Sparkling Eyes
The 2006 Happy Summer English Camp was one of the best experiences that I have had in Taiwan. Every year foreign English teachers and eager university volunteers pack their bags and head to the mountains to greet the indigenous children of Taiwan. This year the Happy Summer Camp volunteers traveled to Hualien, Tai Dong, Lan Yu, WuLi, Ja Yi, and Ping Dong.

When I saw the kids’ big sparkly eyes, I knew that I was never going to forget the next three days of camp. We played games, sang songs, and learned a lot of English together. After six lessons, they learned an entire English conversation and I was so touched by their kind words and sweet tears. One of the campers handed me a note as she gave me a hug. It read, “It was nice to meet you. I have learned a lot and I will never forget you. Love, Tiffany” At that moment, I felt that we had accomplished what we had come to do, and that was to make a difference.

The children touched my heart and taught me many things about their culture. On the last night of camp in Tai Dong a typhoon started to whirl closer to Taiwan, but before we took the midnight train to Taipei we had one more thing to do. The campers invited us to come to their cultural festival. When we arrived, the town was singing and dancing to drum beats and the children from camp were dressed in artistic traditional dress. They jumped up and hugged our necks with intent to never let us go. The people in the festival were alive with passion and this was truly a time in life that I will never forget.