International Vision Outreach Program for Taitung Remote Areas Minority: 8/7 in Lidao Elementary School

Second day in Lidao Elementary School!

Morning call on the 2nd day was 7:00 AM. For breakfast we had egg and shredded pork sandwich and an ovaltine drink.

At 9:00 o'clock, all the volunteers and students gathered together inside the classroom for our first meeting! At first Dr. Ryan Wang introduced us all to the students and then we individually went up to the class room and did a short self-introduction. After we each introduced ourselves, all 20 students gave a short speech about themselves. Some of the students were very creative in their speech. A few of the students even sang and danced!

Then at 10:00 o'clock the students were split into two groups of 10 students each. One group of students first worked with teacher Mr. Huang with Google Earth. The second group worked with Gin, who was in charge of the art section.

First Mr. Huang explained the concept of Google Earth to the students. After explaining, he passed out a questionnaire for the students to answer, so we can analyze what the students knew about the world before using Google Earth. The volunteers, Jenny, Elton, Thomas and I (Jonathan) provided help to the students.

After the questionnaire, we started working with the students with google earth .The students were very enthusiastic about using Google Earth. We each showed the students different parts of the world, such as USA, Rome, Australia, Japan, and even their hometown of Lidao! Something Irecognized was the students knew a lot of Taiwan's Baseball player, Wang Chien Ming, who plays for the New York Yankees. I find that it's important for Taiwan people to make a significant impact outside of Taiwan, so that students will have a better knowledge about the outside world.

After looking at Google Earth, we next worked on our team flag! Our team was called the Bunun's. The students wanted to be called #1!! They were very excited in making the flag. We used paint and markers in designing the flag. After finishing the flag, we started to teach them an easy english cheer. Elton suggested the idea that we sing: 2,4,6,8, Who Do We Appreaciate!! Bunun, (clap, clap) Bunun (clap, clap), Bunun Bunun Bunun (clap clap clap). The students got the hang of the song very quickly. Next thing we know, they were cheering very excitedly.

The children seemed like they understood the English we were trying to teach them. Some of the students understood more english than others, but that may be due to the fact the students were of different grade levels.

Afterwards, it was time for LUNCH! However before eating, Dr. Ryan Wang broke the class into groups. Each volunteer was in charge of 2 or 3 students. Our job was to each lunch and interact with them. Lunch was a traditional school meal. It consisted of rice, sour vegetables, a pork cutlet, and egg cooked with vegetables.

After lunch, our next activity was for each group to draw their own interpretations of the world. We, the volunteers, were not suppose to help the students draw. We could only give them some advice and tips for the drawings. In my small group, the children drew the 7 continents and drew some cute animals to represent different countries.

Later, the children were taken to the basketball courts and we taught the students how to play some American Football. At first, the students didn't know much about American Football because the kids were trying to shoot the footballs into the basketball hoop. Even though footballs weren't meant to be used as basketballs.. they made many baskets. After teaching them how to throw the ball, the children were starting to throw the football correctly. After getting a feel of American Football, Dr. Ryan Wang came and taught the kids, mostly boys, how to play some American Football and Rugby.

After playing some American Football and Rugby, next off was DINNER! Dinner was a BBQ Dinner! There were lots and lots of food. Just to name off some...there were corn, pork, tempura, vegetables, soup, fish, and much much more! Thanks to everyone that helped make the BBQ possible! The children were thrilled to have BBQ for dinner. They sang and yelled, and even helped cook some of the food.
The night capped off after dinner clean up. That's all for now.