The 2013 National Taiwan University, Peking University and Yunnan University Social Service Team have just finished with the recruiting to set off on January 22nd. A meeting was thus held to give the 33 students support and encouragement with the attendance of NTU vice president Yung Mao Chao, NTU dean of student affairs Bao Ruei Duh, the vice NTU dean of student affairs His Mei Lai, the chief of the staff of the Office of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan of Peking University Chun Bao Chen, and Tien Ran Zhang from the Youth Elevation Association of Peking University.

By giving the opening speech to this meeting, NTU vice president Yung Mao Chao mentioned that the goal of establishing this student team is to make a bridge to connect the youth force between Taiwan and the Mainland China by prompting the social services with the students’ interaction and corporation so that we can prove to the society that university students can actually learn a lot through social services to contribute to the society. The social services of the student team can have the university students actually interact with one another; moreover, it provides something new for the students to really earn from social services. Teachers from National Taiwan University, Peking University and Yunnan University all emphasize a lot on this social service with their great expectation on the student team. They encourage the student team to keep a great company with the kids during the social service by reading with the children there to open up their international perspective. The ultimate goal is to help the children to receive education outside their tribes by having the good influence from these university students. So that in ten to twenty years these children will grow up to be another great company and influence to continue the social service in their aboriginal tribes for a meaningful contribution. In addition to that educational vision, we have just added a new activity, hiking trails, to the social service for the student teams. The student teams from the three universities will have to complete their hiking trails from the suburban areas to the countryside to learn from the nature by DIY during their hiking trip in hopes that they can rethink more possibilities of social services while staying in the natural environments.

The 2013 National Taiwan University, Peking University and Yunnan University Social Service Team left for the elementary schools in Fuxing County, Taouyun on January 23rd and January 24th. The elementary schools there are composed of aboriginal children in the mountains, where there have been lack of education. Thus, the service team brought a great company of reading to the elementary schools by DIY and story telling. The 33 university students on the service team successfully served as the great examples by setting role models to the elementary kids while having fun with them during the two days. We expect the aboriginal children there can have the opportunity to live a better life in the near future via the power of education once they receive the inspiration and the great company from these university students. As for the hiking trails on January 25th to 26th, the student team completed this social service by building a new hiking trail in Jihshan Distirct in New Taipei City. These university students from the three universities learned to contribute their young lives to the natural environment during the two-day service in Jinshan District. They had to DIY with materials in the mountains to build a new trail that could fit the nature the most for their social service this time. From this hiking experience, the 33 students learned the importance of reserving the ecology maintaining the beauty in the nature by actually touching the land themselves to feel the pulse of the nature. Right after the hiking trip, the 33 students were invited by the peers from Taiwan Soka Association with the great hospitality. The students there talked about the social services topic for a closer interaction in hopes that the young generations in both Taiwan and Mainland China can thus improve the sense of social service as well as the importance of responsibility.

It has been such a great experience over the past eight days to complete the 2013 National Taiwan University, Peking University and Yunnan University Social Service Team. Within only eight days, the 33 students all had their services done with their efforts that achieved the most contribution to end the social service this time. The next social service team will leave for Yunnan in the summer. National Taiwan University, Peking University and Yunnan University Social Service Team will dream bigger to contribute to the society, and the university students will prove it to the world by going to Yunnan this summer to go for their dream.