Page 52 - 國合會2016電子書-英文

Interview 1

Li Cheng-han, Volunteer, Assisting the Recovery of
Nepal Earthquake Affected Health Posts Project

Opening up the road to humanitarian
reconstruction through architectural expertise

In response to the powerful and visit factories with local future. “I feel that every experience
earthquakes that struck Nepal in architects to confirm that the pre- of volunteering lets me see what I
April and May 2015, which damaged assembled materials were correct. can do, reminds me to take things
many health facilities, in December For example, he had to assess the step by step and helps me draw the
of the same year, the TaiwanICDF necessity of constructing a retaining future roadmap steadily, carving out
launched the Assisting the Recovery wall when building on a slope and, my own path,” said he.
of Nepal Earthquake Affected Health on sites where the quality of work It turns out that helping people
Posts Project, together with World was substandard, he had to put is not just an aspiration; it is also a
Vision International Nepal, to help forward concrete improvement profession. It not only helps people,
rebuild health posts and clinics in measures and remind the on-site but also brings positive energy.
five villages in four districts, including supervisors to be meticulous in their
Gorkha, Sindhupalchowk, Dhading work and not allow sloppiness. He
and Dolakha districts, and provide faced challenges he’d never had
people with health care services. before such as shortage of electricity,
In March of 2016, we dispatched road collapses and having to spend
volunteer Li Cheng-han, who is the night in a tent on the building site.
highly experienced in the field of In his three months of service,
humanitarian architecture, to Nepal he felt that he gained more than he
to guide on-site building work and gave because he was able to see
supervise construction progress and the love of sharing, a character trait
quality. of the Nepalese, and this made
Speaking of why he took part in him feel that what he was doing
the program, Cheng-han explains was deeply meaningful. His time
that he studied architecture at cooperating with an international
university. Motivated by a desire non-governmental organization
to help people and contribute to also allowed him to learn from their
society, his first stint as a volunteer resource integration and overall
for an international volunteer planning abilities. He was especially
organization was when he went to impressed when he gave a speech
Cambodia to build a classroom. He at a certain construction opening
was moved by his interaction with ceremony and explained to the local
the local people and this experience people Taiwan’s objective in donating
was the start of his journey as an a health station. The response from
architect volunteer. the audience was extraordinarily
enthusiastic, with many people
Temporary but extremely wanting to have their photo taken
fulfilling experience with him. This experience gave him a
This project was much more strong sense of mission.
challenging compared with the After his volunteer service was
previous occasions he served as over, he returned to the architecture
a volunteer because he had to firm where he worked, with an aim
constantly move between the five to gather more professional skills,
building sites to inspect progress so he can make a contribution in the

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