Sprouting Dream | Sponsor a Child in Taiwan

Due to family financial difficulties, 10-year-old Hulk has been receiving subsidy through the Mustard Seed Mission's Sponsor-A-Child program. To support him and his little sister, his mother has been working day and night. As a result of years of such physical strain, the warning bell to her health began to ring.  Coupled with the impact of the pandemic which reduced her working hours, her monthly salary has been adjusted to daily wage. This sudden and drastic reduction of working hours made the family unable to make ends meet and eventually she was laid off. On the suggestion of a friend, Hulk's mother decided to relocate the whole family to southern Taiwan and started afresh which on one hand could reduce their daily expenses slightly and on the other hand, to give her a chance to recuperate.

Before moving to the south, Hulk was a child easy to smile. Losing his former classmates and friends all of a sudden, he couldn't cope with the change and smiled less and less. His sister was still very young and needed lots of adult attention. As such, slowly but surely, he started to display signs of behavioral disorders because of the combination of several factors: the loss of focus in his daily life, the lack of the attention from his mother, and the limited play-time options available to him of either staying at home or going to nearby convenient stores after school.

On the phone, the social worker heard Hulk's mother saying worriedly, "Hulk recently stole toys from a convenience store, and the manager called me to warn...".

She went on "Hulk wasn't like this before. He didn't say anything when I asked him why. I don't know what to do with him...".

The social worker comforted her and said, "Hulk may not know how to express his emotions because of his young age. So, he tried to misbehave in order to attract adults' attention. I remember you once said that Hulk liked participating in MSM community service center activities. If you permit, I would like to bring teacher Chen from our community service center to visit you. They offer a lot of activities there. I think it would be worth trying to let Hulk participate, to divert his attention and make new friends. There might be some changes."

On the day of the visit, Teacher Chen took the initiative to talk with Hulk, learned about his hobbies and praised his academic performance in a timely manner. Soon Hulk opened his heart. Teacher Chen seized this opportunity and asked him "Hulk, we have a children's camp every Saturday. Would you like to join us? You can make many friends of your age." Without hesitation, Hulk agreed to accept Teacher Chen's invitation.

By participating in the children's camp, Hulk gradually displayed smiles one hadn't seen for a long time. After making new friends, every weekend is his happiest time. He eagerly looks forward to seeing friends and participating in many activities. The teachers in the community service center inquire about Hulk's life every week. As time goes by, Hulk has become more and more mature and well-behaved, and he received recognition and praise from the teachers. In addition to learning to play drums for free, he also recently performed on stage at events to build self-confidence. The love, care and companionship from the teachers not only helped correcting Hulk's misbehavior and bringing out his smile again, it also warms his heart and turns an original "foreign place" into a real sweet home for Hulk after the move.

"Granny, where is my mom? When will daddy be back and pick me up?" Those were the questions Jay, who is a kid of kindergarten age, often had in his heart, and the questions which his elderly granny was afraid to answer. 

The granny told the visiting social worker: Nobody knows the whereabouts of Jay's mother and his father has been serving a two-year jail sentence for some criminal offence and was just released last year. But as an ex-convict, it is hard for him to find a permanent job so he could only work as temporary air-conditioner installation worker, being paid a daily wage of merely $NTD1,100 (USD$37). Now that the winter is approaching, such air-con maintenance work is even harder to come by. 

Before she took upon herself the responsibility of looking after her grandson, Jay's granny was living in comfortable retirement. However, she couldn't bear to see that no one is there to take care of Jay so she decided to do it herself despite her old age and knee problem. She works hard as a temporary worker through government arrangement and has to rush to pick Jay up after finishing her job. 

Due to the lack of money, the pair can only afford shared living arrangement with other elderly people, with cracking paint on the wall, humble kitchen and shared, bare bathroom. Nonetheless it is home to Jay and his granny where they depend on and share their lives with each other. For the daily 3 meals, they could only rely on the materials donated by the Mustard Seed Mission or other organizations for simple meals. For Jay’s granny, it is such a pity that she couldn't afford the nutrition a growing Jay needs but to share with her grandson such simple food. A while ago when the weather was hot, she had no alternative but to take the kid to nearby convenience stores sitting there until 8pm or 9pm in order to get through the summer heat. It is as if the pair lives in such a corner overlooked by our society, trying their best to survive. However, faced with the economic pressure and the challenges in life, the granny appears to show strain and a bit downcast.

 

Through Mustard Seed Community Network, the Mustard Seed Mission offers prompt material aid so that Jay and his granny could receive temporary relief in their daily life. It is especially worth of mentioning that the emotional companionship and support offered by the Mustard Seed Mission helped Jay to grow into an optimistic kid who no longer feels being abandoned. Even as a little kid, he started to help his granny with house chores so granny can rest. With the help from kind-hearted people, granny expressed her gratitude in tears. She taught Jay to always be grateful and remembers to give back for what they received when he is able to do so one day, helping others in need. 

The Mustard Seed Community Network will continue to support more children like Jay. We hope that Jay grows into a person who faces life's challenges with courage and overcomes all obstacles fearlessly and become someone who is capable of sheltering and protecting others. 

There are still many families in Taiwan which need your help. We sincerely invite you to join this life-changing team to give a hand.