Building a Community Co-op with Warmth together
The Beginning: The Youth, The Field
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in February this year, students have been required by the government to wear masks in school, which has created an atmosphere of anxiety in people's lives. But college students have to find something to do, right? An idea that came to me out of the blue! There's a small farm behind the department building that used to be used for student charity sales, so why not let the students exercise!
The theme of this project is "Youth Shen Nong's Farm". Students have to do everything themselves, from soil raising, fertilizing, watering, weeding, planting, and even catching insects. By dividing the work into groups and setting up rota, we ensured that there were students to look after the farm everyday. When the sun was high, the students sweated and complained while learning: the vegetables were eaten by worms, loofahs didn't climb on the vine, and amaranth was the best! One month later, guess what? We had a bumper harvest of leafy vegetables. Then the question arose, who should we give them to?
We contacted the Kaohsiung City Charity Federation's A-Fook Food Bank, and on this day, Vice Chairman Chiang and CEO Ya-Ling brought several disadvantaged family members to the school to help pick vegetables. The harvest from the Youth Farm will be donated to underprivileged families in the future. The students learned to be friendly to the land, respect people, and understand responsibility and sharing. What they learn from the farm is not a field, but a positive attitude and the value of caring for the community.
Spoonbill: Hearts through refining fire
A group of diligent students working on the Youth Farm were selected to form the "Spoonbill Youth Team". According to Wikipedia, the black-faced spoonbills(Scientific name: Platalea minor) are herd-like, with the spoonbills grooming each other's feathers and spending the winter together. Another reason for the name is that it is similar to the English word "peer group", which means a group of peers whose beliefs and behaviours are influenced by each other.
In the summer of July, student members of the Spoonbill Youth Team participated in the first camp of the USR project, called " Pioneer", which was held in the Chong-Liao community of Qishan district. During the two-day, one-night camp, students had to give up their mobile phones, clean up their own sleeping and activity space, cook their own meals, and obtain food only after completing their mission as assigned by the Executive Officer. The students' mission was to travel to various communities in Qishan district to learn from local artisans and craftsmen on humanities, history, industry and community economic development. Without the assistance of a mobile phone to guide them, the students followed the guidance of the locals to find the right path in the unvisited communities, thus gaining a deeper understanding of the local geography, landscape, and cultural features of the communities.
The students were rewarded with a watermelon and one kilogram of ginger for completing the training and were given their mobile phones back, a highly addictive product that they have grown certain strangeness towards, after only two days of isolation. The trial run of the Spoonbill Youth Team has unexpectedly inspired the students to be patient, determined and empathetic, to throw away their mobile phones and discover the many beautiful things in life. The next Spoonbill Youth Team chapter will be launched soon, called "Breakthrough", and the first group of trainees will take on the task of passing on the Spoonbill (or “Pear Group”) spirit and lead another group of new trainees to continue their training in the Qishan community.
Journey. Vision. A Community Co-op with Warmth
Students from the Spoonbill Youth Team squatted at the USR program's base of operations during their participation in the camp. In the Qishan Yuantan region where they were based, there is a Grandmoms’ Café. The café is staffed by a group of simple grandmoms whose average age is over 80. Although the enthusiastic grandmoms may be a little slow in service, the coffee is brewed with strong sincerity and humanity. At the same time, it provides seniors with a job to feel fulfilled in their old age, while slowing down their physical and mental aging. In the café, the Spoonbill Youth Team from USR project's helped create a story corner for the preschoolers, which solved the problem of grandmothers and grandchildren not being able to go out, allowing them to happily work in the café.
In August this year, CommonWealth Magazine interviewed us with the title "Cheng Shiu University builds a community co-op with warmth in Qishan, Kaohsiung", and the Youth Farm, Spoonbill Youth Team, and Grandmoms’ Café are some of the ways. Our vision is to build a community co-operative with all kinds of community production, such as products, services and care for people, based on local caring, linking the school, community, and public and private sectors into a mutually supportive social network. Through the continuous support of the USR project and the long-term operation of the university teachers and students, we believe that the challenges of social welfare, productivity and manpower shortage in the rural areas will be gradually improved, and the community residents will be able to live a better and more beautiful life.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in February this year, students have been required by the government to wear masks in school, which has created an atmosphere of anxiety in people's lives. But college students have to find something to do, right? An idea that came to me out of the blue! There's a small farm behind the department building that used to be used for student charity sales, so why not let the students exercise!
The theme of this project is "Youth Shen Nong's Farm". Students have to do everything themselves, from soil raising, fertilizing, watering, weeding, planting, and even catching insects. By dividing the work into groups and setting up rota, we ensured that there were students to look after the farm everyday. When the sun was high, the students sweated and complained while learning: the vegetables were eaten by worms, loofahs didn't climb on the vine, and amaranth was the best! One month later, guess what? We had a bumper harvest of leafy vegetables. Then the question arose, who should we give them to?
We contacted the Kaohsiung City Charity Federation's A-Fook Food Bank, and on this day, Vice Chairman Chiang and CEO Ya-Ling brought several disadvantaged family members to the school to help pick vegetables. The harvest from the Youth Farm will be donated to underprivileged families in the future. The students learned to be friendly to the land, respect people, and understand responsibility and sharing. What they learn from the farm is not a field, but a positive attitude and the value of caring for the community.
Spoonbill: Hearts through refining fire
A group of diligent students working on the Youth Farm were selected to form the "Spoonbill Youth Team". According to Wikipedia, the black-faced spoonbills(Scientific name: Platalea minor) are herd-like, with the spoonbills grooming each other's feathers and spending the winter together. Another reason for the name is that it is similar to the English word "peer group", which means a group of peers whose beliefs and behaviours are influenced by each other.
In the summer of July, student members of the Spoonbill Youth Team participated in the first camp of the USR project, called " Pioneer", which was held in the Chong-Liao community of Qishan district. During the two-day, one-night camp, students had to give up their mobile phones, clean up their own sleeping and activity space, cook their own meals, and obtain food only after completing their mission as assigned by the Executive Officer. The students' mission was to travel to various communities in Qishan district to learn from local artisans and craftsmen on humanities, history, industry and community economic development. Without the assistance of a mobile phone to guide them, the students followed the guidance of the locals to find the right path in the unvisited communities, thus gaining a deeper understanding of the local geography, landscape, and cultural features of the communities.
The students were rewarded with a watermelon and one kilogram of ginger for completing the training and were given their mobile phones back, a highly addictive product that they have grown certain strangeness towards, after only two days of isolation. The trial run of the Spoonbill Youth Team has unexpectedly inspired the students to be patient, determined and empathetic, to throw away their mobile phones and discover the many beautiful things in life. The next Spoonbill Youth Team chapter will be launched soon, called "Breakthrough", and the first group of trainees will take on the task of passing on the Spoonbill (or “Pear Group”) spirit and lead another group of new trainees to continue their training in the Qishan community.
Journey. Vision. A Community Co-op with Warmth
Students from the Spoonbill Youth Team squatted at the USR program's base of operations during their participation in the camp. In the Qishan Yuantan region where they were based, there is a Grandmoms’ Café. The café is staffed by a group of simple grandmoms whose average age is over 80. Although the enthusiastic grandmoms may be a little slow in service, the coffee is brewed with strong sincerity and humanity. At the same time, it provides seniors with a job to feel fulfilled in their old age, while slowing down their physical and mental aging. In the café, the Spoonbill Youth Team from USR project's helped create a story corner for the preschoolers, which solved the problem of grandmothers and grandchildren not being able to go out, allowing them to happily work in the café.
In August this year, CommonWealth Magazine interviewed us with the title "Cheng Shiu University builds a community co-op with warmth in Qishan, Kaohsiung", and the Youth Farm, Spoonbill Youth Team, and Grandmoms’ Café are some of the ways. Our vision is to build a community co-operative with all kinds of community production, such as products, services and care for people, based on local caring, linking the school, community, and public and private sectors into a mutually supportive social network. Through the continuous support of the USR project and the long-term operation of the university teachers and students, we believe that the challenges of social welfare, productivity and manpower shortage in the rural areas will be gradually improved, and the community residents will be able to live a better and more beautiful life.
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University characteristic Startup Stage Project
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Kaohsiung City
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Cheng Shiu University
816votes
Further reading
Measures for Leaving a Message to Enter the Draw for the Live Streaming of the Opening Ceremony
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Event Period
From 13:00 to 14:00 on December 12 (Saturday), 2020
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Event Measures
Log in to your personal Facebook or Google account to proceed with leaving a message; each account with a successful message of #2020usrexpo left before the end of the live streaming of the opening ceremony will have an opportunity to enter the draw, and each account is restricted to winning the prize once only.
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List of Winners
On December 14 (Monday), 2020, the list of winners will be announced on the event official website https://2020usrexpo.org/) Announcement of the list of winners
Event Prize Content
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1st Prize
“Huei Yeh” Power Extreme Massage Gun 1 winner
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2nd Prize
Nestle Dolce Gusto Genio 2 1 winner
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3rd Prize
KINYO Bluetooth 5.0 Wireless Speaker 2 winner
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4th Prize
7-11 Gift Voucher valued at NT$200 27 winner
Announcement of the list of winners
The various prizes are expected to be notified via email and also announced on the event official website on December 14 (Monday), please will the prize winners pay attention to the prize-winning information, and send back the relevant documents according to the notices & explanations; no separate notification will be issued.
Notices
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