It’s amazing to think that a movie watched as a child could decide a career path!

Perhaps it was a mere accident that Kevin Chen began a career in social enterprise. Or perhaps it was destiny. The film A Home Too Far portrays the difficulties suffered by a group of Chinese soldiers and their families who are forced into exile after the 1949 civil war, and settle on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. After seeing the movie as a child, Chen had the idea of helping others deeply rooted in his soul, and at age 28, he finally realized his dream.

As Myanmar gradually opens up to the world, ELIV will extend support to its people as well.

Particular events during his university years appeared trivial at the time, but had a strong influence on his later direction. For example, he chose rope skipping and diabolo as sports, and these skills became an advantage when he was competing for the position of representative for the university’s Graduate Association. He was finally selected as the host for the graduate prom due mainly to his skills in these areas. The event provided him valuable experience, as he got to know a number of students from various departments, thereby expanding his network of associates.

With a warm, lively personality and a flair for organizing, Chen was employed by social enterprise Flow after an introduction by a friend when he completed military service in 2008. Flow was established by Steve Chang, the founder of Trend Micro.

At the time, Flow was recruiting volunteers for a project to help local people build houses in the Philippines. Chen was initially concerned about the difficulty of recruiting enough volunteers—it was hard work, but he had worried needlessly. Three hundred tried to sign on despite the fact that the company needed only 30 volunteers. He realized that among Taiwanese the desire to do international volunteer service was very strong—beyond his imagination, in fact.

In the Philippines, Chen and the team members carted bricks and roof tiles for a house under construction. When the 20-square-meter structure was complete, it looked very primitive although it contained a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. However, the owner was very grateful. Taking the hand of one of the team, she exclaimed, “What a beautiful house I have!” She clearly treasured the little house that was now hers.

ELIV volunteers plant Chinese tamarisk trees in Inner Mongolia, in an effort to reduce the inexorable loss of soil due to desertification.

However, after a week in the Philippines, Chen saw that because volunteers come and go—here today, gone tomorrow—they lacked any deep long-term involvement with the local community, and therefore really couldn’t make any substantial contribution to people’s lives. On top of that, most international volunteer services at the time were organized either by private-sector organizations or government agencies with their complex bureaucracies, which often meant that the resources that finally made it through to the volunteers were significantly depleted.

Whether the funding comes from public or private sources, the aid model will inevitably be limited, and not necessarily able to help local communities in any effective way. So Chen thought about a new way of doing things: why not get Taiwan’s enthusiastic volunteers to cover their own individual costs, rather than seeking support from government or industry? Such a project would provide opportunities for volunteers to travel overseas and help others with a minimum of fuss.

In June 2009, just after his 28th birthday, Chen decided to quit Flow and launch his own venture. He managed to raise NT$750,000, and with a further capital injection of NT$750,000 from Flow, he was able to set up ELIV, with the aim of helping volunteers who wanted to offer their services internationally.

Volunteers cover the costs of their own airfares, meals and accommodation, along with a contribution of around 20% to assists ELIV’s operations, for a total of about NT$30,000 per trip.

“The organization of a volunteer enterprise should be as simple as possible, and ELIV is a platform tailored specifically­ for international volunteers.” Chen decided not to depend on non-profit organizations in the target regions to find worthy recipients for their labor. They would undertake their own investigations, and provide their services directly to those in need.

In tune with the concept of “love without borders,” many Taiwanese travel overseas not just to holiday, but to become international volunteers contributing their time and energy to help people in need.

Chen had no management experience, but he was keen to learn and undertook study. After six months of preparation, ELIV was ready to launch its first project in the Yen Hung District, Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam.

Initially, Chen wanted to apply his horticultural skills to help the local farmers improve their cultivation techniques, but after field investigations, he realized he might be aiming too high. After returning to Taiwan, he made adjustments to the plan, deciding to assist the local people to build accommodation for their pigs instead. With no engineering background, Chen managed to get help from Hou Wen-shang, a professor in the Department of Engineering for Sustainable Environment at National Taiwan University. Hou was deeply touched by Chen’s enthusiasm for the project, and gradually moved from being a consultant to finally joining the ELIV project and becoming a volunteer himself on the ground in Vietnam.

Because ELIV was virtually unknown in the initial recruiting period, Chen was forced to use his own personal network to invite people to participate in the project. But eventually they managed to get together 20-plus members, and ELIV’s first team kicked off in January 2010.

After arriving at the destination, however, there was a surprise in store. Prior to departure from Taiwan, ELIV had submitted an application to the Vietnamese government, but after their arrival at the village, Chen received a call from a local official alleging that their visit was unauthorized. They weren’t allowed in. The team members were forced to put up at a neighboring hostel until they were granted permission next day.

In ELIV’s first overseas project, Chen learned the lessons of working as an international volunteer. When he worked for Flow, he only needed to play his part well and follow the organization’s guidelines. But he was now the team leader, the boss, so he had to handle everything including communications, event planning, and negotiating with local officialdom.

Fortunately, after a lot of hard work from everyone, the six-square-meter pigpen located on a hillside was successfully completed. Surveying their work afterwards, Chen believed that, in the end, it was all worthwhile.

ELIV has left its mark throughout Asia. Here, members work together carrying bricks to help local residents build a home in India.

After an initial period of instability, ELIV is now expanding rapidly, with a focus on mainly Southeast Asian countries.

In response to different situations in different regions, ELIV has designed a range of diverse solutions. For example, they have cooperated with mainland China’s Npo-Greenlife to plant saplings in the Ulan Buh Desert in Inner Mongolia, an area which has suffered from relentless desertification for a long time. ELIV has also introduced modern agricultural technology to Cambodia to improve the nation’s backward farming techniques.

Chen clearly knows where ELIV needs to go. He tries to facilitate the international participation of every volunteer so they are able to gain real expertise, and then share and pass on their experience and enthusiasm.

Chen led 66 volunteers abroad in the first year of ELIV’s operation, with the number rising to 314 in the second year, and an estimated 700 in 2012—participation has doubled yearly. With the rapid growth in volunteer numbers in 2012, ELIV is expecting to reach break-even point.

ELIV’s reputation has gradually spread in the past three years through the Internet and word of mouth. Beginning with only one member and with seven currently, the staff has grown significantly; several among them began as volunteers.

Helene Chow, originally from Hong Kong and a former employee of Sidley Austin LLP, is currently ELIV’s executive director. Chow joined ELIV’s volunteer project to India in the summer of 2010. After that experience, she quit her quite well paid position to become co-founder of ELIV.

While many people will spend NT$30,000 on a visit to Japan or the US, others prefer to spend their money traveling to places that need help, and through their manual labor and privation, come to an understanding of themselves. In each volunteer project, they think about what changes can be brought about by their work. For them, international travel is not necessarily a way to just eat, drink and have fun—it can be something of significance, like an international volunteer mission.

As the concept of volunteer work abroad has become more prevalent in Taiwan, ELIV is seeking a balance between the needs of running a business, and the ideal of dedicating its enormous enthusiasm and energy to the mission of social enterprise.