“Elders’ Paintings and Children’s Photos: The Good Old Days”

Text/Photo: Chia-Yi Lee
Translation: Steve J. Lin

The exhibition “Elders’ Paintings and Children’s Photos: The Good Old Days” sponsored by TCU SCLOVE had its grand opening today. The paintings were created by grandpas and grandmas, all over 60 years old, and the photos were taken by elementary school students. Today teachers and students of Fu-Yuan Elementary School, grandpa and grandma artists, and an elders’ choir, a total of 50 came to Tzu Chi University to attend the grand opening, and they were accompanied by Yueh-Mei Chou, the head of Fu-Yuan Village, and director of the Community Development Council Chih-Sung Tsai.

慈濟大學川愛志工隊今天舉辦「花甲童心：憶童客畫美好時光」服務成果展，｢花甲｣是指富源一群年齡超過60歲以上的阿公阿嬤的畫作，｢童心｣是富源國小小學生的攝影作品。今天由富源村村長周玉梅，社區發展協會理事長蔡志松帶隊，包括富源國小師生，和阿嬤畫家以及千歲合唱團等50人今天北上到慈大參加開幕典禮。

TCU SCLOVE has been participating in Ministry of Education’s project “Campus E-service Volunteer” since May 2015. They went to Fu-Yuan Elementary School once every month, working with school teachers, and applying their knowledge in education and communication studies to teach elementary school pupils. They wished to enhance students’ IT skills and knowledge, and let them use cameras to record their hometown. By accident, they encountered local grandpas and grandmas, who put countryside scenes and childhood memories into their paintings. Mr. Hsing-Hua Lin was the elders’ teacher who initiated a class of “Painting with a simple mind” and invited his students to paint their hometown in their leisure time. An idea came to TCU students that elder’s paintings and children’s photos were the best materials introducing Fu-Yuan.

慈濟大學川愛志工隊自2015年5月起參與教育部資訊志工計畫，和學校老師合作，結合教育與傳播專業，每月一次前往富源國小服務，強化小學生的資訊素養與應用能力外，也讓小學生們拿起相機學習記錄家鄉。慈大學生在帶小朋友記錄富源社區的過程中，意外地發現了富源一群「老當益壯」的阿公與阿嬤，利用閒暇時間，在林興華老師的指導下組成「樸素繪畫班」，以農村景色、兒時的回憶進行創作。因此，川愛志工團隊決定集合｢花甲｣畫作和｢童心｣照片，將富源社區介紹大家。

Grandma Yueh-Mei was born and grew up in Fu-Yuan. She also married her husband and raised her children in Fu-Yuan. Farmers plowing their fields using water buffaloes, and families raising chickens in their yards, comprise her childhood memories. She started farm work kneeling down in a field and removing weeds at age 6. Despite the discomfort caused by bee stings, Yueh-Mei Just kept working in the field. The farm work was hard, yet she appreciated that her parents worked diligently day after day in the fields. The old gray haired couple in her painting depicted the type of elder’s life she likes. Grandma Yueh-Mei has been living in Fu-Yuan for 65 years. Painting brought back memories of her good old days, and she was happy to portray her familiar and unforgettable memories to share with others.

在富源出生、成長、結婚生子的陳月梅，將他記憶中的農村生活畫出來，有水牛耕種，養雞人家，陳月梅阿嬤從六歲開始就到家中的田裡幫忙，從簡單的除草工作開始，每一次除草都要跪在地上慢慢的拔草，即便被泥土裡的土蜂叮得很不舒服，還是一樣要繼續工作。阿嬤回想起小時候的農耕生活覺得真是辛苦，也深深的佩服父母能夠每天辛勤的在田裡工作。圖片中的銀髮夫妻，則是他心目中與老伴美好的生活景象。陳月梅表示，他在富源已經生活65年了，每次畫畫就會想起以前的生活，他很開心可以將他最熟悉、最懷念的農村回憶畫出來與大家分享。

Another grandma was 78 years old, she had beautiful gray hair, yet she still had a young lady’s passion and vitality. While focusing on painting, she often forgot the passage of time, and sometimes she just kept on painting late into the night, not wanting to go to bed. Grandma Yin-Mei Lin was 85 years old, and she moved to Hualien County at age 5. She needed to feed chickens daily when she was young, and thus she painted chickens and loofah vines next to the chicken house, as these were her childhood memories.

已經78歲高齡，雖然滿頭白髮，但卻有著年輕人般的熱情與活力，她只要一拿起畫筆就會忘記時間，阿嬤開心表示，有時候畫到半夜還不想睡。85歲的林銀妹阿嬤五歲搬到花蓮，小時候要幫忙養雞，畫作裡各式各樣的雞，還有雞寮旁的絲瓜棚等等，都是記憶中的童年時光。

TCU students wished to reveal a touching story behind each oil painting, thus every visitor would be touched while reading each story. So students interviewed 14 grandmas while being with them during the weekends, and then published a story book. To Xin-An Pan, a member of TCU SCLOVE, each painting is the life’s story of a grandma. He was grateful that the grandmas allowed him to enter into their lives. While listening to their stories, he felt as if he was their grandson, and he felt excited in the process.

而為了讓富源社區這些可愛的阿嬤畫作讓大家欣賞，志工隊學生特別利用週末陪伴阿嬤時進行採訪，將14位阿嬤的故事發揮巧思繪製成一本小書，希望大家在看展同時，也能閱讀每一幅動人油畫背後的生命故事。川愛志工隊潘信安表示，每一副畫都是阿嬤的寶貴人生經驗，很感謝阿嬤讓他們走進富源時光隧道，感覺就像是孫子在聽阿嬤講故事，採訪過程非常有趣。

The exhibition of “Elders’ Paintings and Children’s Photos: The Good Old Days” displayed paintings created by grandmas over 60 years old, and photos taken by 10 year old elementary school students. These elementary school students were inquisitive, as they listened to the grandmas’ stories, and the grandmas were in turn interested in the students’ photos. Fu-Yuan Elementary School Principal Li-Hui Chen was happy to see TCU students guiding their pupils to interview grandmas, teaching them to take photos, and coaching them to record their community stories through interviews and video editing. As a result, community elders and children all felt the warmth of happiness.

「花甲童心：憶童客畫美好時光」將60歲阿嬤的畫作和10歲小朋友的一起展覽，別具趣味，小朋友很好奇，聽聽阿嬤的故事，阿嬤對於小朋友的照片也很感興趣，富源國小校長陳立輝感謝慈大學生帶著小朋友當小記者，學習如何拍照，採訪剪接記錄社區，非常感謝團隊的用心，讓老人和小朋友都被關心，都很開心。

These grandma artists guided visitors to view the paintings, the elders’ choir presented their songs, Fu-Yuan Elementary School pupils performed their renowned Taiko Drums, and visitors felt the vigor and vitality of the community. Many TCU faculty and students, and Tzu Chi Dads and Moms attending the exhibition were impressed by the grandmas’ creativity and children’s imaginations. Moreover, they became more familiar with Fu-Yuan and wished to visit the places where grandmas created their paintings and children took their photos.

5月20日下午的成果展開幕茶會，除了畫家阿嬤親臨現場解說外，也有社區阿嬤組成的「千歲合唱團」表演，而富源國小學生也將表演聞名遐邇的鼓陣，讓參觀者感受社區滿滿的熱情與生命力。包括慈大師生，慈誠懿德會也蒞臨參加，大家驚呼阿嬤的創造力和小朋友的想像力，對於富源也更生起熟悉感，希望安排假期去看看畫作和相片中的地方。