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Chen, Hannah (陳毓涵)
I decided to participate in this program because I really like kids and wanted to do something since I’m bored. During training week, I got the opportunity to meet so many people from mostly America and Canada. From this program, I met so many new friends and this is what really made the program worthwhile for me.
When we arrived at JingShan Elementary School, we were full of excitement and fear since we didn’t know what to expect. When we first saw the kids in the school, we were astonished by their energy and joy. We were welcomed by so many kind and friendly staff members of the school. They did everything that we could ever ask for and made our stay more comfortable. Although there were many bugs and mosquito bites, we still really enjoyed our two weeks at JingShan Elementary due to the people here. What really bothered us was that the website did not provide us enough information to prepare for our teaching plans. As a result, we didn’t prepare enough goodie bags for the students and we did not know the English Proficiencies of the students either. Therefore, I think that effective communication before the program starts would be immensely beneficial.
The end of the four weeks has arrived, I don’t think we are ready to leave. We have made so many new connections around the world and now that wherever I travel I will always have friends.
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Ko, Andy (柯宇帆)
AID was an incredible experience overall. The first week of training was well filled with training activities and lectures. the lecturers were well informed and presented their lessons very effectively. I would argue that an extra hour of free time each evening would be much more preferable.
The two weeks of teaching were thoroughly enjoyable. Working and living with my team was great fun. The children were bright, curious, well mannered and adorable. Our host well provided us with amazing hospitality at home and support at school. It must be said that the food during these two weeks was fantastic beyond belief. Teaching was challenging I loved devoting myself fully to the challenge.
The tour week is easy to criticise. The majority of the tour schedule was badly organized and time management not thought through properly. In an attempt to take us around as much of Taiwan as possible, our tour suffered too little time at destinations (the worst being only 20 minutes at the Taipei 101 building) relative to the long bus journeys, sometimes three or four-fold the time spend at the destination. Food was often repetitive and cold. I strongly suggest to the organisers that for future programmes, please reduce the busy schedule, and learn to adapt throughout the week based on constant feedback from the volunteers via your counselors.
Having said this, the final week was still very fun, mainly due to the great company. Highlights would be the Fengjia Night Market and the night in the mountains near the NTU ecology campus.
I want to express boundless gratitude to our counselors for they were entertaining, tolerant of our antics and all round great characters.
In closing remarks, thank you AID organisers so much for providing this experience! I would love to come back as a counselor in the future if I could!
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