)managed solely by young people. We’ve been runningaround and meeting with other well-establishedenvironmental NGOs who have shown full support forour youth movement in Taiwan. It’s been roughly halfa year since we began building TWYCC from scratchand I’m still amazed by young people’s capability formobilizing and getting things done when driven bypassion. Dare I say sometimes I really feel like we’reunstoppable!We invite you to take part in one or more of our fourmajor projects this year: Rio+20 in Brazil, the 18thConvention of the Parties (COP) in Qatar, Design forClimate Change (DFCC), and the Conference of Youthin Taiwan (COYTW). The first and second projectsinvolve travelling overseas to Brazil and Qatar toattend respectively the United Nations Conference onSustainable Development (which takes place once everyten years) and COP18 (which takes place once a yearand was mentioned in the article published in the lastissue of Centered on Taipei). This year, in particular,is of great importance because the world’s blueprintregarding development in all corners of the world hasbeen laid out and will become legally binding at Qatar.What TWYCC does is train youth delegates in Taiwanprior to the conferences and upon returning sends them togive lectures in schools throughout Taiwan to share theirexperiences. We want to give young people a broaderperspective of what is going on in the international arenathrough practical means. This is something that cannotbe learnt from books or in schools and is certainly not anopportunity to be missed!The third project, DFCC, was developed in partnershipwith Design for Change, which was also featured inCentered on Taipei in a previous issue. This year theproject managers of Design for Change have given usan opportunity to lead the environmental branch ofthe program. For those unfamiliar with it, Design forChange is a summer activity whereby teams of elementarystudents from local schools compete with each otherin developing creative ideas for changing somethingthey believe needs to be improved. The importance ofgetting the young generation involved is to ignite theirpassion and nurture them to become the great leaders oftomorrow.Last but not least, the fourth project, COYTW, will beorganised and led by TWYCC, as an opportunity to geta taste of how the United Nations conferences are run.Because TWYCC is environmentally focused, COYTWwill naturally place an emphasis on environmental issues.We welcome anyone from any school to sign up in duetime to experience something out of the ordinary! If youwould like to volunteer with TWYCC, just to get a tasteof how to see the world from a different perspective, ourdoors are always open!I must confess that being with this group of passionateyoung people has renewed my personal motto, onewhich I encourage us all to adopt in order to lead a morefulfilling life: when you strongly believe in something,fight for it, give it your all and don’t regret a singlemoment, despite any bitter days and exhaustion youmight feel. And if the outcome is not what you expected,at least you’ll have great memories to cherish and excitingstories to share! Quoting one of my favourite Aerosmithsongs, ‘life is a journey, not a destination.’I can feel an exciting year awaiting all of us!Website: www.twycc.twFacebook group: https://www.facebook.com/twyccTwitter: @twyccBorn and raised in Venezuela by Taiwanese parents, Sarah has been exposed to worldcultures since she was young. She recently graduated with an Environmental Science degreefrom Southampton University in the UK and has returned to Taiwan to familiarize herselfwith her roots. Sarah currently works as TWYCC’s Media Coordinator, the main point ofcontact in Taiwan for ECYTF (Earth Charter Youth Task Force), as a radio host for RadioTaiwan International with a weekly program that focuses on everything related to theenvironment throughout Taiwan, and is a freelance writer and translator.www.communitycenter.org.tw march 201225
Page 1: Publication of the Community Servic
Page 5 and 6: Letter From The EditorPublisher: Co
Page 7 and 8: Amy'sulturalCorner台灣Oolong TeaT
Page 9 and 10: OFF THE BEATEN TRACKRICHARD SAUNDER
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Page 13 and 14: Racing against hunger atTaipei Euro
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Page 21 and 22: Why is there a need for thisservice
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Page 29 and 30: The ‘Maple Leaf’ExperienceGener
Page 31 and 32: BUNSTExT: IVY CHEnIMAGES: xIAnG TIn
Page 33 and 34: COMMUNITY GROUPSOrganization Teleph

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