Be a Changemaker, Make a Difference
On 1 October, ten selected outstanding ACF tertiary volunteers who took part in the Make a Difference (MaD) Festival in Hong Kong from 21 to 23 July, held a sharing session at Shih Chien University. The MaD sharing session, attended by many other ACF volunteers, emulated the format of the MaD Festival, allowing participants to immerse in a creative environment and exchange views on pertinent issues. This year marks the third year ACF volunteers are participating in the MaD Festival with the support of the MaD Institute.
Founded in 2009, the MaD Institute, a community-initiated organization in Hong Kong, aims to inspire and empower youth in Asia to develop creative responses to social challenges. It has supported youths to attend the MaD Festival, a celebrated regional event for aspiring Asian changemakers, to congregate for discussion and reflection of important social issues and gain new perspectives and energies.
As an international event, the festival is the culmination of the MaD Forum which ran from March to July this year. The festival opened with a speech on international changemakers, and covered themes on design thinking, creative platforms and community comics. With the invitation from MaD of the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture in 2013, ACF Chair Stanley Yen gave an opening speech “Planting a hope for the land” at the festival. In 2014, ACF co-sponsored two outstanding volunteers to attend the festival.
This year, ACF’s MaD team arrived Hong Kong with 1300 Asian youths and listened to fellow participants (known as MaDees) share on how they became changemakers. The team visited the Hong Kong Design Centre, City University in Hong Kong and the Kung Yung Koon-Shabnam – a space aimed to promote integration with the South Asian community in Hong Kong. Such an enriching trip to Taiwan’s nearest neighbour and competitor in Hong Kong is reminiscent of Chair Yen’s reminders to Taiwan’s youths to reflect on their own positioning and work hard to become the change they wish to see.
ACF’s MaD team had much to share on their eye-opening experience at the festival. Tseng Zhanwei from National University of Kaohsiung, said the festival had large interactive forums and small workshops for in-depth discussions, describing the atmosphere to be filled with creative sparks. He hopes to be in touch with the ground and focus on service and contribution, becoming the change that he desires to see. Chiang Nien-ci, a National Chengchi University graduate who served in the music camp earlier, had hoped to break out of her comfort zone with the MaD Festival experience. She felt that she had gained most from “Free Market” – the opening activity of the festival, which allowed each individual to exchange their experiences, items and thinking based on self-determined values.
Each year, about 200 volunteers contribute their services to ACF’s numerous programs, constituting an important asset of ACF. Tertiary student volunteers get a chance to prove their mettle at summer camps, projects and administrative services, benefitting from service learning. Communication and leadership skills are enhanced while volunteers are exposed to the education landscape in Huatung and Taiwan.
ACF shows its appreciation by providing opportunities for volunteers to upgrade skills and enrich their horizons in line with industrial developments. In 2017, ACF introduced the Youth Volunteer Development Plan. Initiatives include the MaD participation for ten outstanding volunteers of tertiary level, the IBM Mentoring Program and the Seven Highly Effective Habits Workshop conducted by Junyi Centre for Teaching & Learning (JCTL). Such initiatives help volunteers to understand their own strengths.
Ken Hsiao who was part of the inaugural team sent by ACF to participate in the MaD Festival when he was still a college student. Now a Product Manager at ASUS, he recounts his vibrant volunteering journey with ACF for most of his college days beginning with the annual Huatung English Camp.
Ken Hsiao who was part of the inaugural team sent by ACF to participate in the MaD Festival when he was still a college student. Now a Product Manager at ASUS, he recounts his vibrant volunteering journey with ACF for most of his college days beginning with the annual Huatung English Camp.
