A sense of happiness
“Applicants to the Dream-Building Program have so far come from 16 countries. And it’s not only first-generation immigrants that we’re concerned about. We are now extending our reach to their children and families.” The idea is to enable the children of immigrants, who already number more than 430,000, to leverage the advantages of diversity based on their dual cultural backgrounds.
Lin Xiaoting, whose mother is from Indonesia, is fascinated with traditional Balinese dance. She used the funding she received from the program to buy traditional attire and accessories, which she has worn at countless social welfare activities to convey the rich culture of Indonesia. Meina, whose mother is from Vietnam, and Liao Jianhao, whose mother comes from the Philippines, have both used writing as a way to emerge from feelings of loneliness and abandonment, and to rediscover themselves. Huang Xiaoyun, whose mother hails from Vietnam, made an animated video and illustrated book entitled Believe in Yourself, showing her confidence to set about changing the world.
The culinary arts are an effective way to quickly bring people closer together. Shan Shujuan, from Myanmar, not only interacts with people through cuisine from her homeland, she has also gotten her son involved and opened a Muslim school to help Taiwanese get an in-depth understanding of Islamic culture. Su Lilian, who hails from Indonesia, cultivates vanilla and has drawn on memories from her childhood to bring the flavors of the land of her birth to Taiwan.
“We have statistical evidence that happiness is steadily increasing.” There is abundant information on the NIA website showing the government’s wide-ranging efforts to care for immigrants’ wellbeing.
In recent years, awardees from the Dream-Building Program have become members of the governing committee of the New Immigrant Development Fund, speaking out on behalf of immigrants. Over the past six years, each and every project has been writing the true story of how immigrants from all over the globe are courageously making their dreams a reality in Taiwan and confidently taking their lives in new directions.
Wu Zhennan, Zhang Junhao, Huang Baoyun, Liu Yunyun and Yang Weiguang, all natives of Malaysia, have lived and worked in Taiwan for over 20 years. Their “Southern Rhythms Hand Drum Troupe” stages benefit performances to share the culture of their homeland.