2016 TCU Flag Presentation Ceremony for Volunteer Teams Who Would Serve During the Summer Months

Text/photo: Chia-Yi Lee

On June 16 TCU held a flag presentation ceremony for volunteer teams who would serve during the summer months at remote areas of Taiwan, or outreach the needy in overseas. The flag presentation ceremony signified the infusion of University spirits, expression of best wishes from faculties, staffs and students, and enhance of students’ confidence and enthusiasm.

慈濟大學6月16日舉辦2016暑假服務團隊授旗典禮，暑假期間慈大同學不休息，志同道合的同學們分別組隊到台灣偏鄉、海外服務。慈大藉授旗典禮作為各服務隊的精神象徵，傳達全校師生的祝福心意，提振同學對服務活動的信心並全力以赴。

This summer over 200 students will take part in volunteer services, 70 students will go abroad, and 141 will serve in Taiwan. Volunteers will go to Taitung, Yuli, Hualien, and Taipei, etc. Moreover, students will visit Sichuan and Gansu of China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, etc.

慈大今年暑假服務人數，包括海外服務志工70人，國內志工141人參加，超過兩百位學生參與。服務據點包括台東、花蓮玉里、花蓮化仁、台北等地，海外包括有中國四川、甘肅、菲律賓、馬來西亞、泰國、印尼等地。

Vice President Mutsu Hsu presented a flag to each team, he was grateful to students who were willing to step out of comfort zone to serve in remote areas of Taiwan or outreach the needy in overseas. Hsu used a Jing Si Aphorism “We treasure our physical bodies given by our parents, and thus we take good care of them; to say thanks to our parents for their giving, so we use our bodies to serve others.” to portray these students who felt grateful and were willing to serve others. He reminded that the people they would meet and places they would visit might not be as good as they expected, yet TCU expects students to accept whoever or whatever come to them and face them joyfully, and furthermore, students need to regard every encounter as a learning opportunity. Love transcends national boundary, and these students were no exceptions, this year 70 students chose to serve overseas, and Vice President was also appreciated the great efforts from the Office of International Affairs.

授旗典禮上，由許木柱副校長授旗每一出隊隊伍，對於同學在炎炎夏日，仍然願意離開冷氣房到偏鄉離島，甚至更熱的國度去服務，許副校長表示佩服，並以靜思語｢自愛就是報恩，付出就是感恩｣形容同學是一群懂得感恩，回饋社會的年輕人，同時提醒大家，有些地方住的可能簡陋，環境不好，既然選擇服務他人就要甘願做歡喜受，服務也是一種學習，更是慈濟大學教育的核心價值，而大愛無國界，今年也有70幾位同學選擇出國服務，許副校長也感謝國際事務中心的支持。

The Director of the Office of International Affairs Hung-Wen Liu handed gifts to each team, and expressed his best wishes to students. Most of the 12 teams had service experiences during summer months in the past, and they usually picked a fixed location to serve and thus built up good relationships with the organizations they worked with. Take Holy Cross Hospice Team as an example, TCU students served Taitung Catholic Holy Cross Hospice for the Chronically Ill for the past 6 years, and this would be their 7^th year. This institute accommodates children with cerebral palsy, Kanner’s syndrome, epilepsy, Down syndrome, metabolic disorders, etc., and this TCU team comprising many Physical Therapy students provided simple rehabilitation and heath education for the children.

國際事務中心劉鴻文國際長發給每位出隊隊伍結緣品，祝福同學們能夠順利成功。12支慈大暑假服務團隊，多數是歷史悠久擁有良好的傳承，在一固定據點服務多年，建立良好的互信互動關係。像是蘋果救星營，今年已經是第七年到台東天主教救星教養院服務，天主教救星教養院的院童包括有腦性麻痺、自閉症、癲癇、唐氏症、代謝異常等疾病。救星蘋果營主要以物理治療系的學生為主，同學在服務期間，可以協助簡單的復健，衛教等活動，學以致用。
A sophomore of Physical Therapy Meng-Ru Wu would join in Holy Cross Hospice Team and serve at Taitung from July 4 through July 15, and then he would take part in 2016 TCU Medical Outreach in the Philippines from July 31 through August 8. Meng-Ru said that this would be his last time to serve there, since he has to work at the clinic for the next two summers fulfilling his clerkship and internship requirements, and thus he wouldn’t be able to serve these children anymore. Last year he went to the Hospice for the Chronically Ill, he did very little there, yet he felt that he gained a lot. Teaching the children there was a challenge, he witnessed the teachers’ enthusiasm and patience of teaching those children which impressed him greatly, and he finally realized that compassion was a key driving force. He was happy to apply what he learned in the classroom to serve those children, and he was pleased to see his professional skills and knowledge enhanced.

物理治療系二年級吳孟儒今年暑假同時參加了救星蘋果營(7/4~7/15)和人醫菲揚菲律賓國際志工服務(7/31~8/8)。吳孟儒表示，因為物治系大三以後暑假就要去實習，所以他安排大學僅有的兩次暑假都去做志工服務，去年他也有參加救星蘋果營，他認為自己能做的不多但從營隊獲得的卻很多，教養院裡的老師非常熱忱有耐心地對小朋友，讓他看到醫者的仁心，給他很大的鼓勵，而去那邊做得跟所學的也有相關，對專業也有幫助。

The outstanding service-learning teams for 2015 are 2015 Tzu Chi Humanitarianism Camp for Children, New Sprouts Volunteer Team from Center for Teacher Education, and Sichuan Love were the, and they were awarded in the ceremony.

典禮同時表揚去年104學年度服務學習學生績優團隊，分別由2016童在一起慈濟人文體驗營，師培中心-新苗志工隊，川愛志工隊獲獎。