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Overseas Volunteers
Some 619 volunteers have
provided either development or
humanitarian assistance in 37
countries as part of the TaiwanICDF
Overseas Volunteer Program since
its inception in 1996.
In 2014, 22 newly recruited short-
and long-term volunteers were
dispatched to serve in 10 partner
countries – Panama, Nicaragua,
St. Lucia, Thailand, the Philippines,
Tuvalu, Kiribati, Nauru, Malawi and
South Africa – so that a total number
of 61 overseas volunteers served
during the year.
As well as playing their role
i n deve l opmen t as s i s t ance ,
TaiwanICDF volunteers are also
responsible for promoting culture
and for introducing our partner
countries to Taiwan’s rich human
and social qualities. For instance,
Lin Yen-jan, Tsai Yi-pei and Lee Tsai-
yen, who worked as English- and
Mandarin-teaching volunteers in
Nicaragua, held projects such as
“Formosa Discovery” and “Taiwan
Week” in the universities where they
were serving, drawing in local people
and improving their understanding of
Taiwanese culture through creative
activities. Elsewhere, Tao Yu-lin, an
English-teaching volunteer in Tuvalu,
used the Postcrossing postcard-
exchange website to hold a “We
Are One” project at the elementary
school where she was serving,
connecting to schools with the
TaiwanICDF Overseas Volunteer
Program in northern Thailand
via activities such as postcard
exchanges. As such, besides
demonstrating and delivering their
teaching experiences, volunteers
were also able to connect and
introduce a host of resources, adapt
to local communities, and play an
important role as ambassadors for
cultural communication between
Taiwan and the rest of the world.
TaiwanICDF volunteers also
engaged in the development of
government sectors and participated
in local capacity building. For
instance, Hsiao Mei-wen, a volunteer
in São Tomé and Príncipe, worked
with the tourist sector in holding
a project that yielded the design
of city maps and promotional
products for use at tourism expos,
also encouraging local enterprises
to take out joint advertisements.
Besides enhancing the service
quality of colleagues in the Ministry
of Tourism, Mei-wen also introduced
marketing concepts to increase the
sustainability of budgets. Alongside
these activities, English-teaching
volunteer Chen Ya-ling also trained
local English guides, demonstrating
the TaiwanICDF spirit in establishing
partnerships and sharing experience
with local people.
Based on the TaiwanICDF’s
practice of integrating its projects
and volunteer services, a project-
b a s e d v o l u n t e e r w a s a l s o
dispatched to introduce microfinance
mechanisms and capacity building
operations as part of our Lending
and Investment Depar tment’s
Microfinance Development Fund—
Pilot Project in Nauru, assisting in the
local development of microfinance
operations and building the capacity
of government personnel. For the
Strengthening the Management
of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Hype r t ens i on among Mob i l e
Populations in Southern Africa
Project, implemented in partnership
with Norway’s Luke International,
Ta i wan ICDF vo l un t ee r s a l so
produced a film advocating health
care awareness in Malawi and South
Africa. Elsewhere, the TaiwanICDF
cooperated with World Vision Taiwan
to implement a joint project, Assisting
the Recovery of Typhoon Haiyan-
affected Health Centers, Leyte
Province, dispatching a volunteer
to assist with the supervision and
monitoring of the project. This
initiative represented the second
time that the TaiwanICDF has signed
a cooperation agreement covering
the dispatch of volunteers with an
international NGO, following a similar,
previous agreement signed with
Mercy Corps.
In terms of expanding our pool of
volunteer talent, we organized five
volunteer camps in Taipei, Taichung
and Kaohsiung throughout 2014 so
as to facilitate a better understanding
of the goals of and process involved
in the TaiwanICDF’s dispatch of long-
term volunteers among the public.
These camps, which also sought to
establish and develop the correct
concepts and awareness required
for participation in international
volunteering, were attended by 82
participants in total. In late April
2014, we also held an International
Volunteer Seminar and Special
Exhibition at Huashan 1914 Creative
Park in Taipei to engage the public,
increase the TaiwanICDF’s visibility
and actively promote the TaiwanICDF
Overseas Volunteer Program through
a touring photography exhibition, a
display of partner countries’ special
cultural relics, and introductions to
the countries that play host to our
volunteers.
Finally, the TaiwanICDF also
held volunteer promotion events on
university campuses around Taiwan,
hosting various overseas volunteer
experience-sharing activities and
courses to shorten the distance
between the TaiwanICDF and young
students, and to inspire their interest
and willingness to participate in the
TaiwanICDF Overseas Volunteer
Program in the future.