Aboriginal Teacher in North Taiwan Mothers Tribal Children
Taiwan Church News 2828 8-14 May 2006
Reported by Lin Yi-ying. Written by David Alexander
In Taiwan¡¦s mountains, educational resources can be sparse, life filled with difficulties, and the village children isolated, but one woman in one village sees reason for hope. Shebelieves that what these children most need is someone who wills to stay by them and accompany them as they mature, sharing their joy and pain. Ms. Hsia Li-chuen is a member of Taiwan¡¦s small Saisiat tribe. She lives in Jian Shih Towship of Hsin-chu County in Northern Taiwan. She has taught at 3 small village schools over the past 17 years, and now serves in a branch of Yi-hsing elementary school. When asked why she doesn¡¦t leave the remote village and move to Taiwan¡¦s western plains where she can earn more money as a teacher, she replies, ¡§I was born and grew up in a mountain village. I naturally fit here. City life on the flatlands does not suit me.¡¨
Ms Hsia is a graduate of the language education department of a university in Hsin-chu City. She turned to the village teaching soon after her graduation. Over the course of her career so far, her marriage has failed and her husband has left the mountains. She raises two children as a single mother. As a professional and a mother, she still finds time to lead the cultural arts association in her village, promoting the Saisiat language locally and to the wider world through song and other cultural arts.
She says, ¡§It is true that schools are often avoided by children in the villages. Their family situations are often precarious. Parents may be out of work, or only earn a minimum as agricultural labourers, so a family¡¦s economic resources may vary. Beyond that, the problems of alcohol and domestic violence are not unknown in the village. Children who come to school, come needily. One thing we can provide at the school, and we do at noon every day, is decent nutrition!¡¨
Her 17 years of teaching experience have demonstrated both the purity of heart of village children, and the results of parental neglect. After years of life in less than ideal home situations, the children¡¦s character is often negatively influenced. Speaking plainly, she asserts that teaching children is the most important thing. Parents who refuse to take responsibility need to be re-educated!.
Her sense of mission to village children came about through growing up in the home of a man who served as a local township chief. Her father taught her right conduct was as important as food and water. Her response was to develop a deep feeling for her mountain homeland and its people. For this reason she has invested herself in the promotion of tribal culture. She hopes that the renewal of cultural pride can be the foundation of renewed self-confidence, leading to the abolition of self-destructive habits and a return to healthy community life.
As a professional and as a community leader she approaches government organizations for grants to aid extra-curricular activities and training. She leads groups of village children on visits to other locales so that they can learn, grow and thrive. She invites any persons or groups who have material, intellectual or spiritual resources to share in her mission to village children to join in the work of the cultural association which she leads. 035 841 6000
For more information: Hsia Li-chuen TEL +886 35 841 6000
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