Students from Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan returned to Sagay City in Negros Occidental recently for community service, environmental learning, arts, and cultural exchange, continuing a service-learning partnership that has connected Taiwanese volunteers with Sagay communities since 2012.
The visiting Wenhwa Volunteer Team, led by Prof. Paul Tseng Sheng Yi, was composed of 10 students and their professor. Their summer service-learning program combines volunteer work, educational interaction, and cross-cultural immersion with communities in Negros Occidental, the city said in a press release Sept. 3.
The relationship with Sagay began more than a decade ago through the initiative of journalist and professor Allen Del Carmen, eventually developing into repeated visits and community engagements, particularly in Suyac Island.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Fu Jen volunteers conducted activities in Suyac for five years and provided a year of financial assistance to 12 selected elementary, high school, and university students.
The partnership continued even during and after the pandemic.
In 2022, the Fu Jen volunteers provided student allowances to learners from Suyac Island, extending their educational support to families in the community.
During their latest return to Suyac, mothers of some of the scholars personally met Prof. Tseng and expressed their gratitude for the assistance previously extended to their children, turning the visit into a reunion between the Taiwanese volunteers and families they had supported over the years.
The group also sent face masks and hygiene kits to Suyac children during the pandemic.
The volunteers interacted with learners at Suyac Island Elementary School, sharing Mandarin and Chinese crafts before proceeding to the Suyac Island Mangrove Eco-Park for a mangrove tour, dialogue with the Suyac Island Eco-Tourism Attendants Association, and exposure to the island’s environmental programs.
The group later proceeded to Purok Bougainvillea, where they experienced the community through the Sikad Tour and Pinta Balay activity, and visited the local art community in the Old Sagay-Margaha area.
The volunteers also joined the guides in a painting activity, adding another hands-on cultural exchange to their visit while supporting the community’s growing tourism and arts initiatives.
At Sagay National High School, the Fu Jen delegation was welcomed by students and teachers through music and Filipino folkdance performances. The volunteers also joined students of the Special Program in the Arts (SPA) in a hands-on pottery-making activity, allowing both groups to interact through art while sharing aspects of Filipino and Taiwanese culture.
The service-learning program emphasizes cultural exchange, educational service, and firsthand exposure to Filipino communities while giving Taiwanese students opportunities to understand the Philippines beyond the classroom.
The continuing visits show how a service-learning activity started more than a decade ago has developed into a sustained friendship between Sagay communities and generations of young Taiwanese volunteers. ||
