58 / 106
58
“If you have thought about
becoming an overseas volunteer
more than once, then you should
definitely give it a shot!” Huang Yi-
zhong, originally a specialist in
the Research, Development and
Evaluation Office of the TaiwanICDF,
was dispatched to our partner
country the Solomon Islands near
the end of July 2015 to support the
Addressing Health and Hygiene
needs of those affected by the
So l omon I s l ands F l ood i ng i n
Weathercoast, Guadalcanal project
and returned to Taiwan in early
November.
Yi-zhong was a member of a
social service group during college
and worked as a serviceman in
the Diplomatic Alternative Military
Service Project where he was
dispatched to Haiti in the Caribbean,
an area devastated by a major
earthquake. This experience kindled
Yi-zhong’s passion for humanitarian
work. “Although I’m currently
responsible for conducting research,
deve l opmen t and eva l ua t i on
tasks, I submitted my application
without delay when I heard that the
Humanitarian Assistance Department
was accepting applications from
colleagues within the TaiwanICDF.”
The TaiwanICDF initiated the
leave without pay policy for the
organization’s personnel in November
2013 so that they may sign up as
overseas volunteers. This provided
many passionate young volunteers
with great opportunities to fulfill their
wishes of gaining frontline experience
in humanitarian work.
The Addressing Health and
Hygiene needs of those affected
by the Solomon Islands Flooding in
Weathercoast, Guadalcanal project
was established in response to the
serious flood disaster in the Solomon
Islands in April 2014. Flood waters
destroyed public infrastructure,
including bridges and public water
supply systems, resulting in spread of
diarrhea, acute respiratory infections
and other diseases. To help improve
local hygiene and health conditions,
the TaiwanICDF cooperated with
World Vision on this project, which
runs from December 2014 to May
2016. Tasks include promoting
hygiene awareness, repairing water
supply systems, and setting up
fences for animals. The TaiwanICDF
also dispatched a volunteer to
help affected communities acquire
relevant capabilities and resources
needed to tackle hygiene and
environmental issues.
Learning to listen, integrate
and communicate
During this three-month long
volunteer service, Yi-zhong made
many visits to local communities,
supported efforts in health education,
arranged promotional skits on health
and hygiene, designed promotional
posters, and took part in designing
community pig pens. The Solomon
Islands is a country composed
of nearly a thousand islands,
and the disaster left the country
destitute of supplies and ravaged
hygiene conditions. Aid workers
were transported by ships across
tumultuous waves. These journeys
were most uncomfortable for Yi-
zhong. However, he learned many
lessons from his partner and the
local residents, such as how to listen
to and discuss with local residents
to identify the most suitable plan
instead of sticking to cookie cutter
approaches.
Yi-zhong gives the pig pen
design as an example. In Taiwan,
pigs are reared under centralized
management, using feed formulas.
I n t he So l omon I s l ands , p i g
farming tends to be in small scale
and subsistence-based; no feed
formulas are available. It seems
quite impossible to simply duplicate
Taiwan’s experiences. Hence,
discussions were held with local
residents and the conclusion was
to build small, wooden pig pens, a
decision which was supported by the
residents.
If asked what has been most
rewarding about this journey, Yi-
zhong earnestly answers: “Besides
learning about how the international
humanitarian assistance system
works from global NGOs, the most
important experience was to see
statistics transformed into human
faces. In addition to becoming more
empathetic and gaining a better
understanding of the actual plight
faced by these people, I also became
more aware of the victims’ needs to
better help them live on with dignity.”
Huang Yi-zhong, Project-based Volunteer,
Addressing Health and Hygiene needs of those
affected by the Solomon Islands Flooding in
Weathercoast, Guadalcanal
We must help them survive and live on
with dignity
1
Interview