Community Care Home for Taiwan Vulnerable Children

Di-Yang, a golf coach from the Bunun ethnic group in Taitung, as he went to teach in a remote village, he became to know A-Xiang (a pseudonym) at his first grade. A-Xiang's father was a mountain guide, whose income was unstable. His mother worked as a waiter in a restaurant. The two's salary were too poor to raise the four children in the family. With the consent of A-Xiang's parents, A-Xiang began to live with the coach and his wife.

A-Xiang performed well in school sports and was willing to receive golf training, so he embarked on a 13-year learning journey. Due to the huge training expenditure, coach and his wife also ran a restaurant to support their children, but they were still struggling. Three years ago, coach and his wife joined the Mustard Seed Mission's " i-ro i-ro Children's Home", which enables children to live in the existing residential families of the church for stable life and healthy growth.

At "i-ro i-ro Children's Home", coach and his wife accompany the children all the way like a strict father and a loving mother. In order to learn to concentrate, children can not use mobile phones and play electric games, instead, they are trained to organize housework, cooking, pruning, gardening, piano, guitar, etc., all of them are versatile; pay more attention to their basic politeness and life etiquette. Mrs. coach recalled that when A-Xiang was a child, she often took his hand across the road. One day when she wanted to hold him again, A-Xiang told her, " I've grown up, so change my hand to hold you." A-Xiang is dull and reluctant to express his inner feelings. Touching the coach and Mrs. coach with his shoulders is his way of expressing love. Although his birth family doesn't always show care, the education and care that A-Xiang has received in i-ro i-ro Children's Home is full.

Due to the hard training process, A-Xiang wanted to give up several times, but he kept in mind the coach and Mrs. coach's teaching: "In the game, it is not others but himself who have to defeat." So he started to participate in many golf courses in high school. In the event, he has obtained quite a lot of achievements, and obtained the C-level license of golf coach. He graduated from high school this year and was admitted to the National Taiwan Sports University. In order to improve his family's environment, he aims to become a sports teacher and golf coach. He also actively prepares for the B-level coach's license exam. In the process of realizing his dream, he needs to continue practice, continuous registration to participate in the event, and funding. The coach and Mrs. coach also taught A-Xiang to be grateful and to continue the spirit of serving tribal children when he is able in the future, and to develop a path that can be worked hard for the future of the aboriginal children.

The program i-ro i-ro Children's Home assists marginalized children, reconstructs family systems and relationships, provides parents with good parental education, provides family support, and helps children grow steadily in the community.

Links:

• https://www.mustard.org.tw/locale/en

"Teacher, I want to see my mother…" Chace said to his home dad when they rode out on bicycles together.

Chace was born when his parents had been old. He has four siblings above. His mother died of illness while he was in his kindergarten, and his father also passed away when he was six years old. His eldest sister passed away a year ago, and his second sister after getting married left the family without contact. His eldest brother, is 20 years apart from him and bears the responsibility of taking care of Chace. But he currently got divorced and has to take care his own 13-year-old son. Due to the long-term unsteady work, his elder brother was unable to return home until late at night, leaving Chace and his own son at home. Without proper guidance, Chace often skipped classes and wandered on streets with his peers till midnight.

One of the MSM community partner, Mother Li, met Chace while doing community service. Mother Li, who has a child and happens to be Chace's classmate, knowing the situation of Chace's broken family, expressed willingness to open her home as i-ro i-ro Children's Home, a community childcare facility, to take care of Chace. At first, Chace was not quite able to adapt to the new environment. With the adjustment of his living habits, he gradually felt loving care from the new home and began to have a stable schedule of life and school. He took the initiative to help with various affairs, and shared his emotions and the juvenile problems. He dropped the old habit of wandering outside, and actively participated in various skills certification exams to find goals and directions for his life.

The family merrily celebrated Chace's birthday. Although Chace often behaved coolly, he is now willing to call Mother Li as "Mom."

From broken to complete, Chace 's journey home took a long time. Initially, he was like a duckweed without roots, but now i-ro i-ro Children's Home has become his life's belonging!