wfn.org | TCN: Indonesian and Japanese youth trek across Taiwan to raise environmental awareness

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>2988 Edition

>June 1~7, 2009

Indonesian and Japanese youth trek across Taiwan to raise  environmental awareness

>Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

June 5th is World Environment Day and the Presbyterian Church in  Taiwan (PCT) has set

aside June 7th as “Environment Sunday”. On May 31st, a  group of Indonesian students

studying in Taiwan began a cross-country tour of Taiwan on their  bicycles. The tour will last

15 days and it will give these students an opportunity to thank  Taiwanese society before

they graduate in June. These students also hope to raise awareness  for the preservation of

>endangered rainforests in Indonesia.

These students were the first group of Indonesian youth invited to  study in Taiwan after the

Indian Ocean earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 2004. Their stay  was sponsored by

several organizations across Taiwan and a Buddhist organization in  Indonesia.

In related news, Yuji Miyata, the Japanese youth Taiwan Church  News covered a few weeks

ago who is trekking across Taiwan on foot, has reached Hualien.  Just like the Indonesian

students, Miyata is also raising awareness for the environment  through a cross-country tour

>of Taiwan.

Most of these Indonesian students majored in environmental  sciences. Besides these 10

students and their Indonesian sponsors, their Taiwanese hosts will  also accompany them on

this tour. One of the hosts is Professor Chang Tzu-chen, an  assistant professor at

Transworld Institute of Technology, who also happens to be a  Christian.

The group will visit 15 organizations and universities during this  cross-country tour.

According to Professor Chang, Christians who work with people from  other faiths to

accomplish a worthy and beautiful cause can expect God’s  blessing.

He also mentioned that though many Christians have helped these  students in private,

environmentalism remains a rare topic during church discussions.  Now that the PCT has

included World Environment Day in its calendar, Chang hopes that  local presbyteries and

churches can become more active in promoting public policies and  lifestyle choices that

>benefit the environment.

As for Yuji Miyata, he arrived in Hualien on May 27th after  spending 10 days walking from

Taitung to Hualien. Though exhausted, Miyata was greatly  encouraged by the warm

reception he received from Hualien County Environmental Protection  Agency. He was

invited by Hualien County Environmental Minister Dai Wen-jian to  watch dragon boat

competitions and enjoy glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo  leaves during Dragon

>Boat Festival.

Miyata also participated in several local events promoting  environmental protection,

including a tree-planting event where he planted three trees with  his own hands. Miyata

wrote in his blog that if residents, private companies, and public  agencies could cooperate

in environmental education and cleaning up their city, and if  awareness could be followed by

actions, then, real change would be felt and obvious.  Miyata’s next stop will be Ilan, which

>lies north of Hualien.

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