wfn.org | Focus on the Elderly: Using Technology to Capture Life Story

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>Taiwan Church News

>2959 Edition

>November 10~16, 2008

Focus on the Elderly: Using Technology to Capture Life Story

>Reported by: Chen Wei-Jian

>Written by: Lydia Ma

In recent years, many universities in Taiwan are including community  services as part of their academic curricula in order to raise social  awareness among students. On November 2nd, thirty-nine students from  National Taichung University visited David Landsborough Presbyterian  Church and used their skills to help the senior’s fellowship  members record their life story. Led by their professor, these students  from the Department of Digital Content and Technology conducted  one-on-one interviews with thirty-nine seniors. Afterward, these seniors  appeared in front of the camera to say a few words or sing their  favorite songs.

Students from the Department of Digital Content and Technology must  complete 6 hours of practicum in the form of community service in order  to complete their degree. After a conversation with the pastor’s  wife from David Landsborough Presbyterian Church, professors decided to  help the elderly at this church record their life story. Students asked  seniors to contribute memorable photos from their lives and then  recorded their reflections as they presented these photos. Students did  some final editing before producing a short film presentation using the  information they had gathered.

Because the students were merely freshmen, this project became a big  mission for both faculty and students. Collecting information from  thirty-nine sources and capturing them on video was no easy feat.  However, because the project meant so much for all participants, faculty  members placed high hopes on students to do their best and come up with  a good end product. In the end, the students put in more than the  required six hours and their performance during the interviews and  throughout the whole project were outstanding. They also had a lot of  fun interacting with seniors.

The idea of doing a life story film presentation for seniors came about  recently when one faculty member was preparing a small film presentation  for her own mother’s memorial service. Realizing that she had very  little information to work with and how challenging the process was  becoming, she felt a burden to help other seniors capture their life  story while they could still retell it. At the same time, members of the  church had recently heard an elder share her life story using pictures  which left the audience deeply moved. When members from the church and  the university finally had a chance to meet, the idea of capturing life  stories on film quickly took root. The students will leave a DVD copy of  each presentation at the church so that seniors can continue adding  pictures in the future.

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